1986: The Rangers Revolution

Glasgow Rangers began the year in the doldrums—and they stayed there for a good few months, struggling to make fifth spot in a 10-team league. That was until the dramatic events of Tuesday, 8 April 1986. From that day forward, the Glasgow Rangers changed forever; Graeme Souness saw to that. Fresh from Serie A—which at that time was almost certainly the toughest league in the world—Souness came home to Scotland to become Rangers' player/manager; he took the club by the scruff of the neck and didn't stop shaking until he'd made them the best team in Scotland—and by some distance. He reversed the trend of the best Scottish players heading south to ply their trade in England, and encouraged the English trio of Terry Butcher, Chris Woods, and Graham Roberts to head to Ibrox. It was the year Souness gave Rangers supporters back their swagger. With new insightful interviews with the key players, chief protagonists, and those who were at the heart of the turnaround, 1986: The Rangers Revolution tells the full story of what happened at Ibrox in 1986—quite a year to be a Ranger!

Jeff Holmes is the author of the Davie Meiklejohn biography, The Greatest Ranger Ever? and Blue Thunder: The Jock Wallace Story. After working for 25 years in television, Jeff switched careers and joined the Paisley Daily Express. He's now part of the team at Media Scotland, covering soccer matches for the Daily Record and Sunday Mail.