Help With an Article - The Football Pink - Rangers in the 80s

[Joe3Carroll 0]

I'm afraid I'm not a Rangers fan, although I'm like you all in that you support the best team in your city and they happen to wear blue (Everton, of course).

 

I've been tasked with writing an article for The Football Pink website (https://footballpink.net/ - which also prints a quarterly edition). The article is part of a series loosely called 'Before They Were Famous', which looks at clubs known as giants to the modern day fan, but have paid their dues down in the doldrums before success.

 

I've been asked to look at Rangers in the 1980s, however I have to admit I know little about this period and hoped someone could help shed some light on this decade.

 

If anyone is able to answer a couple of questions I'd be really appreciative. I want to get a sense of what it was like supporting the club through this barren period, as well as just how bad things were in your opinion and what the causes of decline .

 

I'd be extremely grateful of any replies to any of the below. If you'd prefer to email me replies instead, please message me at joecarroll15@hotmail.com.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

1. For exactly how long would you say this 'barren' spell lasted? Is there a defining moment in which you could say things got bad, and similarly is there a landmark moment in history which signalled the return to the top?

 

2. Why did Rangers fall into a period of decline? Money? Mismanagement? Just poor players?

 

3. Was it all really that bad? What were the highlights for Rangers during this time? An Old Firm victory? A cup win? What did fans have to smile about?

 

4. Rangers had some success in the League Cups in this decade. Did this satisfy fans at the time? What are your best (and worst) cup memories?

 

5. If you have any particular memories or experiences (fond or forlorn) of following Rangers during this time, what were they? I'm trying to get as much of an 80s fan perspective as possible.

 

Thanks

[Frankie 8,210]

Just ahead of my time so I'll let one of the older lads help you out Joe.

 

One piece of advice I can offer though: James Doleman isn't the man to follow on Twitter for balanced Rangers commentary.

[MacK1950 2,265]

The problem in the early 80's was that as John Greig took over as Manager himself not long stopped playing he inherited an aging squad.Their only success was the Scottish Cup in 80/81and although getting decent cup runs at home and one in Europe no further success was gained and after approx 3 1/2 years at the reigns Greig was replaced with former manager Jock Wallace winning the league cup twice but not enough to placate the fans and like Greig his tenure was almost the same.

Wallace was gone and then came the sensation of Graeme Souness being appointed as player manager,the first and only one to hold that position in modern times.

With him came a succession of high profile signings such as Terry Butcher,the then England Captain plus many more putting Rangers firmly in the picture.

The retiring of aging players caused the problem more than anything as some of the signings were not to the standards seen before and may have caused a decline in attendances

Have got this from Rangers site but personally due to working rotas was unable to attend many matches in the eighties..

Edited October 6, 2016 by MacK1950
missed word

[JFK-1 1,690]

A relative decline was also linked to paying for the stadium redevelopment following the 1971 Ibrox disaster in which 66 died years ahead of the Taylor report which forced all other clubs to follow Rangers lead.

 

But unlike with Rangers who took this path independently they got government assistance while Rangers had to finance it alone. The first phase of the redevelopment began in 1978.

 

The redevelopment was completed in 1981 with the replacement of the Centenary Stand by the 10,300 capacity Govan Stand.

 

The new Ibrox had a capacity of 44,000 and was opened with an Old Firm game played on 19 September 1981. By this time, however, the development cost had risen to £10 million, which depleted the club financially.

 

This resulted in a difficult period in the history of Rangers, as the average attendance fell to 17,500 in the 1981–82 season, including a crowd of only 4,500 for a game against St Mirren

 

The Taylor report was published in 1990.

Edited October 6, 2016 by JFK-1

[Joe3Carroll 0]

Noted, thanks Frankie

[pete 2,499]

A relative decline was also linked to paying for the stadium redevelopment following the 1971 Ibrox disaster in which 66 died years ahead of the Taylor report which forced all other clubs to follow Rangers lead.

 

But unlike with Rangers who took this path independently they got government assistance while Rangers had to finance it alone. The first phase of the redevelopment began in 1978.

 

 

 

The Taylor report was published in 1990.

 

Yes Willie waddel stated that the Ibrox disaster would never happen again and building the new stadium was more important than spending money on the team.

 

If you also look at the Gersnet Archive and then our online museum link above you will find in information and a result data-base for that period that may help you. I personally immigrated in 1980 so can't really give much information on the 80's but the late 70's were dire with crowds down to about 15.000 for some games.

 

The rise of Fergie's Aberdeen would also play a part in the early 80's don't forget they even won 2 European trophy's in that time beating Real Madrid and Barcelona I believe.

[Joe3Carroll 0]

A relative decline was also linked to paying for the stadium redevelopment following the 1971 Ibrox disaster in which 66 died years ahead of the Taylor report which forced all other clubs to follow Rangers lead.

 

But unlike with Rangers who took this path independently they got government assistance while Rangers had to finance it alone. The first phase of the redevelopment began in 1978.

 

 

 

The Taylor report was published in 1990.

 

Thanks for the reply chaps. I don't suppose anyone knows if ticket prices went up as a result of the stadium development (seeing as though they financed it themselves)? If so, perhaps this put some fans off, financially...?

[the gunslinger 3,366]

The rangers pools which were huge paid for a lot of it.

[Joe3Carroll 0]

Yes Willie waddel stated that the Ibrox disaster would never happen again and building the new stadium was more important than spending money on the team.

 

If you also look at the Gersnet Archive and then our online museum link above you will find in information and a result data-base for that period that may help you. I personally immigrated in 1980 so can't really give much information on the 80's but the late 70's were dire with crowds down to about 15.000 for some games.

 

The rise of Fergie's Aberdeen would also play a part in the early 80's don't forget they even won 2 European trophy's in that time beating Real Madrid and Barcelona I believe.

 

Yes I do have some notes on the detrimental effect to Rangers that other clubs success had, namely Aberdeen and Dundee Utd. It's interesting that Scottish clubs did so well (comparatively) in European competition around this time, following on from success in the 70s. No coincidence that the national team also enjoyed some successful WC qualifying campaigns too?

 

Thanks from the suggestion, I'll take a look.

[jhunter 0]

i'm not sure you could say it was the lack of money with regards to the stadium being developed, i'm pretty sure we broke a transfer record during this period and what were everyone spending on transfers?

 

The defining moment that brought about the decline was Wallace resigning in 1978 and the end of the decline came about with the appointment of Souness in 1986 but this only came about after a Boardroom coup that saw David Holmes installed as Chairman/CEO.

Edited October 7, 2016 by jhunter