1986–87 in Scottish football
Premier Division champions
Rangers
Division One champions
Morton
Division Two champions
Meadowbank Thistle
Scottish Cup winners
St Mirren
League Cup winners
Rangers
Junior Cup winners
Auchinleck Talbot
Teams in Europe
Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers
Scotland national team
UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying, Rous Cup
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

The 1986–87 season was the 90th season of competitive football in Scotland.[1]

In the first full season under the management of player-manager Graeme Souness, Rangers won their first league title since 1978, and also won the League Cup. The title winning side featured two English players enjoying their first season north of the border - defender Terry Butcher and goalkeeper Chris Woods.

Celtic manager David Hay paid the price for a trophyless season and was sacked after four years, paving the way for the return of Billy McNeill, the man he had succeeded in 1983.[2]

Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson moved south of the border on 6 November to manage Manchester United.[3] He was succeeded at Pittodrie by Ian Porterfield. At the end of the season, Ferguson brought Celtic's top scorer Brian McClair to United, while McClair's strike-partner Mo Johnston moved to France to sign for Nantes.

St Mirren won the Scottish Cup with a 1–0 win over Dundee United in the final. Dundee United also lost to IFK Goteborg of Sweden in the UEFA Cup final.

Scottish Premier Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 44 31 7 6 85 23 +62 69 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Celtic 44 27 9 8 90 41 +49 63 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Dundee United 44 24 12 8 85 34 +51 60
4 Aberdeen 44 21 16 7 63 29 +34 58
5 Heart of Midlothian 44 21 14 9 64 43 +21 56
6 Dundee 44 18 12 14 74 57 +17 48
7 St Mirren 44 12 12 20 36 51 −15 36 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
8 Motherwell 44 11 12 21 43 64 −21 34
9 Hibernian 44 10 13 21 44 70 −26 33
10 Falkirk 44 8 10 26 31 70 −39 26
11 Clydebank (R) 44 6 12 26 35 93 −58 24 Relegation to the 1987–88 Scottish First Division
12 Hamilton Academical (R) 44 6 9 29 39 93 −54 21
Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Clydebank, Hamilton Academical

Scottish League Division One

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Morton (C, P) 44 24 9 11 88 56 +32 57 Promotion to Premier Division
2 Dunfermline Athletic (P) 44 23 10 11 61 41 +20 56
3 Dumbarton 44 23 7 14 67 52 +15 53
4 East Fife 44 15 21 8 68 55 +13 51
5 Airdrieonians 44 20 11 13 58 46 +12 51
6 Kilmarnock 44 17 11 16 62 53 +9 45
7 Forfar Athletic 44 14 15 15 61 63 −2 43
8 Partick Thistle 44 12 15 17 49 54 −5 39
9 Clyde 44 11 16 17 48 56 −8 38
10 Queen of the South 44 11 12 21 50 71 −21 34
11 Brechin City (R) 44 11 10 23 44 72 −28 32 Relegation to Second Division
12 Montrose (R) 44 9 11 24 37 74 −37 29
Source: RSSSF and statto[4]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promoted: Morton, Dunfermline Athletic
Relegated: Brechin City, Montrose

Scottish League Division Two

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Meadowbank Thistle 39 23 9 7 69 38 +31 55 Promotion to the 1987–88 First Division
2 Raith Rovers 39 16 20 3 73 44 +29 52
3 Stirling Albion 39 20 12 7 55 33 +22 52
4 Ayr United 39 22 8 9 70 49 +21 52
5 St Johnstone 39 16 13 10 59 49 +10 45
6 Alloa Athletic 39 17 7 15 48 50 −2 41
7 Cowdenbeath 39 16 8 15 59 55 +4 40
8 Albion Rovers 39 15 9 15 48 51 −3 39
9 Queen's Park 39 9 19 11 48 49 −1 37
10 Stranraer 39 9 11 19 41 59 −18 29
11 Arbroath 39 11 7 21 46 66 −20 29
12 Stenhousemuir 39 10 9 20 37 58 −21 29
13 East Stirlingshire 39 6 11 22 33 56 −23 23
14 Berwick Rangers 39 8 7 24 40 69 −29 23
Source: "1986-1987 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Promoted: Meadowbank Thistle, Raith Rovers

Other honours

Cup honours

Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Scottish Cup 1986–87 St Mirren 1 – 0 (a.e.t.) Dundee United
League Cup 1986–87 Rangers 2 – 1 Celtic
Youth Cup Celtic 2 – 1 Motherwell
Junior Cup Auchinleck Talbot 1 – 0 (rep.) Kilbirnie Ladeside

Non-league honours

Senior

Competition Winner
Highland League 1986–87 Inverness Thistle
East of Scotland League Vale of Leithen
South of Scotland League Annan Athletic

Individual honours

Award Winner Club
Footballer of the YearScotland Brian McClairCeltic
Players' Player of the YearScotland Brian McClairCeltic
Young Player of the YearScotland Robert FleckRangers

Scotland national team

Date Venue Opponents Score[5] Competition Scotland scorer(s)
10 September Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Bulgaria 0–0 ECQG7
15 October Lansdowne Road, Dublin (A)  Republic of Ireland 0–0 ECQG7
12 November Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Luxembourg 3–0 ECQG7 Davie Cooper (2, 1 pen.), Maurice Johnston
18 February Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Republic of Ireland 0–1 ECQG7
1 April Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels (A)  Belgium 1–4 ECQG7 Paul McStay
23 May Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  England 0–0 Rous Cup
26 May Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Brazil 0–2 Rous Cup

Key:

  • (H) = Home match
  • (A) = Away match
  • ECQG7 = European Championship qualifying - Group 7

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1986/87 - The Scottish Football League Archived 3 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ McCarra, Kevin (3 April 2012). Celtic: A Biography in Nine Lives. Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571275816.
  3. ↑ "On This Day in 1986: Alex Ferguson agrees to Old Trafford move". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Scottish Division One 1986-1987 Season Summary". statto.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  5. ↑ Scotland's score is shown first.
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