The 1986–87 season was the 90th season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In the first full season under the management of player-manager

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

, 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 Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team. As a player, he was a goalkeeper (association football), goalke ...

. 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 William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...

, the man he had succeeded in 1983. Aberdeen manager

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...

moved south of the border on 6 November to manage

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. 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 Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. 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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

final.

Scottish Premier Division

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Clydebank, Hamilton Academical

Scottish League Division One

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

Scottish League Division Two

Promoted: Meadowbank Thistle, Raith Rovers

Other honours

Cup honours

Non-league honours

Senior

Individual honours

Scotland national team

Key: *(H) = Home match *(A) = Away match *ECQG7 = European Championship qualifying - Group 7

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:1986-87 In Scottish Football Seasons in Scottish football