1996–97 Scottish Premier Division

Scottish Premier Division
Season 1996–97
Champions Rangers
Promoted Dunfermline
Dundee United
Relegated Raith Rovers
Champions League Rangers
UEFA Cup Celtic
Dundee United
Cup Winners' Cup Kilmarnock
Goals scored 504 (27)
Average goals/game 2.8
Top goalscorer Jorge Cadete (25)
Biggest home win Celtic 6–0 Kilmarnock (08 Jan)
Biggest away win Raith Rovers 0–6 Rangers (15 Apr)
Highest attendance 50,210, Rangers 2–0 Celtic (28 Sep)
Lowest attendance 3,052, Raith Rovers 1–5 Motherwell (18 Feb)
Average attendance 17,194 (2,159)

The 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division season was the penultimate season of Scottish Premier Division football before the change to the Scottish Premier League. It began on 10 August 1996.

Overview

The 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division season ended in success for Rangers who won the title by five points from nearest rivals Celtic to clinch nine titles in a row. Raith Rovers were relegated to the First Division after finishing bottom. As champions, Rangers qualified for the Champions League while Celtic were joined by third-placed Dundee United in qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Seventh-placed Kilmarnock qualified for the penultimate Cup Winners' Cup as Scottish Cup winners.[1]

The season began on 10 August with the first goal of the season scored by Dundee United's Gary McSwegan as they drew 1–1 at home to Motherwell. The season ended on 10 May with Celtic's Tommy Johnson netting a late goal to cap a 3–0 win at home to Dundee United to claim the final goal of the season.

Promotion and relegation from 1995–96

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Relegated from Premier Division to First Division

Events

League table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 36 25 5 6 85 33+52 80 1997–98 UEFA Champions League First qualifying round
2 Celtic 36 23 6 7 78 32+46 75 1997–98 UEFA Cup First qualifying round
3 Dundee United 36 17 9 10 46 33+13 60 1997–98 UEFA Cup First qualifying round
4 Heart of Midlothian 36 14 10 12 46 43+3 52
5 Dunfermline Athletic 36 12 9 15 52 6513 45
6 Aberdeen 36 10 14 12 45 549 44
7 Kilmarnock 36 11 6 19 41 6120 39 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying round
8 Motherwell 36 9 11 16 44 5511 38
9 Hibernian 36 9 11 16 38 5517 38
10 Raith Rovers (R) 36 6 7 23 29 7344 25 Relegation to Scottish First Division

Source: Soccerbot
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Matches 1–18

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

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DUNDNFHOMHIBKILMOTRAIRAN
Aberdeen 22 33 30 40 02 30 00 10 03
Celtic 10 10 51 22 50 60 10 41 01
Dundee United 10 12 11 10 01 00 11 12 10
Dunfermline Athletic 23 02 11 21 21 21 11 31 25
Heart of Midlothian 12 22 10 20 00 32 11 00 14
Hibernian 01 04 11 00 13 12 20 10 21
Kilmarnock 30 13 02 22 20 42 24 21 14
Motherwell 22 21 13 23 02 11 10 01 01
Raith Rovers 14 12 23 12 11 03 10 03 22
Rangers 22 20 10 31 30 43 42 50 10

Source: Soccerbot
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Matches 19–36

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

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DUNDNFHOMHIBKILMOTRAIRAN
Aberdeen 12 11 02 00 11 21 00 20 22
Celtic 30 30 42 20 41 00 50 20 01
Dundee United 40 10 21 10 00 20 22 21 01
Dunfermline Athletic 30 11 23 23 11 31 31 20 03
Heart of Midlothian 00 12 12 11 10 20 41 32 31
Hibernian 31 13 20 10 04 01 11 11 12
Kilmarnock 11 20 23 21 10 11 10 01 11
Motherwell 22 01 11 22 01 21 20 50 13
Raith Rovers 22 11 01 01 12 11 21 15 06
Rangers 40 31 02 40 00 31 12 02 40

Source: Soccerbot
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Top scorers

Player Goals Team
Portugal Jorge Cadete 25 Celtic
Denmark Brian Laudrup 16 Rangers
Scotland Paul Wright 15 Kilmarnock
Scotland Billy Dodds 14 Aberdeen
Scotland John Robertson Hearts
Netherlands Pierre van Hooijdonk Celtic
Scotland Gerry Britton 13 Dunfermline Athletic
England Paul Gascoigne Rangers
Italy Paolo di Canio 12 Celtic
Sweden Kjell Olofsson Dundee United
Republic of Ireland Tommy Coyne 11 Motherwell
Scotland Darren Jackson Hibernian
Germany Jorg Albertz 10 Rangers
Scotland Ally McCoist Rangers
Scotland Andy Smith Dunfermline Athletic
England Dean Windass Aberdeen

Source: Soccerbot

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment
Raith Rovers Scotland Tommy McLean Resigned 10 September 1996 Scotland Iain Munro 16 September 1996
Dundee United Scotland Billy Kirkwood Sacked 10 September 1996 Scotland Tommy McLean 10 September 1996
Hibernian Scotland Alex Miller Sacked 30 September 1996 Scotland Jim Duffy 30 December 1996
Kilmarnock Scotland Alex Totten Sacked 30 November 1996 Scotland Bobby Williamson 7 December 1996

References

  1. "Scottish Premier Division 1996/97". Soccerbot. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
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