2008–09 Scottish Premier League

Scottish Premier League
Season 2008–09
Champions Rangers
Relegated Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Champions League Rangers
Celtic
Europa League Heart of Midlothian
Falkirk
Aberdeen
Motherwell
Goals scored 548
Average goals/game 2.40
Top goalscorer Kris Boyd (27)
Biggest home win Celtic 7–0 St Mirren (28 February)
Biggest away win Kilmarnock 0–4 Rangers (9 November)
Dundee United 0–4 Motherwell (18 January)
Highest scoring Rangers 7–1 Hamilton Academical (6 December)

The 2008–09 Scottish Premier League season was the eleventh season of the Scottish Premier League and the second season under the sponsorship of the Clydesdale Bank. It began on 9 August 2008 with a game between Falkirk and Rangers.[1] After the 33rd round of matches, the league split in half and each team played a further five matches against the teams in their half of the league.

Champions Rangers qualified directly for the Champions League, while second-placed Celtic qualified for the qualifying rounds. Four teams qualified for the new Europa League: Hearts and Aberdeen via league position, Falkirk via the Scottish Cup, and Motherwell by the Fair Play initiative. Inverness were relegated after their fifth season in the SPL and were replaced by St Johnstone for the following season's competition.

The championship was determined on the final day of the season. Leaders Rangers travelled to Tannadice to play Dundee United knowing that a win would secure the title. They achieved this comfortably, courtesy of a 3–0 victory. The goals were scored by Kyle Lafferty, Pedro Mendes and the league's top goalscorer, Kris Boyd.[2] Celtic needed to win their final match of the season against Hearts and hope that Rangers failed to win, but their goalless draw was rendered meaningless. It was also Rangers first title in 4 years.[3]

Promotion and relegation from 2007–08

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Relegated from Premier League

Events

League table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 38 26 8 4 77 28+49 86 2009–10 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2 Celtic 38 24 10 4 80 33+47 82 2009–10 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
3 Heart of Midlothian 38 16 11 11 40 37+3 59 2009–10 UEFA Europa League Play-off round
4 Aberdeen 38 14 11 13 41 40+1 53 2009–10 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
5 Dundee United 38 13 14 11 47 503 53
6 Hibernian 38 11 14 13 42 464 47
7 Motherwell 38 13 9 16 46 515 48 2009–10 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round 1
8 Kilmarnock 38 12 8 18 38 4810 44
9 Hamilton Academical 38 12 5 21 30 5323 41
10 Falkirk 38 9 11 18 37 5215 38 2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round 2
11 St Mirren 38 9 10 19 33 5219 37
12 Inverness Caledonian Thistle (R) 38 10 7 21 37 5821 37 Relegation to Scottish First Division 2009–10

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1 Scotland was among the best three associations in the UEFA Fair Play ranking and thus received an additional spot in the UEFA Europa League 2009-10. Since Celtic, the winners of the Scottish Fair Play ranking, already qualified for the UEFA Champions League 2009–10, Motherwell, being the second place team in the ranking, earned a spot in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League 2009–10.[9]
2 Since Rangers, the winners of the 2008–09 Scottish Cup, already qualified for the UEFA Champions League 2009–10, Falkirk, being the losing finalist, earned a spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League 2009–10.
(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 1–22

During their first 22 matches, each team played every other team home and away.

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DUNFALHAMHOMHIBINVKILMOTRANSTM
Aberdeen 42 01 21 12 10 12 02 10 20 11 20
Celtic 32 22 30 40 11 42 10 30 20 24 10
Dundee United 21 11 10 11 30 20 21 02 04 22 20
Falkirk 01 03 00 41 21 11 12 11 10 01 12
Hamilton Academical 20 12 31 11 12 01 10 10 20 13 12
Heart of Midlothian 11 02 00 21 10 00 10 12 32 21 21
Hibernian 22 20 21 32 20 11 12 24 01 03 20
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 03 12 13 11 01 01 11 31 12 03 12
Kilmarnock 12 13 20 12 10 02 10 12 10 04 01
Motherwell 01 24 11 32 20 10 14 32 02 00 21
Rangers 20 01 33 31 71 20 10 50 21 21 21
St Mirren 01 13 02 11 10 01 00 20 00 00 10

Source: BBC Sport
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away).

