1986/87: The Souness Revolution begins

As Steven Gerrard was unveiled as Rangers manager in May 2018, he would have been fully aware of the challenges ahead of him. Without a Premiership title in seven years - including four seasons spent outside the top flight in that period - toppling Celtic from their perch was the daunting task facing Gerrard in his first managerial post.

In April 1986 another ex-Liverpool captain arrived in Glasgow to dip his toe into the murky waters of football management, charged with turning around the fortunes of the club. Three League Cups and a Scottish Cup in the 1980s were all well and good. But Rangers had not finished above 3rd in the Scottish Premiership in a decade that had seen them eclipsed by a number of clubs.

Celtic had won the 1985/86 title, narrowly pipping Hearts on a final day of agony and ecstasy. With the New Firm of Dundee United and Aberdeen also finishing above Rangers, the end of the line had been reached for manager Jock Wallace. An SOS was sent to Souness who was plying his trade in Italy with Sampdoria.

The 33-year-old certainly didn't sound fazed about his new role. "There is no pressure in being manager of a great club like Rangers. What is there to be frightened of? I am a very young man who has taken on a very big task. But I am not doing it on my own. I have a lot of experience around to call on."

Indeed, Souness' first act proved wise, appointing Dundee United assistant Walter Smith to carry out a similar job at Ibrox. Aided by millionaire shareholder Lawrence Marlborough, Souness then set about raiding clubs south of the border, taking advantage of the European ban placed on English clubs to attract stars to join his revolution.

Colin West, Chris Woods, Jimmy Nicholl, and Terry Butcher all arrived, as Souness splashed close to £2 million in the transfer market. The signing of Butcher was significant; with Manchester United and Tottenham both reportedly interested in the England star, capturing the England centre back for £725,000 was a genuine coup.

Souness would follow the path of his former teammate Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool, starting as a player manager at his new club. Not that he got to see much action in the first few weeks of the season. Sent off in a tempestuous clash at Hibernian after a foul that left George McCluskey with a gash in his knee, the 2-1 defeat was a far from ideal start to the Souness era. 

A three-match ban followed for Souness (on top of his original one-match suspension), with the club also fined £5,000, and 21 players each punished with two disciplinary points. When Rangers let a two-goal lead slip at Ibrox in the last 21 minutes in their 3-2 defeat to Dundee United, some were already questioning the new signings and Souness' tactics.

West did open his account in the Skol Cup at Stenhousemuir, also scoring in Rangers' first away win in the league at Hamilton. But a knee injury suffered in a less than impressive penalty shootout win at Alloa in the next round would limit West's appearances, handing opportunities to Ted McMinn and Robert Fleck alongside the free scoring Ally McCoist.

With Souness suspended, the first Old Firm clash at Ibrox at the end of August was already perceived as a must-win match for Rangers, due to their poor start. Teenage midfielders Derek Ferguson and Ian Durrant excelled, the latter scoring the only goal in a vital win. Slowly the team started to show signs that there were better times ahead.

An extra-time win over Dundee and a semi-final victory against Dundee United saw Rangers' reach the Skol Cup final, and gradually the league form turned. Fleck would score hat-tricks against Clydebank and Falkirk, the genius winger Davie Cooper inspiring the 5-1 win in the latter. There was a blip, as the team missing the suspended Butcher lost 1-0 away at Dundee. But by the end of October, Rangers were in third, within striking distance of Dundee United and Celtic.

At this point Souness had already claimed his first piece of silverware, injury forcing him to watch from the sidelines as Rangers beat Celtic 2-1 in a fiery Skol Cup final that saw ten booked and Mo Johnston sent off late on. "This was the start," Souness stated after the final. "We must go on from here. Our priority is to win the league, and as long as I am here it will always be so."

The dream of winning the title looked to be fading as November progressed. A smash and grab win by Motherwell at Ibrox coupled with a defeat at Aberdeen - defender Dave McPherson sent off as the ill-discipline continued - saw Rangers slip eight points behind leaders Celtic, in the days of two points for a win. 

