The Bad Early 80's

[Figo 91]

Question for some of you "older" bears...

Even though I had been to Ibrox in the late 80's with my old man I can't remember it (born '87) so I can only really judge what I've seen and can remember from about 91/92

My dad sometimes tells me how it was harder to watch us in the early 80's than it is now? even when its watching third teir football.

Maybe because we know we are on the way up whereas back then the numbers attending were low and the outlook was pretty bleak at times?

Which was the worst period for the fans and why was it so bad?

[The Godfather 71,874]

My old man likens this to the Greig manager days and so do many other older bears I have spoken to over the past year or so.

[Courtyard Bear 41,357]

I would actually say the football was slightly better in the early 80's the difference being we were up against the best teams in the country.

[MosesMcNeil 1,664]

As bad as it was then for our team, it's virtually impossible to compare the two era's - not least because of the divisions competed in.

I can't make a valid comparison between performances against celtc and, say, Hibs and those against Stirling and Forfar.

Mind you - at least the current team doesn't have players as bad as Billy Urquhart.

[centenarystand 2,227]

In the early 80s we tended to lose the crunch league games and our league season was over before xmas. However we did win our fair share of the 2 cups and in European Competions teams like Inter Milan were beaten 3-1 at Ibrox and Borussia Dortmund were knocked out.

The last 18 months has been hell on toast compared to the 80s.

[Figo 91]

I would actually say the football was slightly better in the early 80's the difference being we were up against the best teams in the country.

better football but less fans?

[siddiqi_drinker 14,635]

Question for some of you "older" bears...

Even though I had been to Ibrox in the late 80's with my old man I can't remember it (born '87) so I can only really judge what I've seen and can remember from about 91/92

My dad sometimes tells me how it was harder to watch us in the early 80's than it is now? even when its watching third teir football.

Maybe because we know we are on the way up whereas back then the numbers attending were low and the outlook was pretty bleak at times?

Which was the worst period for the fans and why was it so bad?

Remember being at midweek games in the late 70's possibly 80-81 when we had crowds of way less than 8K..... Ibrox was like a 'ghost town' and some of the football on offer was dire.

Attended one midweek fixture where a few of us ended up kicking a ball around the wee enclosure - only highlight on display that evening was a young gentleman by the name of Cooper (IIRC he scored that night) giving a Mr. J Greig a 'right roasting'.

In summation anyone who started supporting post-Souness, consider yourself lucky, very, very lucky/

[trueblue68 2,497]

We could not obtain any sort of consistency and that was the problem. The crowds as said above.

For instance - i got my first season ticket as a Christmas present in 1983 ( half season one of course).

That allowed you access to any stand (apart from the main stand) you wanted on Matchdays. Without a ticket. Apart from OF games of course.

Grim times.

[topgoalie 637]

In the early 80s Scottish football had four or five teams that could actually win the top league.Dundee United were a game away from the European Cup Final and contested the UEFA Cup Final..Aberdeen beat Real Madrid in the ECWC Final.....far greater competition in these days....

[bump 168]

i was a teenager in the early 80s and it was not the best time to watch our team with crowds less than 20k most home games,really struggled against most teams then but atleast we are winning game at the moment but i know the footballs not the best.

more than happy to follow my team no matter what :thumbup:

[cushynumber 25,178]

The football was different (way more long balls), the competition was far sterner - we look back now on the time as a faiure as we didn't dominate but this was an era that Aberdeen were beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and Dundee Utd reached the European Cup semi-finals in 1984 and the UEFA cup final in 1987.

Its all about context - you dad probably thought it was harder to watch cause we were suddenly up against two excellent managers who built very good teams at the "new firm" that we were still expected to beat as well as cellic.

I would take any of our 80's teams against the 11 we have now any day of the week.

[BraveheartGordon 77]

As bad as it was then for our team, it's virtually impossible to compare the two era's - not least because of the divisions competed in.

I can't make a valid comparison between performances against celtc and, say, Hibs and those against Stirling and Forfar.

Mind you - at least the current team doesn't have players as bad as Billy Urquhart.

I honestly believe the teams in this division take on a more professional attitude than those in the early 80's with drinking etc rife in football,ovbiously Dunfermline with a full compliment of full-time pro's but the team's with half full-time players like Ayr United and East Fife as well,even the part time teams in our division might give most of the premier division back then a fright just because of increased fitness,technical standard and professionalism in the game.

Watching matches from that period makes me cringe at the poor standard, especially goalkeepers and defenders.

[WadeWilson 4,670]

Remember being at midweek games in the late 70's possibly 80-81 when we had crowds of way less than 8K..... Ibrox was like a 'ghost town' and some of the football on offer was dire.

Attended one midweek fixture where a few of us ended up kicking a ball around the wee enclosure - only highlight on display that evening was a young gentleman by the name of Cooper (IIRC he scored that night) giving a Mr. J Greig a 'right roasting'.

