1990–91 Rangers F.C. season

The 1990–91 season was the 111th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Rangers
1990–91 season
ChairmanDavid Murray
ManagerGraeme Souness
(until 16 April)
Walter Smith
(from 19 April)
GroundIbrox Stadium
Scottish Premier Division1st (Champions)
Scottish CupQuarter-finals
League CupWinners
European CupSecond round
Top goalscorerLeague:
Mark Walters (12)

All:
Mo Johnston (19)

Overview

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Rangers played a total of 48 competitive matches during the 1990–91 season. The team finished first in the Scottish Premier Division and won the third of their nine league titles in a row.

There was significant transfer activity during the season with England international striker Mark Hateley arriving from Monaco and Terry Butcher departing for Coventry CIty.

Manager Graeme Souness left Rangers to go to Liverpool with just four games left of the season. The managers job was given to Souness' assistant Walter Smith who managed to lead Rangers to the title, with a 2–0 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox on the last day of the season.[1][2]

In the cup competitions, they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup at the quarter-finals stage, losing 2–0 to Celtic at Parkhead. Rangers won the Scottish League Cup, defeating Celtic 2–1 AET.

In Europe they were knocked out the European Cup in the second round by Serbian side Red Star Belgrade (Red Star would go on to lift the trophy, beating Marseille in the final). Rangers lost the tie 4–1 on aggregate. They defeated Valletta of Malta 10–0 on aggregate in the first round.

Transfers

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Date Player From Fee
21 June 1990   Mark Hateley   Monaco £1,000,000
2 August 1990   Pieter Huistra   FC Twente £300,000
23 August 1990   Terry Hurlock   Millwall £300,000
9 October 1990   Oleh Kuznetsov   Dynamo Kyiv £1,200,000
25 March 1991   Brian Reid   Greenock Morton £300,000
Date Player To Fee
1 July 1990   Graeme Souness Retired
4 July 1990   Derek Ferguson   Heart of Midlothian £750,000
15 November 1990   Terry Butcher   Coventry City £500,000

Results

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All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
25 August 1990 Dunfermline Athletic H 3–1 39,951 Hateley, Johnston, Walters
1 September 1990 Hibernian A 0–0 17,500
8 September 1990 Heart of Midlothian A 3–1 22,101 McCoist (2), Huistra
15 September 1990 Celtic H 1–1 38,543 Hurlock
22 September 1990 Dundee United A 1–2 16,270 Johnston
29 September 1990 Motherwell H 1–0 34,863 Brown
6 October 1990 Aberdeen A 0–0 19,500
13 October 1990 St Mirren H 5–0 38,031 McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)), Walters (2), Johnston
20 October 1990 St Johnstone A 0–0 10,054
3 November 1990 Hibernian H 4–0 35,925 Hateley (2), Walters, Steven
10 November 1990 Dundee United H 1–2 36,995 McCoist
17 November 1990 Motherwell A 4–2 16,457 Stevens (2), Walters, Johnston
20 November 1990 Dunfermline Athletic A 1–0 14,480 Hateley
25 November 1990 Celtic A 2–1 52,565 Johnston, McCoist
1 December 1990 Heart of Midlothian H 4–0 37,623 Johnston, Hurlock, McCoist, Walters (pen.)
8 December 1990 St Johnstone H 4–1 34,610 Walters (2), Johnston (pen.), Stevens
15 December 1990 St Mirren A 3–0 15,197 Walters, Johnston (pen.), Hateley
22 December 1990 Aberdeen H 2–2 37,998 McCoist (2)
29 December 1990 Dundee United A 2–1 17,564 Johnston, Walters
2 January 1991 Celtic H 2–0 38,399 Walters, Hateley
5 January 1991 Heart of Midlothian A 1–0 20,956 Hateley
12 January 1991 Dunfermline Athletic H 2–0 35,120 Huistra, Johnston
19 January 1991 Hibernian A 2–0 15,500 Johnston, Houchen (o.g.)
9 February 1991 St Mirren H 1–0 31,769 McCoist
16 February 1991 Motherwell H 2–0 32,192 McCoist, Hateley
26 February 1991 St Johnstone A 1–1 10,721 Huistra
2 March 1991 Aberdeen A 0–1 22,500
9 March 1991 Heart of Midlothian H 2–1 36,128 Steven, Walters
24 March 1991 Celtic A 0–3 52,000
30 March 1991 Dunfermline Athletic A 1–0 14,256 Stevens
6 April 1991 Hibernian H 0–0 35,507
13 April 1991 St Johnstone H 3–0 35,930 Durrant, Spencer, Huistra
20 April 1991 St Mirren A 1–0 18,473 S.Robertson
24 April 1991 Dundee United H 1–0 32,397 I.Ferguson
4 May 1991 Motherwell A 0–3 17,672
11 May 1991 Aberdeen H 2–0 37,652 Hateley (2)

