1997–98 Scottish Premier Division

The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season was the last season of Scottish Football League Premier Division football before the change to the Scottish Premier League. It began on 1 August 1997.

Scottish Premier Division
Season1997–98
Dates1 August 1997 – 9 May 1998
ChampionsCeltic
7th Premier Division title
36th Scottish title
PromotedSt Johnstone
RelegatedHibernian
Champions LeagueCeltic
Cup Winners' CupHeart of Midlothian
UEFA CupRangers
Kilmarnock
Goals scored497 (7)
Average goals/game2.8
Top goalscorerMarco Negri (32)
Biggest home winRangers 7–0 Dunfermline (18 Oct)
Biggest away winKilmarnock 0–3 Rangers (24 Sep)
Kilmarnock 0–3 Heart of Midlothian (27 Sep)
Motherwell 1–4 Heart of Midlothian (4 Oct)
Aberdeen 1–4 Heart of Midlothian (1 Nov)
Heart of Midlothian 2–5 Rangers (20 Dec)
Heart of Midlothian 0–3 Rangers (25 Apr)
Highest attendance50,500, Celtic v St Johnstone (9 May)
Lowest attendance4,385, St Johnstone v Kilmarnock (13 Dec)
Average attendance18,036 (842)

Overview

The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season ended in success for Celtic who won by two points from nearest rivals Rangers, beating St Johnstone on the last day to clinch the title. Claiming the trophy would have given Rangers a record-breaking 10 Scottish League Championships in a row (having matched Celtic's record the previous season). Heart of Midlothian ran Celtic and Rangers very close to winning the title, and led for large spells of the season before falling away towards the end of the season. Hibernian were relegated to the First Division after finishing bottom. As champions, Celtic qualified for the Champions League while Rangers were joined by Kilmarnock in qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Third-placed Heart of Midlothian qualified for the last Cup Winners' Cup as Scottish Cup winners.[1]

Rangers were involved in some of the season's big transfers with Lorenzo Amoruso and Marco Negri arriving in multimillion-pound deals. Paul Gascoigne also left the club, heading for Middlesbrough in a £3.5m deal. Negri went on to become only the second player to score five goals in a Scottish Premier Division match, equalling Paul Sturrock's record by netting all five goals in a 5–1 win over Dundee United.

The season began on 2 August with the first goal of the season scored by Dundee United's Kjell Olofsson as they drew 1–1 at newly promoted St Johnstone. The season ended on 9 May with Hibernian's Stevie Crawford netting a last-minute equaliser away to Kilmarnock to score the final goal of the season.

Clubs

Promotion and relegation from 1996–97

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Relegated from Premier Division to First Division

Stadia and locations
Location of clubs in the 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division
Team Location Stadium
AberdeenAberdeenPittodrie Stadium
CelticParkhead, GlasgowCeltic Park
Dundee UnitedDundeeTannadice Park
Dunfermline AthleticDunfermlineEast End Park
Heart of MidlothianGorgie, EdinburghTynecastle Park
HibernianLeith, EdinburghEaster Road
KilmarnockKilmarnockRugby Park
MotherwellMotherwellFir Park
RangersIbrox, GlasgowIbrox Park
St JohnstonePerthMcDiarmid Park

Managers
Team Manager
Aberdeen Scotland Alex Miller
Celtic Netherlands Wim Jansen
Dundee United Scotland Tommy McLean
Dunfermline Athletic Scotland Bert Paton
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Jim Jefferies
Hibernian Scotland Alex McLeish
Kilmarnock Scotland Bobby Williamson
Motherwell Finland Harri Kampman
Rangers Scotland Walter Smith
St Johnstone Scotland Paul Sturrock

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Incoming manager Date of appointment
Celtic Scotland Billy Stark 11 May 1997 Caretaker spell ended Netherlands Wim Jansen 4 July 1997
Aberdeen Scotland Roy Aitken 10 November 1997[2] Sacked Scotland Alex Miller 21 November 1997[3]
Hibernian Scotland Jim Duffy 2 February 1998[4] Sacked Scotland Alex McLeish 11 February 1998
Motherwell Scotland Alex McLeish 11 February 1998 Signed by Hibernian Finland Harri Kampman 25 February 1998