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DUNFALHAMHOMHIBINVKILMOTRANSTM
Aberdeen 22 10 10 00 00
Celtic 20 40 40 31 00 70
Dundee United 22 01 22 11 00 32
Falkirk 10 01 12 00 40 01
Hamilton Academical 01 20 01 01 00
Heart of Midlothian 21 11 32 31 21 11
Hibernian 00 00 10 11 23
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 00 11 20 21 12 21
Kilmarnock 12 30 01 11 00
Motherwell 11 11 21 11 10 02
Rangers 20 22 01 31 31
St Mirren 11 22 11 11 12

Source: BBC Sport
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 34–38

During matches 34–38 each team play every other team in their half of the table once.

Top six

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DUNHOMHIBRAN
Aberdeen 13 00 21
Celtic 21 00
Dundee United 11 03
Heart of Midlothian 30 01
Hibernian 00 12 11
Rangers 21 10 20

Source: BBC Sport
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.

Bottom six

Home ╲ Away FAL HAM INVKILMOTSTM
Falkirk 21 02
Hamilton Academical 01 21 03
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 01 11
Kilmarnock 11 10 21
Motherwell 22 12
St Mirren 01 12 13

Source: BBC Sport
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Goals

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Team Goals
1 Scotland Kris Boyd Rangers 27
2 Australia Scott McDonald Celtic 16
3 Greece Georgios Samaras Celtic 15
4 Scotland David Clarkson Motherwell 13
5 Scotland Derek Riordan Hibernian 12
6 Scotland Steven Fletcher Hibernian 11
7 Wales Andy Dorman St Mirren 10
Scotland Kenny Miller Rangers
Scotland Lee Miller Aberdeen
Spain Francisco Sandaza Dundee United
England John Sutton Motherwell

Last updated: 24 May 2009
Source: BBC Sport

Hat-tricks

Scorer For Against Date Report
Scotland Kris Boyd Rangers Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 November 2008 BBC Sport
Scotland Kris Boyd Rangers Hamilton Academical 6 December 2008 BBC Sport
England Chris Porter Motherwell Inverness Caledonian Thistle 27 December 2008 BBC Sport
Japan Shunsuke Nakamura Celtic St Mirren 28 February 2009 BBC Sport
Scotland Kevin Kyle Kilmarnock Falkirk 11 April 2009 BBC Sport

Kits and shirt sponsors

Team Kit manufacturer Kit sponsor Notes
Aberdeen Nike Team Recruitment Team Recruitment replace Apex Tubulars as sponsors
New home and away kits[10]
Celtic Nike Carling New home kit, green and white hoops
New away kit, yellow with green shorts[11]
Dundee United Hummel Carbrini Carbrini replace Anglian Home Improvements as shirt sponsor[12][13]
New home and away kits[14]
Falkirk Puma Central Demolition Puma replace Lotto as kit manufacturer
New home and away kits[15]
Hamilton Academical Nike Morris Furniture (H) /
UPVC Window & Door Company (A)
New home and away kits
Heart of Midlothian Umbro Ūkio bankas New home[16] and away[17] kits
Hibernian Le Coq Sportif Whyte and Mackay New home kit[18]
New away kit, yellow[19] dubbed "Sunshine on Leith"[20]
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Erreà Flybe New home kit[21]
Kilmarnock 1869 Smallworld 1869 (Kilmarnock's own brand name) replace Lotto as kit manufacturer[22]
Motherwell Bukta JAXX JAXX replace Anglian Home Improvements as kit sponsor[23]
New home and away kits
Rangers Umbro Carling New home kit, light blue with white
New away and third kits
St Mirren Hummel Braehead Shopping Centre New home and away kits

