1964–65 in Scottish football

1964–65 in Scottish football
Division One champions
Kilmarnock
Division Two champions
Stirling Albion
Scottish Cup winners
Celtic
League Cup winners
Rangers
Junior Cup winners
Linlithgow Rose
Teams in Europe
Celtic, Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, Kilmarnock, Rangers
Scotland national team
1965 BHC, 1966 World Cup qualification

The 1964–65 season was the 92nd season of competitive football in Scotland and the 68th season of Scottish league football.[1]

Scottish League Division One

Main article: 1964–65 Scottish Division One

In one of the closest finishes ever seen in a league competition in Britain, Hearts faced Kilmarnock on the last day of the season with a two-point lead over the Ayrshire club and a slightly better goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded). Kilmarnock had to beat Hearts by at least 2–0 to win the title. Any worse result for Kilmarnock, including any other two goal winning margin, e.g. 3–1 or 4–2, would have made Hearts champions. Kilmarnock won 2–0, and were champions.

The 1964–65 season is notable for both Celtic and Rangers finishing in mid-table. It was, and remains as of 2021, only the fifth time that neither of them had finished in the top two, and the only time that both of the Old Firm clubs had failed to finish in the top three of the First Division in the same season.

The season was also interesting in that it was the one and only season that East Stirling Clydebank (E.S. Clydebank) competed in the Scottish League, reverting to East Stirlingshire for season 1965/66 with Clydebank entering the league the following year.

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Kilmarnock 34 22 6 6 62 33 1.879 50 Division Champions
2 Hearts 34 22 6 6 90 49 1.837 50
3 Dunfermline Athletic 34 22 5 7 83 36 2.306 49
4 Hibernian 34 21 4 9 75 47 1.596 46
5 Rangers 34 18 8 8 78 35 2.229 44
6 Dundee 34 15 10 9 86 63 1.365 40
7 Clyde 34 17 6 11 64 58 1.103 40
8 Celtic 34 16 5 13 76 57 1.333 37
9 Dundee United 34 15 6 13 59 51 1.157 36
10 Morton 34 13 7 14 54 54 1.000 33
11 Partick Thistle 34 11 10 13 57 58 0.983 32
12 Aberdeen 34 12 8 14 59 75 0.787 32
13 St Johnstone 34 9 11 14 57 62 0.919 29
14 Motherwell 34 10 8 16 45 54 0.833 28
15 St Mirren 34 9 6 19 38 70 0.543 24
16 Falkirk 34 7 7 20 43 85 0.506 21
17 Airdrieonians 34 5 4 25 48 110 0.436 14 Relegated to the 1965–66 Second Division
18 Third Lanark 34 3 1 30 22 99 0.222 7
Source: RSSSF

Champions: Kilmarnock
Relegated: Airdrieonains, Third Lanark

Scottish League Division Two

Main article: 1964–65 Scottish Division Two
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Stirling Albion 36 26 7 3 84 31 +53 59 Promotion to the 1965–66 First Division
2 Hamilton Academical 36 21 8 7 86 53 +33 50
3 Queen of the South 36 16 13 7 84 50 +34 45
4 Queen's Park 36 17 9 10 57 41 +16 43
5 E. S. Clydebank 36 15 10 11 64 50 +14 40
6 Stranraer 36 17 6 13 74 64 +10 40
7 Arbroath 36 13 13 10 56 51 +5 39
8 Berwick Rangers 36 15 9 12 73 70 +3 39
9 East Fife 36 15 7 14 78 77 +1 37
10 Alloa Athletic 36 14 8 14 71 81 −10 36
11 Albion Rovers 36 14 5 17 56 60 −4 33
12 Cowdenbeath 36 11 10 15 55 62 −7 32
13 Raith Rovers 36 9 14 13 54 61 −7 32
14 Dumbarton 36 13 6 17 55 67 −12 32
15 Stenhousemuir 36 11 8 17 49 74 −25 30
16 Montrose 36 10 9 17 80 91 −11 29
17 Forfar Athletic 36 9 7 20 63 89 −26 25
18 Ayr United 36 9 6 21 49 67 −18 24
19 Brechin City 36 6 7 23 53 102 −49 19
Source: [citation needed]

Promoted: Stirling Albion, Hamilton Academical

Cup honours

Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Scottish Cup 1964–65 Celtic 3 – 2 Dunfermline Athletic
League Cup 1964–65 Rangers 2 – 1 Celtic
Junior Cup Linlithgow Rose 4 – 1 Baillieston Juniors

Other honours

National

Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Scottish Qualifying Cup - North Inverness Caledonian 4 – 2 * Ross County
Scottish Qualifying Cup - South Gala Fairydean 9 – 5 * Glasgow University

County

Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Aberdeenshire Cup Peterhead
Ayrshire Cup Ayr United 1 – 0 Kilmarnock
East of Scotland Shield Hearts 3 – 1 Hibernian
Fife Cup Dunfermline Athletic 9 – 4 * Raith Rovers
Forfarshire Cup Dundee United 1 – 0 Dundee
Glasgow Cup Celtic 5 – 0 Queens Park
Lanarkshire Cup Airdrie
Renfrewshire Cup Morton 7 – 4 * St Mirren
Stirlingshire Cup Dumbarton 4 – 2 * Falkirk

* - aggregate over two legs

Highland League

Top Three
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Elgin City 30 21 4 5 109 52 +57 46
2 Nairn County 30 21 3 6 99 64 +35 45
3 Inverness Caledonian 30 18 5 7 104 68 +36 41
Source: [citation needed]

Individual honours

Award Winner Club
Footballer of the Year Scotland Billy McNeill Celtic

Scotland national team

Main article: Scotland national football team 1960–79 results
Date Venue Opponents Score[2] Competition Scotland scorer(s)
3 October 1964 Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)  Wales 2–3 BHC Stevie Chalmers, Dave Gibson
21 October 1964 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Finland 3–1 WCQG8 Denis Law, Dave Gibson, Stevie Chalmers
25 November 1964 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Northern Ireland 3–2 BHC Davie Wilson (2), Alan Gilzean
10 April 1965 Wembley Stadium, London (A)  England 2–2 BHC Denis Law, Ian St. John
8 May 1965 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Spain 0–0 Friendly
23 May 1965 Silesia Stadium, Chorzów / Katowice (A)  Poland 1–1 WCQG8 Denis Law
27 May 1965 Olympiastadion, Helsinki (A)  Finland 2–1 WCQG8 Davie Wilson, John Greig

Key:

  • (H) = Home match
  • (A) = Away match
  • WCQG8 = World Cup qualifying - Group 8
  • BHC = British Home Championship

Notes and references

  1. ^ http://www.scottishfootballleague.com/stats/records/league-championship/league-tables/1960-1969/196465/[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ Scotland's score is shown first.