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Graeme James Souness was Rangers' very first player-manager and was able to transfer his ability from the pitch to the dugout. A world-class player he became a highly rated manager.
Souness was born in Edinburgh on the 6th May 1953 and began his career at Tottenham Hotspur as an apprentice. He was transferred to Middlesbrough before a move to Liverpool for £352,000 which was to prove a bargain. At Anfield he had a golden career, winning 3 European cups, 5 League titles and 4 league cups. In 1984 he joined Sampdoria before leaving in 1986 to become player-manager at Ibrox where he was awarded the last of his 54 Scotland caps.
As manager of Rangers he reversed the trend of players moving from Scotland to England by signing firstly Chris Woods, England's promising goalkeeper, and then their captain; Terry Butcher. These were just two of the high profile signings he would make. Souness totally reversed the fortunes of the club; in 1987 he won the club their first championship in 9 years.
The title was clinched in a dramatic match at Pittodrie, Rangers drew 1-1 with Aberdeen; Terry Butcher scoring for Rangers with Brian Irvine equalising. As Celtic lost 2-1 to Falkirk; Gilmour scoring an 87 winner, Rangers were the champions. He would steer the team to a further 2 league championships and 3 league cups in his 5 years at Ibrox.
Souness resigned on 16 April 1991 despite saying only six weeks earlier 'I'll never leave Ibrox'. His assistant Walter Smith was named as the new manager. Souness left to manage Liverpool, where Kenny Dalglish had resigned. After 2 years at Anfield, where he won the FA Cup, he was sacked.
He spent two seasons in Turkey managing Galatasary, where he won the Turkish cup before returning to England as manager of Southampton. He had a short spell as manager of Torino in Italy and then as manager of Benfica.
He is currently at Blackburn Rovers in England where he won promotion from the first division in 2001 before winning the league cup in 2002.
Souness will be remembered for reawakening the giant of Scottish football, he lay the foundations for 9 in a row which would be completed by his assistant Walter Smith.
Honours won as manager of The Rangers
League Champions:
1986/87, 1988/89 & 1989/90
League Cup:
1986/87, 1987/88, 1988/89 & 1990/91
Glasgow Cup - 1986/87
Glasgow International Football Tournament - 1987/88