Attendances

Team Stadium Capacity Highest Lowest Average
Celtic Celtic Park 60,355 59,685[24] 55,117[25] 57,761[26]
Rangers Ibrox Stadium 51,082 50,403[27] 48,129[28] 49,534[26]
Heart of Midlothian Tynecastle Stadium 17,420 17,244[29] 12,030[30] 14,398[26]
Aberdeen Pittodrie Stadium 22,199 20,441[31] 8,909[32] 12,929[26]
Hibernian Easter Road 17,500 17,223[33] 10,317[34] 12,684[26]
Dundee United Tannadice Park 14,209 14,077[35] 5,926[36] 8,654[26]
Kilmarnock Rugby Park 18,128 10,153[37] 4,267[38] 5,727[26]
Falkirk Falkirk Stadium 6,935 6,853[39] 4,385[40] 5,640[26]
Motherwell Fir Park 13,742 9,600[41] 2,818[42] 5,522[26]
St Mirren Love Street[43] 10,800 10,189[44] 3,364[45] 5,411[26]
New St Mirren Park 8,000
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Caledonian Stadium 7,500 7,143[46] 2,578[47] 4,457[26]
Hamilton Academical New Douglas Park 6,000 5,895[48] 2,600[49] 3,823[26]

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date Replaced by Date Position in table[50]
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Stephen Frail Sacked 9 July[51] Hungary Csaba László 11 July[52] Pre-season
Inverness CT Scotland Craig Brewster Sacked 19 January[53] England Terry Butcher 27 January[54] 12
Aberdeen Scotland Jimmy Calderwood Mutual consent 24 May[55] Scotland Mark McGhee 12 June[56] 4
Celtic Scotland Gordon Strachan Resigned 25 May[57] England Tony Mowbray 16 June[58] 2
Hibernian Finland Mixu Paatelainen Mutual consent 29 May[59] Scotland John Hughes 8 June[60] 6
Falkirk Scotland John Hughes Resigned 8 June[60] Scotland Eddie May 23 June[61] 10
Motherwell Scotland Mark McGhee Resigned 12 June[56] Republic of Ireland Jim Gannon 30 June[62] 7

Awards

Monthly awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Young Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club Player Club
August Scotland Jim Jefferies[63] Kilmarnock Portugal Pedro Mendes[64] Rangers Scotland James McArthur[65] Hamilton Academical
September Scotland Gordon Strachan[66] Celtic Greece Georgios Samaras[66] Celtic Scotland Scott Arfield[67] Falkirk
October Scotland Gus MacPherson[68] St Mirren Scotland Scott Brown[69] Celtic Scotland Steven Fletcher[70] Hibernian
November Scotland Gordon Strachan[71] Celtic Portugal Bruno Aguiar[72] Heart of Midlothian England Sone Aluko[73] Aberdeen
December Scotland Gus MacPherson[74] St Mirren Scotland Lee Miller[75] Aberdeen Republic of Ireland James McCarthy[76] Hamilton Academical
January Scotland Billy Reid[77] Hamilton Academical Czech Republic Tomas Cerny[77] Hamilton Academical Republic of Ireland James McCarthy[77] Hamilton Academical
February Scotland Mark McGhee[78] Motherwell Wales Andy Dorman[79] St Mirren Scotland Lee Wallace[80] Heart of Midlothian
March Finland Mixu Paatelainen[81] Hibernian Australia Scott McDonald[82] Celtic Scotland Steven Fletcher[83] Hibernian
April Scotland Walter Smith[84] Rangers Wales Andy Dorman[85] St Mirren Scotland Calum Elliot[86] Heart of Midlothian

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards[87]

AwardRecipient
Player of the SeasonScotland Gary Caldwell (Celtic)
Manager of the SeasonHungary Csaba László (Heart of Midlothian)
Young Player of the SeasonScotland Steven Fletcher (Hibernian)
Goal of the SeasonSpain Marc Crosas (Celtic v St Mirren)
Save of the SeasonScotland Graeme Smith (Motherwell v St Mirren)
Under-19 League Player of the SeasonScotland Sean Welsh (Hibernian)
Best Club Media RelationsMotherwell
Best Fan Marketing InitiativeRangers
Best Matchday HospitalityRangers
Best Community InitiativeFalkirk
Best Away GroundTynecastle (Heart of Midlothian)

References

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  49. Hamilton 1–1 Falkirk Soccerbase, 8 November 2008
  50. Shows position in table at time when manager departed
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