Scottish League Cup

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
21 August 1990 R3 East Stirlingshire H 5–0 25,595 Hateley (2), Steven, Walters, Johnston
28 August 1990 R4 Kilmarnock H 1–0 32,671 Johnston
4 September 1990 QF Raith Rovers H 6–2 31,320 McCoist (3), Johnston, Butcher, Steven
26 September 1990 SF Aberdeen N 1–0 40,855 Steven
28 October 1990 F Celtic N 2–1* 62,817 Walters, Gough

*Rangers won the match 2–1 in extra-time

Scottish Cup

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
29 January 1991 R3 Dunfermline Athletic H 2–0 29,003 Huistra, Spackman
23 February 1991 R4 Cowdenbeath H 5–0 29,527 Hateley (2), Nisbet, McCoist, Walters (pen.)
17 March 1991 QF Celtic A 0–2 52,286

European Cup

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
19 September 1990 R1   Valletta A 4–0 8,000 Johnston (2), McCoist (pen.), Hateley
2 October 1990 R1   Valletta H 6–0 20,627 Johnston (3, 1 (pen.)), Dodds, Spencer, McCoist
24 October 1990 R2   Red Star Belgrade A 0–3 82,500
7 November 1990 R2   Red Star Belgrade H 1–1 23,831 McCoist

Appearances

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Player Position Appearances Goals
  Chris Woods GK 48 0
  John Brown DF 36 1
  Terry Butcher DF 9 1
  Tom Cowan DF 7 0
  Richard Gough DF 37 1
  Oleh Kuznetsov DF 2 0
  Stuart Munro DF 21 0
  Scott Nisbet DF 19 1
  Brian Reid DF 3 0
  Gary Stevens DF 48 4
  Chris Vinnicombe DF 11 0
  Ian Durrant MF 4 1
  Ian Ferguson MF 15 1
  Pieter Huistra MF 36 5
  Terry Hurlock MF 35 2
  Sandy Robertson MF 18 1
  Nigel Spackman MF 45 1
  Trevor Steven MF 31 5
  Mark Walters MF 39 15
  Davie Dodds FW 6 1
  Mark Hateley FW 42 15
  Mo Johnston FW 39 19
  Ally McCoist FW 36 18
  Gary McSwegan FW 3 0
  John Spencer FW 6 2

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 36 24 7 5 62 23 +39 55 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Aberdeen 36 22 9 5 62 27 +35 53 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Celtic 36 17 7 12 52 38 +14 41
4 Dundee United 36 17 7 12 41 29 +12 41
5 Heart of Midlothian 36 14 7 15 48 55 −7 35
Source: Statto.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rangers and Aberdeen's epic duel for the 1991 Scottish title – 25 years ago". BBC Sport. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Flashback: 1991, Mark Walters and Scott Booth recall their part in Smith's maiden final-day triumph". The Herald. 14 May 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2021.