1986 League Cup Final

It was only 1 red card in the end.

Johnston crossing himself in front of the Rangers fans when he was sent off.

Davie Hay saying they should join the English league during a post match hissy fit.
Yeah the ref thought one of their players had hit him on the head and red carded him but it was one of their fans throwing a coin I think
 
Something I've never thought of before - if he had stayed until Souness left, would he have lived up to his potential under Walter's management? I always understood that he's seen as a player who lived the high life and didn't make the most of his talent. Would that have been different under a different manager?
I think any big decisions like players leaving would have been agreed between Souness and Smith.. certainly the moves to bring Goram & Miko in the summer of 1991 seem to have been long in the planning.

I think Ferguson had tested the patience of the manager and his assistant.
Funnily enough, I remember being over at Ibrox during the summer of 1990 and Derek Ferguson walking out the front door and just getting into his car and leaving before I could get over for an autograph, and I’ve often wondered if that was him just having been told he was leaving.
He looked to be in a foul mood.
 
I think any big decisions like players leaving would have been agreed between Souness and Smith.. certainly the moves to bring Goram & Miko in the summer of 1991 seem to have been long in the planning.

I think Ferguson had tested the patience of the manager and his assistant.
Funnily enough, I remember being over at Ibrox during the summer of 1990 and Derek Ferguson walking out the front door and just getting into his car and leaving before I could get over for an autograph, and I’ve often wondered if that was him just having been told he was leaving.
He looked to be in a foul mood.
 
I was reading the comments on an unrelated video where a mentally challenged was bemoaning being cheated in this particular League cup final. I was only a year old at the time and it's a game I hadn't ever seen before so I took the opportunity to watch it.

Going by the highlights it was a very intense game but I was wondering where the apparent cheating claim derived from. On the 84th minute we got the penalty to retake the lead and they obviously lost their heads and quite rightly got two men sent off. The saying of "always cheated, never defeated" has remained so apt for them throughout the decades.

Who was there and what is your recollection of the game? With 74,000 fans in attendance, the place must have been bouncing.



Highlights on YouTube
brilliant.
I can remember watching most of that as a 9 yo with my dad. I utterly detested them back then. Rangers was everything and I hadnt seen us win much.

Honestly cannot remember the reminded red card though.

If there a more timmy name than owen archdeacon???
 
I was reading the comments on an unrelated video where a mentally challenged was bemoaning being cheated in this particular League cup final. I was only a year old at the time and it's a game I hadn't ever seen before so I took the opportunity to watch it.

Going by the highlights it was a very intense game but I was wondering where the apparent cheating claim derived from. On the 84th minute we got the penalty to retake the lead and they obviously lost their heads and quite rightly got two men sent off. The saying of "always cheated, never defeated" has remained so apt for them throughout the decades.

Who was there and what is your recollection of the game? With 74,000 fans in attendance, the place must have been bouncing.



Highlights on YouTube
My first Rangers celtic game and can still remember some parts of the day as if it were yesterday. Arrived in Rangers end between 1.30 and 2.00pm and hardly stopped shouting and singing from then until the players went down the tunnel.

You've summed it up well in your OP - they gave away the penalty then lost the plot in the last few minutes when they realised they were beaten.

Was a clear penalty.

Watched the game about a month ago when there was a thread on it and the thing that stood out to me was the persistent fouling on Davy Cooper with very little punishment for them.

Rangers were the better team I thought.
 
In the previous league game at Ibrox, Ted McMinn ran amok as we took them to the cleaners, although a 1-0 win might not suggest so.

The flth's plan for the final was simple. To kick us up and down and all over the park. Seven bookings for the filth and a red, backs up my argument to the hilt. Johnston spat on Rangers left back, Stuart Munro, as he was red carded and walked towards the tunnel. He got away with that action as I recall.

The filth in the South enclosure threw coins at the referee, Syme, and in the confusion he thought it was a yahoo player, Tony Shepherd who had strruck him so he promptly sent him off too.

That was rescinded the following day when all was revealed.

Incidentally, the filth's tactic that day in 86 were a mirror image of the OF, LC final 21 years previous when Jock Stein said on the eve of the match that sellik had a plan they would execute the following day.

Two minutes into the game that plan came to fruition as sellik right back, Ian Young, crippled 18yo Rangers winger, Willie Johnston and back then there were no substitutes so Rangers were basically down to ten men for the following 88 minutes.

As for the guy you're talking to, it was ever thus. Q - How do you know when a 'shettleston' is lying? A - His lips move.
It was rescinded about a minute after it was given when the linesman informed Syme he’d made an arse of things :D
 
Bitter arsehole and sore loser Davie Hay could’ve caused a riot that day by threatening to take their depleted team off the pitch.

He should have been hammered by the beaks.
 
Something I've never thought of before - if he had stayed until Souness left, would he have lived up to his potential under Walter's management? I always understood that he's seen as a player who lived the high life and didn't make the most of his talent. Would that have been different under a different manager?
I certainly think Souness could have done more for him. Especially when he started bringing in far inferior players like Spackman, Sterland and Hurlock. Smith however may have got the best out of him. Now imagine if Advocat had got his hands on both brothers at once.
 
