1997–98 in Scottish football

1997–98 in Scottish football
Premier League champions
Celtic
Division One champions
Dundee
Division Two champions
Stranraer
Division Three champions
Alloa Athletic
Scottish Cup winners
Heart of Midlothian
League Cup winners
Celtic
Challenge Cup winners
Falkirk
Junior Cup winners
Arthurlie
Teams in Europe
Celtic, Dundee United, Kilmarnock, Rangers
Scotland national team
1998 World Cup qualification, 1998 World Cup
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 season was the 101st season of competitive football in Scotland. Celtic won the Premier Division championship, preventing rivals Rangers from winning a record 10th successive championship. [1]

Scottish Premier Division

Main article: 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division
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

Top scorers

Player Goals Team
Italy Marco Negri 32 Rangers
Sweden Kjell Olofsson 18 Dundee United
Sweden Henrik Larsson 16 Celtic
Scotland Andy Smith Dunfermline Athletic
Republic of Ireland Tommy Coyne 14 Motherwell
Scotland Jim Hamilton Heart of Midlothian
Republic of Ireland Owen Coyle 11 Motherwell
Germany Jörg Albertz 10 Rangers
Scotland Craig Burley Celtic
Scotland Billy Dodds Aberdeen
Scotland Simon Donnelly Celtic
Scotland Neil McCann Heart of Midlothian
Northern Ireland George O'Boyle St Johnstone
Scotland Paul Wright Kilmarnock

Source: Soccerbot

Scottish League Division One

Main article: 1997–98 Scottish First Division

Table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Dundee (C, P) 36 20 10 6 52 24 +28 70 Promotion to the Premier League
2 Falkirk 36 19 8 9 56 41 +15 65
3 Raith Rovers 36 17 9 10 51 33 +18 60
4 Airdrieonians 36 16 12 8 42 35 +7 60
5 Greenock Morton 36 12 10 14 40 47 −7 46
6 St Mirren 36 11 8 17 41 53 −12 41
7 Ayr United 36 10 10 16 40 56 −16 40
8 Hamilton Academical 36 9 11 16 43 56 −13 38
9 Partick Thistle (R) 36 8 12 16 45 55 −10 36 Relegation to the Second Division
10 Stirling Albion (R) 36 8 10 18 40 56 −16 34
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Top scorers

P Name Goals
1 Scotland James Grady (Dundee) 15
2 Scotland Alex Bone (Stirling Albion) 13
3 Scotland Eddie Annand (Dundee) 12
= Scotland Brian McPhee (Airdrieonians) 12
= England David Moss (Falkirk) 12
6 England Stephen Cooper (Airdrieonians) 11
7 Benin Laurent D'Jaffo (Ayr United) 10
= Scotland Paul Hartley (Raith Rovers) 10
= England Warren Hawke (Morton) 10
= Scotland Marino Keith (Falkirk) 10

Scottish League Division Two

Main article: 1997–98 Scottish Second Division

Table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Stranraer (C, P) 36 18 7 11 62 44 +18 61 Promotion to the First Division
2 Clydebank (P) 36 16 12 8 48 31 +17 60
3 Livingston 36 16 11 9 56 40 +16 59
4 Queen of the South 36 15 9 12 57 51 +6 54
5 Inverness CT 36 13 10 13 65 51 +14 49
6 East Fife 36 14 6 16 51 59 −8 48
7 Forfar Athletic 36 12 10 14 51 61 −10 46
8 Clyde 36 10 12 14 40 53 −13 42
9 Stenhousemuir (R) 36 10 10 16 44 53 −9 40 Relegation to the Third Division
10 Brechin City (R) 36 7 11 18 42 73 −31 32
Source: "1997-1998 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL (in Malay). Retrieved 29 April 2021.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Top scorers

P Name Goals
1 Scotland Iain Stewart (Inverness CT) 16
2 Scotland Graham Harvey (Livingston) 15
= Scotland Ian Little (Stenhousemuir) 15
4 Scotland Martin McLauchan (Forfar Athletic) 14
5 Scotland Colin McDonald (Clydebank) 13
= Scotland B Thomson (Inverness CT) 13
7 Australia Ben Honeyman (Forfar Athletic) 12
8 Scotland Tommy Bryce (Queen of the South) 11
= Scotland Matthew Dyer (East Fife) 11
= Scotland Gordon Young (Stranraer) 11