In summation anyone who started supporting post-Souness, consider yourself lucky, very, very lucky/

I got into football in a big way because of Mexico 86, so the next season was my first real season as a fan.

I consider myself very, very, very, very lucky indeed. That's why I have always stopped and taken stock before getting tore into the team.

[Judge Smails 13]

I started going to ibrox in '79.

Maybe due to my age, I used to love it and although the crowds were low and results unpredictable, we always had a couple of heros on the park.

Comparison between then and now is impossible due to how the overall game has changed. There was as much entertainment in the stands as there was on the field at times, for instance.

[WadeWilson 4,670]

In the early 80s Scottish football had four or five teams that could actually win the top league.Dundee United were a game away from the European Cup Final and contested the UEFA Cup Final..Aberdeen beat Real Madrid in the ECWC Final.....far greater competition in these days....

In the 1986/87 season we regularly beat Wee Jum's Dundee United at a time when they were tearing up Europe. Beating Barca home and away.

I had a soft spot for that United team as they also knocked out those cheating arschlochs from Moenchengladbach.

[onefootwillie 1,518]

Started going to watch in 1967 but John Greig's teams were poor. Even allowing for being in a lower division we are a better team now than then overall. Yeh gates of 8,000 were common It's hard going at the moment but I think next season will be more exciting playing against harder teams. I would hope that we will get rid of some of the dead wood and 2-3 new players could make a difference

[Colonel H VC 299]

My first game was in 82. A 3-0 drubbing against an outstanding Aberdeen team. "Greig must go" was a frequent chant. As a young boy I enjoyed going to the games irrespective of how big the crowd was or how good the team was. Looking back and bearing in mind the standard of competition, there is little comparison to today's situation apart from having a club legend as a manager......and look what happened to Greig.

[Ivybank 4,580]

the football in the greig era was terrible,low crowds,poor footballers(billy urquhart,hugh burns etc) at least we are winning every week,i know the

football is not a great standard,and some of our players are of a similar standard,but under the circumstances its hard to compare like with like

but i would take this era over the early 80s

[bluie127 13]

Went to ibrox at a young age as i stayed in govan and you just asked someone for a lift over , late sixties i remember almost getting to the fairs cup final (the europa cup now) but getting beat by newcastle , early seventies waddel came and we won the cup winners cup , brilliant best night ever beating byern munich in the semies and the scum got beat by inter milan , the rest of the seventies we were up and down but won two trebles late seventies and early eighties not very good but i still went to all games both home and europe why because i am a rangers fan , and love them now we just need to get ourselves sorted get a system to play to and get ready to come back stronger and stronger . Remember the good and bad times but always remember we are RANGERS . WATP.

[HuistraHairDo 12,490]

good question, the difference was we had a really good team in the 80's, a young McCoist, Cooper ,Redford Bobby Russell, Sandy Clarke, Robert Prytz etc but we were up against some tough teams probabaly up there with the best in europe at the time, Dundee Utd and Aberdeen won european honours. The only good thing to come out of our situation we are in now is over the years we have become a much more loyal support, and to have 36,000 season tickets for the past two seasons is an achievement only Rangers fans could do. our loyalty nowadays far outweighs our 80's support but vice versa on the quality of player.

[Judge Smails 13]

good question, the difference was we had a really good team in the 80's, a young McCoist, Cooper ,Redford Bobby Russell, Sandy Clarke, Robert Prytz etc but we were up against some tough teams probabaly up there with the best in europe at the time, Dundee Utd and Aberdeen won european honours. The only good thing to come out of our situation we are in now is over the years we have become a much more loyal support, and to have 36,000 season tickets for the past two seasons is an achievement only Rangers fans could do. our loyalty nowadays far outweighs our 80's support but vice versa on the quality of player.

Not a bad squad - taking the mists of time factor into consideration!

[minstral 5,375]

Everyone of the 80 teams would have beaten our present team. We were not great, but had some good players as well as average ones. Plus we always tried to play attacking football, and also it sorted out the real fans from the glory hunters, who all came running back when we started to be successful.

[topgoalie 637]

In the 1986/87 season we regularly beat Wee Jum's Dundee United at a time when they were tearing up Europe. Beating Barca home and away.

I had a soft spot for that United team as they also knocked out those cheating arschlochs from Moenchengladbach.

I was at the 5-0 drubbing of Munchenglabach,United regularly beat Europes best.Outwith Ferguson,Jim McLean and Brian Clough were outstanding managers with limited resources..

[nachothelegend 1,932]

Our Eighties Team is by Far the worst so Far,back then it Lasted longer .

We where in the Doldrums for several Years and its not quite as Bad as yet .

Yes Football is different and there was more Long Balls then but if we keep going with this Style we may get there.

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

better football but less fans?

Fewer distractions back then, when you consider the consoles, internet and avoiding TV celebrities/DJs .that folks spend time on too.