1996–97 in Scottish football

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1996–97 in Scottish football
Flag of Scotland with football.png
Premier League champions
Rangers
Division One champions
St Johnstone
Division Two champions
Ayr United
Division Three champions
Inverness CT
Scottish Cup winners
Kilmarnock
League Cup winners
Rangers
Challenge Cup winners
Stranraer
Junior Cup winners
Pollok
Teams in Europe
Aberdeen, Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers
Scotland national team
1998 World Cup qualification
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 season was the 100th season of competitive football in Scotland. This season saw a playoff system introduced between the second bottom club in the Premier Division and the second-top club in Division One.[1]

Scottish Premier Division[]

Main article: 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 36 25 5 6 85 33 +52 80 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Celtic 36 23 6 7 78 32 +46 75 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round[a]
3 Dundee United 36 17 9 10 46 33 +13 60
4 Heart of Midlothian 36 14 10 12 46 43 +3 52
5 Dunfermline Athletic 36 12 9 15 52 65 −13 45
6 Aberdeen 36 10 14 12 45 54 −9 44
7 Kilmarnock 36 11 6 19 41 61 −20 39 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round[b]
8 Motherwell 36 9 11 16 44 55 −11 38
9 Hibernian (O) 36 9 11 16 38 55 −17 38 Qualification for the Play-off
10 Raith Rovers (R) 36 6 7 23 29 73 −44 25 Relegation to the First Division
Source: Soccerbase
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ As the League Cup winners Rangers had qualified for European competition via their league position, the place in the UEFA Cup was passed to the next highest placed team in the league, Dundee United.
  2. ^ Kilmarnock qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as the winners of the Scottish Cup.

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Raith Rovers

Premier Division/Division One playoff[]

  • Hibernian 1–0 Airdrieonians
  • Airdrieonians 2–4 Hibernian

(Hibernian win 5–2 on aggregate)[2]

Scottish League Division One[]

Main article: 1996–97 Scottish First Division
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 St Johnstone (C, P) 36 24 8 4 74 23 +51 80 Premier Division
2 Airdrieonians 36 15 15 6 56 34 +22 60 Scottish Premier Division Playoff
3 Dundee 36 15 13 8 47 33 +14 58
4 St Mirren 36 17 7 12 48 41 +7 58
5 Falkirk 36 15 9 12 42 39 +3 54
6 Partick Thistle 36 12 12 12 49 48 +1 48
7 Stirling Albion 36 12 10 14 54 61 −7 46
8 Morton 36 12 9 15 42 41 +1 45
9 Clydebank (R) 36 7 7 22 31 59 −28 28 Second Division
10 East Fife (R) 36 2 8 26 28 92 −64 14
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promoted: St. Johnstone
Relegated: Clydebank, East Fife

Scottish League Division Two[]

Main article: 1996–97 Scottish Second Division
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Ayr United 36 23 8 5 61 33 +28 77 Promotion to the 1997–98 First Division
2 Hamilton Academical 36 22 8 6 75 28 +47 74
3 Livingston 36 18 10 8 56 38 +18 64
4 Clyde 36 14 10 12 42 39 +3 52
5 Queen of the South 36 13 8 15 55 57 −2 47
6 Stenhousemuir 36 11 11 14 49 43 +6 44
7 Brechin City 36 10 11 15 36 49 −13 41
8 Stranraer 36 9 9 18 29 51 −22 36
9 Dumbarton 36 9 8 19 44 66 −22 35 Relegation to the 1997–98 Third Division
10 Berwick Rangers 36 4 11 21 32 75 −43 23
Source: "1996-1997 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Promoted: Ayr United, Hamilton Academical
Relegated: Dumbarton, Berwick Rangers

Scottish League Division Three[]

Main article: 1996–97 Scottish Third Division
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle (C, P) 36 23 7 6 70 37 +33 76 Promotion to the 1997–98 Second Division
2 Forfar Athletic (P) 36 19 10 7 74 45 +29 67
3 Ross County 36 20 7 9 58 41 +17 67
4 Alloa Athletic 36 16 7 13 50 47 +3 55
5 Albion Rovers 36 13 10 13 50 47 +3 49
6 Montrose 36 12 7 17 46 62 −16 43
7 Cowdenbeath 36 10 9 17 38 51 −13 39
8 Queen's Park 36 9 9 18 46 59 −13 36
9 East Stirlingshire 36 8 9 19 36 58 −22 33
10 Arbroath 36 6 13 17 31 52 −21 31
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted

Promoted: Inverness CT, Forfar Athletic

Other honours[]

Cup honours[]

Competition Winner Score Runner-up Report
Scottish Cup 1996–97 Kilmarnock 1 – 0 Falkirk Wikipedia article
League Cup 1996–97 Rangers 4 – 3 Heart of Midlothian Wikipedia article
Challenge Cup 1996–97 Stranraer 1 – 0 St Johnstone Wikipedia article
Youth Cup Celtic 3 – 2 Rangers
Junior Cup Pollok 3 – 1 Tayport

Individual honours[]

SPFA awards[]

Award Winner Club
Players' Player of the Year Italy Paolo di Canio Celtic
Young Player of the Year Scotland Robbie Winters Dundee United

SFWA awards[]

Award Winner Club
Footballer of the Year Denmark Brian Laudrup Rangers
Young Player of the Year Scotland Alex Burke Kilmarnock
Manager of the Year Scotland Walter Smith Rangers

Scottish clubs in Europe[]

Club Competition(s) Final round Coef.
Rangers UEFA Champions League Group stage 5.00
Heart of Midlothian UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying round 1.00
Aberdeen UEFA Europa League Second round 5.00
Celtic UEFA Europa League First round 1.50

Average coefficient – 3.125

Scotland national team[]

Main article: Scotland national football team 1980–1999 results
Date Venue Opponents Score[3] Competition Scotland scorer(s)
31 August 1996 Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna (A) Austria Austria 0–0 WCQG4
5 October 1996 Daugava Stadium, Riga (A) Latvia Latvia 2–0 WCQG4 John Collins, Darren Jackson
10 November 1996 Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) Sweden Sweden 1–0 WCQG4 John McGinlay
11 February 1997 Stade Louis II, Monaco (A) Estonia Estonia 0–0 WCQG4
29 March 1997 Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (H) Estonia Estonia 2–0 WCQG4 Tom Boyd, own goal
2 April 1997 Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) Austria Austria 2–0 WCQG4 Kevin Gallacher (2)
30 April 1997 Ullevi, Gothenburg (A) Sweden Sweden 1–2 WCQG4 Kevin Gallacher
27 May 1997 Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (H) Wales Wales 0–1 Friendly
1 June 1997 Ta' Qali Stadium, Valletta (A) Malta Malta 3–2 Friendly Darren Jackson (2), Christian Dailly
8 June 1997 Dinamo Stadium, Minsk (A) Belarus Belarus 1–0 WCQG4 Gary McAllister (pen.)

Key:

  • (H) = Home match
  • (A) = Away match
  • WCQG4 = World Cup qualifying – Group 4

Notable events[]

  • Rangers matched Celtic's record of nine successive top division titles.
  • Tommy Burns was sacked as Celtic manager after the end of the season, having won just one trophy in his three years in charge.
  • Mark Hateley briefly returned to Rangers after a year in England to provide cover in attack during the title run-in, before moving back to England as player-manager of Hull City.
  • Kilmarnock won the Scottish Cup to end their 32-year wait for a major trophy.
  • Veteran goalkeeper Jim Leighton transferred from Hibernian to Aberdeen at the end of the season.
  • Former Scotland striker Mo Johnston moved to America at the start of the season to play for Kansas City Wizards in the American Major League.
  • Trevor Steven, the former England winger, retired from playing at the end of the season after winning seven league titles with Rangers since first joining them in 1989.
  • St Johnstone returned to the Premier Division by winning the Division One title by a 20-point margin.
  • Brian Laudrup was voted SFWA Footballer of the Year.
  • Paolo di Canio was voted SPFA Players' Player of the Year after scoring 15 league goals for Celtic after joining them from AC Milan in his native Italy, but during the close season left them to join Sheffield Wednesday for £4.7million.

Notes and references[]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Airdrie captain sent off as Hibs secure premier division status". The Herald. 23 May 1997. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  3. ^ Scotland's score is shown first.
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