They tried to kick Cooper off the pitch , didn’t work, no luck muppets. Was 24 years old in the Rangers end a bit drunk , bouncing up and down . Oh to have the years and legs back:oops:
 
I certainly think Souness could have done more for him. Especially when he started bringing in far inferior players like Spackman, Sterland and Hurlock. Smith however may have got the best out of him. Now imagine if Advocat had got his hands on both brothers at once.
Souness (and Smith) gave Ferguson plenty of chances and tried numerous ways to get him to pull himself together but Ferguson was too full of needing to be a smart and pull one over on his boss.
You have Scotland’s greatest midfielder of a generation saying publicly that you will take his place in the team, and coaching you every day, but decide that you’d rather fanny around being a smart arse and bevvying too much.

I adored Derek Ferguson when I was a kid but his attitude was shocking, he had no interest in listening to advice about how to get better. Terrible shame.

I thought he was very honest about it in his book (read a long time ago to be fair) - he really didn’t “get” what Souness & others were trying to map out for him.
 
Souness (and Smith) gave Ferguson plenty of chances and tried numerous ways to get him to pull himself together but Ferguson was too full of needing to be a smart and pull one over on his boss.
You have Scotland’s greatest midfielder of a generation saying publicly that you will take his place in the team, and coaching you every day, but decide that you’d rather fanny around being a smart arse and bevvying too much.

I adored Derek Ferguson when I was a kid but his attitude was shocking, he had no interest in listening to advice about how to get better. Terrible shame.

I thought he was very honest about it in his book (read a long time ago to be fair) - he really didn’t “get” what Souness & others were trying to map out for him.
That makes sense, especially since you can see a bit of Barry's mentality in what you're describing. The difference was that Barry had Derek's example not to follow - and I think Derek has said that he drummed that into Barry himself - as well as a different dressing room culture under Advocaat.
 
It really was the beginning of us being the dominant force for years to come. I was 10 and watched it at my grans while my dad was at the game, Cooper was my hero and I still remember jumping about when he slotted the penalty home.
 
Was there. Pen for the winner was as stonewall as they come. Johnston got sent off then ref thought Shepherd had slapped the back of his head but turned out to be a missile thrown from the crowd so he reversed his decision to send him off and apologised, so well deserved victory for us tbf.
 
Souness (and Smith) gave Ferguson plenty of chances and tried numerous ways to get him to pull himself together but Ferguson was too full of needing to be a smart and pull one over on his boss.
You have Scotland’s greatest midfielder of a generation saying publicly that you will take his place in the team, and coaching you every day, but decide that you’d rather fanny around being a smart arse and bevvying too much.

I adored Derek Ferguson when I was a kid but his attitude was shocking, he had no interest in listening to advice about how to get better. Terrible shame.

I thought he was very honest about it in his book (read a long time ago to be fair) - he really didn’t “get” what Souness & others were trying to map out for him.
It's just sad when you hear him on his media things these days and you think what a top player he should have been. He even had Ray Wilkins there to learn from too which adds to the frustration.
 
I’ve been to a lot of finals but that one is up there with the best. It was actually a great game for any neutral watching.
Rangers thoroughly deserved the win but it was end to end at times.
 
It's just sad when you hear him on his media things these days and you think what a top player he should have been. He even had Ray Wilkins there to learn from too which adds to the frustration.
Him and durrant should have been the main men in our midfield for a good few years, Ferguson wasted his potential and Durrant's was taken away from him by Simpson.
To be fair to Durrant he was in danger of going the Ferguson path before the injury but sorted himself out.
At one point he was transfer listed for about a week due to something he did/bust up with Souness can't quite remember what it was about before obviously sorting it out.
I assume he was willing to back down at the time and see the error of his ways where I guess fergie never and was deemed a lost cause, Ferguson himself knows he never achieved what he could have in football.
 
Will always remember Ian Durrant for his cracking goals/performances in the 86 & 87 LCFs.
Davie Cooper got hacked to pieces in 86 but just got up and got on with it.
Aitken was such an unconscionable bellend whatever the year.
 
Couldn't get a ticket so went up looking for one outside. No luck. My mate got one, but the guy was only selling one. I tried sticking some money to a turnstile operator but he told me to bolt. Ended up getting a hackney from Hampden back to Renfrew and got home just before the start.
 
Davie Cooper was booted up and down the park but he kept getting back up and taking the game to them. I saw Davie throughout his Rangers career and I thought this game was one of his most effective. It was a really important game to win as it started the Souness era with its first major trophy.

Thinking back to the match makes me quite angry because we had two young and potentially great midfielders for the first time in years only for that to be taken away from us by Neil Simpson’s assault and the total stupidity of Derek Ferguson.
 
It’s not often watching highlights of a Rangers game that you have to double check to see if SuperAlly was playing. He hardly got a mention in the game. Surprising considering the amount of times Coop, Ted and Durranty were attacking up the wing.
 
Ian Durrant was outstanding that day! Defended a Celtic attack in our box calm as you’ll ever see!
Off topic but one of favourite memories of Rangers was 87 (I think) league cup v Aberdeen. Just watched on tv but remember at the end Ian durrant being on cammy fraser’s shoulders, going towards the crowd, and joining tbb with big punch in the air to each ‘hullo’.
 
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