THE SOUNESS REVOLUTION
Big-name signings and unwavering self-belief were the catalysts for Rangers’ domestic dominance, ensuring our game would never be the same again
THE revolution started with a pause. When Graeme Souness was announced as the new player-manager of Rangers on April 8, 1986, a door inside the Blue Room at Ibrox swung open.
Then, for a few seconds, nothing. Footage of that day shows PR man Alan Ferguson staring towards a vacant space. Time briefly stands still, as if to appreciate the significance of the moment, before Souness steps forward to formalise his arrival and begin a new era.
The impact of it was felt well beyond the south side of Glasgow. Whether you liked it or not, nothing in Scottish football would ever be quite the same again.
Always capable of a dramatic flourish, Souness had apparently been finishing a phone call prior to meeting the media. Perhaps it was a little signal of what was to come.
Obviously not in terms of the wait, given the dizzying dynamism that followed, but in the sense that he would do things his way. And only his way. A powerful will was about to be exerted.
Rangers would be restored to domestic supremacy by the end of his debut season in charge, but his influence cannot be measured solely in silverware. Just 32 when appointed, he can be viewed as the bringer of the modern age.
When people talk of the Souness revolution, they often mean the signing of some of England’s best players in those initial months. While that seems all the more astonishing through 21st Century eyes, he disrupted and reshaped far more than just the British transfer market.
His friendship with David Murray was crucial to the latter’s acquisition of Rangers in 1988 and the financial path travelled during the subsequent 24 years.
His signing of Maurice Johnston was a dramatic strike against sectarian attitudes. His hiring of Walter Smith as his assistant provided a successor who would become one of the greatest of all Ibrox managers over two spells in charge.
For a tenure that lasted five years, Souness left an incredibly far-reaching legacy.
His exit for Liverpool in 1991 was a mistake. One which Souness now readily admits.
Short of his 38th birthday, he accepted a return to Anfield at the third time of asking — but it was still too early. What must have felt like his destiny became scarred by disappointments.
Attempts to change Liverpool foundered amid resistance that simply did not exist at Ibrox. At least not for long. New laws were laid down from the start and there was only one judge whose opinion mattered.
Success followed quickly to vindicate the methods deployed, not least the bold signing strategy Souness adopted in Glasgow.
With English clubs banned from Europe after the Heysel disaster, Rangers capitalised on their heightened appeal by offering enticing salaries.
England goalkeeper Chris Woods was the first significant addition from south of the border. Then came Terry Butcher, captain of the Three Lions.
Of course, Souness was also a vital on-field contributor himself in that initial season. Masterminded by Ibrox chief executive David Holmes, his capture from Sampdoria delivered a player schooled in success as well as a vigorous managerial figurehead.
His debut — on August 9, 1986 — was famously a calamity. With his dad watching from the Easter Road stand, Souness was sent off for a kick out at George McCluskey in the 37th minute.
Rangers lost 2-1. Their new leader apologised for a loss of control, but privately took heart from how his recently formed team had all become involved in the centre-circle melee that surrounded his dismissal.
Souness had been ruthless in culling his squad, yet still enjoyed the benefit of inheriting a group of talented Scottish players.
Ian Durrant and Derek Ferguson were rising midfield stars. Ally McCoist was already a proven goalscorer, his output supported by Robert Fleck. Dave McPherson and Stuart
Munro offered solid defensive options.
Then there was Davie Cooper. The sublimely gifted winger excelled under Souness to produce some of his very best performances.
He was also easy to manage in comparison with the exuberance of McCoist and Durrant. Trying to curtail their late-night activities became a regular source of grief for Souness. The story goes that he picked his moment for payback by telling them their league bonuses would be withheld for previous offences — on the very evening the title was won.
In the main, though, Souness deployed his iron fist against opposition outside the walls of Ibrox.
‘The playing side certainly held no fears for me,’ he said.
‘Management didn’t either, because I was a young man and when you are a young man, you think you can take on the world. That was certainly my attitude.’
His swagger re-energised Rangers. Attendances had dwindled in the seasons before. No league title had been won since 1978. The club was fractured and lacking in direction before majority shareholder Lawrence Marlborough gave Holmes the authority to pursue his vision of how Souness could act as the catalyst for transformation.
Winning the 1986 Skol Cup provided a first trophy. If an epic Scottish Cup shock against Hamilton was a real setback, it wasn’t enough to prevent the overhauling of
Celtic’s mid-season lead in the Premier Division. The crown was duly clinched at Pittodrie on May 2, 1987.
It was the first of ten titles in 11 years for Rangers, with Souness responsible for three of them.
By the time of his departure, he had also completed the most headline-grabbing transfer in Scottish football history.
Snatching Johnston from under Celtic’s noses in 1989 delivered the first high-profile Catholic signing Rangers had made in decades. Souness made it clear from the start that he would not be guided by any religious bias.
‘He (Johnston) wasn’t the first Catholic I’d tried to sign for Rangers,’ he said last year.
‘Ray Houghton and John Collins both originally fancied it, then backed out. You have to give Maurice great credit for being the one brave enough to do it.
‘Not signing Catholics was giving an enormous advantage to Celtic. We could only sign half the prospects in some areas of Scotland — because of a stupid, unwritten rule.
‘There was some internal resistance at Rangers but I quickly resolved that by making it clear that it simply wouldn’t be tolerated on my watch.
‘People still miss the point of Maurice Johnston signing for Rangers 30 years ago. They still say: “Religion, sectarianism, a statement” and I still reply — as I did at the time — “football, football, football”.’
In Scotland, it is a game that Souness changed forever more.
THE MEN WHO LEFT THEIR MARK ON SCOTTISH FOOTBALL
No 7 GRAEME SOUNESS