Scottish League Division Three

Main article: 1997–98 Scottish Third Division

Table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Alloa Athletic (C, P) 36 24 4 8 78 39 +39 76 Promotion to the Second Division
2 Arbroath (P) 36 20 8 8 67 39 +28 68
3 Ross County 36 19 10 7 71 36 +35 67
4 East Stirlingshire 36 17 6 13 50 48 +2 57
5 Albion Rovers 36 13 5 18 60 73 −13 44
6 Berwick Rangers 36 10 12 14 47 55 −8 42
7 Queen's Park 36 10 11 15 42 55 −13 41
8 Cowdenbeath 36 12 2 22 33 57 −24 38
9 Montrose 36 10 8 18 53 80 −27 38
10 Dumbarton 36 7 10 19 42 61 −19 31
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Top scorers

Pos Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Colin McGlashan Montrose 20
2 Scotland Willie Irvine Alloa Athletic 18
3 Scotland Billy Spence Arbroath 16
4 Scotland Derek Adams Ross County 15
5 Scotland Willie Watters Albion Rovers 13
Scotland Davie Watt East Stirlingshire
7 Scotland Paul Forrester Berwick Rangers 10
Scotland Lee Gardner Albion Rovers
Scotland Brian Grant Arbroath
Scotland Colin McKinnon Dumbarton

Other honours

Cup honours

Competition Winner Score Runner-up Report
Scottish Cup 1997–98 Heart of Midlothian 2 – 1 Rangers Wikipedia article
League Cup 1997–98 Celtic 3 – 0 Dundee United Wikipedia article
Challenge Cup 1997–98 Falkirk 1 – 0 Queen of the South Wikipedia article
Youth Cup Heart of Midlothian 2 – 0 Dundee United
Junior Cup Arthurlie 4 – 0 Pollok

Individual honours

SPFA awards

Award Winner Club
Players' Player of the Year Scotland Jackie McNamara Celtic
Young Player of the Year Scotland Gary Naysmith Heart of Midlothian

SFWA awards

Award Winner Club
Footballer of the Year Scotland Craig Burley Celtic
Young Player of the Year Sweden Henrik Larsson Celtic
Manager of the Year Netherlands Wim Jansen Celtic

Scottish clubs in Europe

Club Competition(s) Final round Coef.
Rangers UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League 		Second qualifying round
First round 		2.50
Kilmarnock UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round 2.50
Celtic UEFA Europa League First round 5.00
Dundee United UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round 2.50

Average coefficient – 3.125

Scotland national team

Main article: Scotland national football team 1980–1999 results
Date Venue Opponents Score[2] Competition Scotland scorer(s)
7 September Pittodrie, Aberdeen (H)  Belarus 4–1 WCQG4 Kevin Gallacher (2), David Hopkin (2)
11 October Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)  Latvia 2–0 WCQG4 Kevin Gallacher, Gordon Durie
12 November Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St Etienne (A) France France 1–2 Friendly Gordon Durie
25 March Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) Denmark Denmark 0–1 Friendly
22 April Easter Road, Edinburgh (H) Finland Finland 1–1 Friendly Darren Jackson
23 May Giants Stadium, East Rutherford NJ (A) Colombia Colombia 2–2 Friendly John Collins, Craig Burley
30 May RFK Memorial Stadium, Washington DC (A) United States USA 0–0 Friendly
10 June Stade de France, Saint-Denis (N) Brazil Brazil 1–2 WCGA John Collins (pen.)
16 June Stade Lescure, Bordeaux (N) Norway Norway 1–1 WCGA Craig Burley
23 June Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St Etienne (N) Morocco Morocco 0–3 WCGA

Key:

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

Notable events

  • After the end of the season, the 10 Premier Division clubs formed a breakaway Scottish Premier League similar to the one formed in England six years earlier.
  • Celtic won the Premier Division title after nine successive title wins by Rangers.
  • Walter Smith resigned as manager of Rangers after seven years to be succeeded by Dutchman Dick Advocaat.
  • Rangers lost the Scottish Cup final 2–1 to Hearts, leaving them without a major trophy for the first time since 1986.
  • Paul Gascoigne left Rangers in March to return to England in a £3.4million move to Middlesbrough.
  • Ally McCoist left Rangers after 15 years and more than 300 goals to sign for Kilmarnock on a free transfer.
  • Goalkeeper Andy Goram left Rangers after seven years, having just walked out of the Scotland squad for the World Cup in France.
  • Also leaving Rangers after seven years was Stuart McCall, who moved to England and signed for Bradford City.
  • After signing from Perugia in a £3.5million deal at the start of the season, Italian striker Marco Negri had a dream start to his career at Rangers – scoring 23 goals in his first 10 league games. However, after playing 27 league games and scoring 32 goals, his season was ended by a serious eye injury off the field in March.
  • Brian Laudrup ended his four-year spell with Rangers and signed for Chelsea at the end of the season.

Notes and references

  1. ^ "1997/98 - The Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  2. ^ Scotland's score is shown first.