 

 

Five league defeats after 19 matches gave Souness and his players little room for any further slip-ups, making what followed even more impressive. A 19-match unbeaten league run between the end of November and early April, paved the way to title success. Dropping only three points in the process, the solidity of the team at the back provided the foundations for the transformation.

Adding Graham Roberts to the defence in December boosted the squad, with Souness' team embarking on a Scrooge-like mission to starve opposition players and fans of any joy. Rangers went eleven league matches without conceding a goal; with McCoist and Fleck in fine goalscoring form, the team was unstoppable.

Well, almost. There was disappointment as Rangers unluckily exited the UEFA Cup third round on away goals to Borussia Monchengladbach (with Stuart Munro and Cooper sent off in the second leg). And in a stunning shock, Hamilton ended Scottish Cup hopes at the first hurdle, the winner scored by Adrian Sprott the first goal conceded by Woods in a record breaking 1,196 minutes. But from a league perspective, the Rangers juggernaut surged on and on.

There were many memorable moments. Back-to-back 2-0 home wins over Dundee United and Celtic, with Fleck and McCoist scoring a goal in each; Roberts scoring a 40-yard screamer in the 1-0 win at Motherwell; Fleck scoring his second hat-trick against Clydebank; a 2-0 win over Hamilton in January achieved with nine men after Roberts and Durrant were sent off.

The win over Hamilton saw the team top the table for the first time, and as the weeks progressed the march to the title continued. Forwards West and new arrival Neil Woods - signed from Doncaster for £120,000 - watched on from the bench as Fleck (2) and McCoist scored in Ranger's first league win at Tynecastle since April 1977. The deadly duo would score 53 league goals between them.

Even when Rangers unexpectedly dropped a point at home to Hibernian, the team bounced back to win five consecutive matches, conceding just one goal as they pulled four points clear of Celtic. A 3-1 loss at Parkhead ended the run and added tension to the run-in; not that Souness' side showed any nerves.

Three clean sheets and six McCoist goals in wins against Dundee, Clydebank, and Hearts, put Rangers on the brink. A draw at Aberdeen would seal the deal, and perhaps fittingly Souness was sent off as a Butcher header helped to get the point needed to win the title. With an estimated 10,000 Rangers fans inside Pittodrie, the party celebrations could begin.

"Some of our players lost their jerseys, others their boots, as the fans celebrated," Butcher commented. "I'm not complaining, for they have waited so long for a championship win." With the goalposts dismantled, and some fans injured, there was a danger of things getting out of hand. But you could excuse the exuberance after a nine-year wait.

"This is the happiest day of my life," Butcher added. "When I came to the club Davie Cooper told me we had a great chance of the championship and he was right." Many pointed to the appointment of Souness and the open cheque book he was given as the reason for the revival. But in the excellent Jeff Holmes Rangers Revolution book, midfielder Ferguson summed it up neatly.

"Graeme Souness was the right choice at the right time, and he changed everything. He changed the philosophy at the club because he was a winner and you could see that in absolutely everything he did." The money obviously helped, but combined with wise recruitment and some of the training and preparation techniques Souness had acquired in Italy, the ingredients were all there for the memorable 1986/87 campaign.

"We don't want to be one-season wonders," Souness noted after the Aberdeen match. Although Celtic would hit back in their centenary season, Souness and Rangers responded by winning the first of two titles at the start of the nine in a row sequence. Souness was on the way to winning the third in a row when he departed for Liverpool in April 1991.

If Gerrard follows the same route, then Liverpool fans will hope that history does not repeat itself regarding the fortunes of the club under Souness. But the impact of the man who arrived in Glasgow in 1986 will not be forgotten. Rangers needed reviving as the club limped along in the 1980s. Something had to change; The Souness Revolution was about to alter the fortunes of the club and shape the future of Scottish football as a consequence.