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1972–73 Rangers F.C. season
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| club | Rangers | |
| season | 1972-73 | |
| manager | Jock Wallace | |
| chairman | John Lawrence | |
| stdtitle | Ground | |
| stadium | Ibrox Park | |
| league | Scottish League Division One | |
| league result | 2nd | |
| P34 W26 D4 L4 F74 A30 Pts56 | ||
| cup1 | Scottish Cup | cup1 result = Winners |
| cup2 | League Cup | cup2 result = Semi-finals |
| cup3 | European Super Cup | cup3 result = Runners-up |
| season topscorer | ||
| Derek Parlane (27) | ||
| league topscorer | ||
| Derek Parlane (19) | ||
| prevseason | 1971–72 | |
| nextseason | 1973–74 |
P34 W26 D4 L4 F74 A30 Pts56 Derek Parlane (27) Derek Parlane (19)
The 1972–73 season was the 93rd season of competitive football by Rangers.
Overview
Rangers played a total of 53 competitive matches during the 1972–73 season. The season was the club's centenary year. After a stuttering start to the league campaign, three defeats and a draw from the first six matches, the sides fortunes greatly improved. From October to the end of the season Rangers suffered only one league defeat, at home to Hearts on 2 December 1972, and went on a run of sixteen wins. However this run was not enough to become league champions as the side finished second, one point behind Celtic.
In the cup competitions, the Scottish Cup campaign was to culminate in a 3–2 win over Celtic. The final was attended by Princess Alexandra along with 122,714 other spectators. It was Rangers first Scottish Cup win in seven years. The League Cup run was ended in the semi-finals at the hands of Hibernian after a 1–0 defeat.
This season also saw Rangers compete in the first ever European Super Cup. The side played the European Cup holders Ajax in January 1973. The Dutch side were the only continental opposition the side faced that season due to the club's European competition ban. In the end Ajax proved too strong and recorded a 6–3 aggregate win, with Rangers losing 1–3 at Ibrox and 3–2 in Amsterdam.
Results
All results are written with Rangers' score first.
Scottish First Division
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 September 1972 | Ayr United | A | 1–2 | 14,500 | Johnston |
| 9 September 1972 | Partick Thistle | H | 2–1 | 35,000 | MacDonald, Johnston |
| 16 September 1972 | Celtic | A | 1–3 | 50,416 | Greig |
| 23 September 1972 | Falkirk | H | 1–0 | 28,798 | McLean (pen.) |
| 30 September 1972 | Kilmarnock | A | 1–2 | 10,643 | McLean |
| 7 October 1972 | Morton | H | 1–1 | 30,000 | Fyfe |
| 14 October 1972 | Motherwell | A | 2–0 | 17,621 | Young, Parlane (pen.) |
| 21 October 1972 | Arbroath | A | 2–1 | 8,400 | Parlane, Mason |
| 28 October 1972 | St. Johnstone | H | 5–1 | 24,202 | Conn (2), Parlane (2), Johnstone |
| 4 November 1972 | Dundee | A | 1–1 | 19,600 | Conn |
| 11 November 1972 | Airdrieonians | H | 1–0 | 22,201 | Conn |
| 18 November 1972 | Hibernian | A | 2–1 | 33,356 | Conn, Fyfe |
| 25 November 1972 | Dumbarton | H | 3–1 | 24,500 | Young, Conn, Jardine |
| 2 December 1972 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 0–1 | 27,350 | |
| 9 December 1972 | Dundee United | A | 4–1 | 12,500 | Parlane (2), Conn, Jardine |
| 16 December 1972 | Aberdeen | H | 0–0 | 26,375 | |
| 23 December 1972 | East Fife | A | 4–0 | 8,608 | Johnstone (2), Young, Parlane |
| 30 December 1972 | Ayr United | H | 2–1 | 27,653 | Conn, Parlane |
| 1 January 1973 | Partick Thistle | A | 1–0 | 18,500 | Young |
| 6 January 1973 | Celtic | H | 2–1 | 72,479 | Parlane, Conn |