Events

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic (C) 36 22 8 6 64 24 +40 74 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Rangers 36 21 9 6 76 38 +38 72 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3 Heart of Midlothian 36 19 10 7 70 46 +24 67 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
4 Kilmarnock 36 13 11 12 40 52 −12 50 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
5 St Johnstone 36 13 9 14 38 42 −4 48
6 Aberdeen 36 9 12 15 39 53 −14 39
7 Dundee United 36 8 13 15 43 51 −8 37
8 Dunfermline Athletic 36 8 13 15 43 68 −25 37
9 Motherwell 36 9 7 20 46 64 −18 34
10 Hibernian (R) 36 6 12 18 38 59 −21 30 Relegation to the First Division
Source: Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–18

During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN DNF HOM HIB KIL MOT RAN STJ
Aberdeen 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–4 2–0 0–0 1–3 1–1 1–1
Celtic 2–0 4–0 1–2 1–0 5–0 4–0 0–2 1–1 2–0
Dundee United 5–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–2 4–0 2–1 2–1
Dunfermline Athletic 1–1 0–2 3–3 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–2 0–0 2–2
Heart of Midlothian 4–1 1–2 2–1 3–1 2–0 5–3 2–0 2–5 2–1
Hibernian 2–2 2–1 1–3 5–2 0–1 4–0 1–1 3–4 1–1
Kilmarnock 1–0 0–0 1–3 2–1 0–3 2–1 2–1 0–3 0–1
Motherwell 1–2 2–3 1–0 2–0 1–4 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–1
Rangers 3–3 1–0 5–1 7–0 3–1 1–0 4–1 2–2 3–2
St Johnstone 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–2 1–0 1–1 4–3 0–2
Source: Soccerbot
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36

During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team a further two times (home and away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN DNF HOM HIB KIL MOT RAN STJ
Aberdeen 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–2 3–0 0–0 3–0 1–0 0–1
Celtic 3–1 1–1 5–1 0–0 0–0 4–0 4–1 2–0 2–0
Dundee United 0–0 0–1 2–2 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 0–2
Dunfermline Athletic 3–3 1–1 2–2 1–3 1–1 3–2 2–1 2–3 0–1
Heart of Midlothian 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 0–3 1–1
Hibernian 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–1
Kilmarnock 2–1 1–2 1–0 3–0 2–2 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–0
Motherwell 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–3 2–4 6–2 1–1 1–2 2–1
Rangers 2–0 2–0 4–1 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–1
St Johnstone 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–3 1–1 1–0 3–2 2–0
Source: Soccerbot
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers
PlayerGoalsTeam
Italy Marco Negri32Rangers
Sweden Kjell Olofsson18Dundee United
Sweden Henrik Larsson16Celtic
Scotland Andy SmithDunfermline Athletic
Republic of Ireland Tommy Coyne14Motherwell
Scotland Jim HamiltonHeart of Midlothian
Republic of Ireland Owen Coyle11Motherwell
Germany Jörg Albertz10Rangers
Scotland Craig BurleyCeltic
Scotland Billy DoddsAberdeen
Scotland Simon DonnellyCeltic
Scotland Neil McCannHeart of Midlothian
Northern Ireland George O'BoyleSt Johnstone
Scotland Paul WrightKilmarnock

Source: Soccerbot

References
  1. "1997/98 Scottish Premier Division". Soccerbot. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  2. "Roy Aitken". AFC Heritage. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  3. "Miller takes Aberdeen call". The Independent. 22 November 1997. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  4. "Duffy is sacked by Hibernian". The Independent. 3 February 1998. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  5. "Winners against the odds". BBC Sport website. 2000-07-20.
  6. "The Scotland Squad". BBC News & Sport website. 1998-05-03. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
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