1986–87 in Scottish football

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

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 →

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

Main article: 1986–87 Scottish Premier Division

Pos	Team v t e	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) Champion; (R) Relegated

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Clydebank, Hamilton Academical

Scottish League Division One

Main article: 1986–87 Scottish First Division

Pos	Team v t e	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^{[dead link]} and statto^[4]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

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

Scottish League Division Two

Main article: 1986–87 Scottish Second Division

Pos	Team v t e	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 Year	Brian McClair	Celtic
Players' Player of the Year	Brian McClair	Celtic
Young Player of the Year	Robert Fleck	Rangers

Scotland national team

Main article: Scotland national football team 1980–99 results

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

• 1986–87 Aberdeen F.C. season
• 1986–87 Dundee United F.C. season
• Dubai Champions Cup

Notes and references

1. 1986/87 - The Scottish Football League 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. . statto.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
5. Scotland's score is shown first.