| Season | 1997–98 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Celtic |
| Relegated | Hibernian |
| Champions League | Celtic |
| Cup Winners' Cup | Heart of Midlothian |
| UEFA Cup | Rangers, Kilmarnock |
| Goals scored | 497 ( |
| Average goals/game | 2.8 |
| Top goalscorer | Marco Negri (32) |
| Biggest home win | Rangers 7–0 Dunfermline (18 Oct) |
| Biggest away win | Kilmarnock 0–3 Rangers (24 Sep) |
| Highest attendance | 50,500, Celtic v St. Johnstone (9 May) |
| Lowest attendance | 4,385, St. Johnstone v Kilmarnock (13 Dec) |
| Average attendance | 18,036 ( |
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← 1996–97
1998–99 →
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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.
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Contents
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The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season ended in success for Celtic who won the title by two points from nearest rivals Rangers, beating St. Johnstone on the last day to clinch the title. Claiming the title would have given Rangers a recording breaking 10 Scottish League Championship 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-ever 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 multi-million 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.
Promoted from First Division to Premier League
Relegated from Premier Division to First Division
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 36 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 64 | 24 | +40 | 77 | UEFA Champions League 1998-99 First qualifying round |
| 2 | Rangers | 36 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 76 | 38 | +38 | 74 | 1998–99 UEFA Cup Second qualifying round |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 19 | 9 | 8 | 70 | 46 | +24 | 66 | Cup Winners' Cup 1998-99 Qualifying round |
| 4 | Kilmarnock | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 50 | 1998–99 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 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 43 | 51 | −8 | 35 | |
| 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) number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (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; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).
| Home \ Away1 | ABE | CEL | DUN | DNF | HOM | HIB | KIL | MOT | RAN | STJ |
| Aberdeen | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | |
| Celtic | 3–3 | 5–1 | 7–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | |
| Dundee United | 5–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | |
| Heart of Midlothian | 4–1 | 2–5 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 5–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | |
| Hibernian | 2–2 | 3–4 | 1–3 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | |
| Kilmarnock | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | |
| Motherwell | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | |
| Rangers | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | |
| St Johnstone | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 0–2 |
Source: Soccerbot
1The 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.
During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team a further two times (home and away).
| Home \ Away1 | ABE | CEL | DUN | DNF | HOM | HIB | KIL | MOT | RAN | STJ |
| Aberdeen | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | |
| Celtic | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | |
| Dundee United | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 3–3 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | |
| Heart of Midlothian | 3–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Hibernian | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | |
| Kilmarnock | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | |
| Motherwell | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 6–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | |
| Rangers | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | |
| St Johnstone | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 |
Source: Soccerbot
1The 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.
| Player | Goals | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | Rangers | |
| 18 | Dundee United | |
| 16 | Celtic | |
| Dunfermline Athletic | ||
| 14 | Motherwell | |
| Heart of Midlothian | ||
| 11 | Motherwell | |
| 10 | Rangers | |
| Celtic | ||
| Aberdeen | ||
| Celtic | ||
| Heart of Midlothian | ||
| St. Johnstone | ||
| Kilmarnock |
Source: Soccerbot
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundee United | Mutual consent | 4 September 1997 | 5 September 1997 | ||
| St. Johnstone | Resigned | 5 September 1997 | 7 September 1997 | ||
| Motherwell | Resigned | 15 October 1997 | 15 October 1997 | ||
| Aberdeen | Sacked | 8 December 1997 | 8 December 1997 | ||
| Dunfermline Athletic | Resigned | 5 January 1998 | 5 January 1998 | ||
| Rangers | Resigned | May 1998 | June 1998 | ||
| Celtic | Resigned | May 1998 | June 1998 |
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