| 13 January 1973 | Falkirk | A | 4–2 | 17,000 | Young (2), Parlane (pen.), Conn |
| 20 January 1973 | Kilmarnock | H | 4–0 | 24,515 | Parlane (2), Young, Greig |
| 27 January 1973 | Morton | A | 2–1 | 16,000 | MacDonald, Young |
| 10 February 1973 | Motherwell | H | 2–1 | 27,000 | Young, Jardine |
| 19 February 1973 | Arbroath | H | 5–0 | 25,662 | Parlane (2), Young, Greig, Miller |
| 3 March 1973 | St. Johnstone | A | 2–1 | 12,000 | Miller, Mason |
| 10 March 1973 | Dundee | H | 3–1 | 32,500 | Parlane (2), MacDonald |
| 20 March 1973 | Airdrieonians | A | 6–2 | 20,000 | Parlane, Greig, Johnstone, McLean, MacDonald, Young |
| 24 March 1973 | Hibernian | H | 1–0 | 51,226 | McLean |
| 31 March 1973 | Dumbarton | A | 2–1 | 13,000 | Young, Parlane |
| 7 April 1973 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–0 | 24,064 | Greig |
| 14 April 1973 | Dundee United | H | 2–1 | 38,000 | Greig (2) |
| 21 April 1973 | Aberdeen | A | 2–2 | 33,000 | McLean, Conn |
| 28 April 1973 | East Fife | H | 2–0 | 27,544 | Young, Conn |
European Super Cup
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 January 1973 | Ajax | H | 1–3 | 58,199 | MacDonald |
| 24 January 1973 | Ajax | A | 2–3 | 43,000 | MacDonald, Young |
Scottish Cup
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 February 1973 | R3 | Dundee United | H | 1–0 | 35,657 | Young |
| 24 February 1973 | R4 | Hibernian | H | 1–1 | 63,889 | Johnstone |
| 28 February 1973 | R4 R | Hibernian | A | 2–1 | 49,007 | McLean (2, 1 pen.) |
| 17 March 1973 | QF | Airdrieonians | H | 2–0 | 35,500 | Parlane (pen.), Young |
| 4 April 1973 | SF | Ayr United | N | 2–0 | 51,815 | Parlane (2) |
| 5 May 1973 | F | Celtic | N | 3–2 | 122,714 | Parlane, Conn, Forsyth |
League Cup
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 August 1972 | SR | Clydebank | H | 2–0 | 26,240 | Conn, MacDonald |
| 16 August 1972 | SR | St. Mirren | A | 4–0 | 15,000 | Johnstone, Greid, Stein, Conn |
| 19 August 1972 | SR | Ayr United | H | 2–1 | 25,000 | Johnstone, Parlane |
| 23 August 1972 | SR | St. Mirren | H | 1–4 | 20,000 | Conn |
| 26 August 1972 | SR | Clydebank | A | 5–0 | 9,000 | |
| 30 August 1972 | SR | Ayr United | A | 2–1 | 15,000 | Johnston, Johnstone |
| 20 September 1972 | R2 | Stenhousemuir | A | 5–0 | 3,650 | Johnstone (3), Parlane, Greig |
| 4 October 1972 | R2 | Stenhousemuir | H | 1–2 | 6,000 | Fyfe |
| 11 October 1972 | QF | St. Johnstone | H | 1–1 | 15,000 | Parlane |
| 1 November 1972 | QF | St. Johnstone | A | 2–0 | 12,300 | Young, Parlane (pen.) |
| 22 November 1972 | SF | Hibernian | N | 0–1 | 46,513 |
Appearances
| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCO Peter McCloy | GK | 52 | 0 |
| SCO Sandy Jardine | DF | 53 | 2 |
| SCO Willie Mathieson | DF | 53 | 0 |
| SCO John Greig | DF | 48 | 10 |
| SCO Colin Jackson | DF | 14 | 0 |
| SCO Derek Johnstone | DF | 47 | 10 |
| SCO Tommy McLean | MF | 38 | 8 |
| SCO Jim Denny | DF | 9 | 0 |
| SCO Willie Johnston | FW | 9 | 5 |
| SCO Colin Stein | FW | 8 | 2 |
| SCO Graham Fyfe | MF | 13 | 3 |
| SCO Alex MacDonald | MF | 45 | 7 |
| SCO Dave Smith | MF | 45 | 1 |
| SCO Alfie Conn | MF | 30 | 14 |
| SCO Derek Parlane | FW | 45 | 27 |
| SCO George Donaldson | MF | 9 | 0 |
| SCO Quinton Young | MF | 37 | 17 |
| SCO Tom Forsyth | MF | 29 | 1 |
| SCO Joe Mason | FW | 17 | 2 |
| GER Gerry Neef | GK | 1 | 0 |
| SCO Alex Miller | DF | 4 | 2 |
| SCO Andy Penman | MF | 2 | 0 |
| SCO Iain McDonald | MF | 1 | 0 |
| SCO Phil Bonnyman | MF | 1 | 0 |
References
References
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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