1998–99 Scottish Premier League

The 1998–99 Scottish Premier League season (also known as the 1998–99 Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier League for sponsorship reasons from 11 March[1]) was the inaugural season of Scottish Premier League football, the top division of Scottish football. It began on 1 August 1998 and concluded on 23 May 1999.

Scottish Premier League
Season1998–99
Dates1 August 1998 – 23 May 1999
ChampionsRangers
PromotedDundee
RelegatedDunfermline Athletic
Champions LeagueRangers
UEFA CupCeltic (via Scottish Cup)
St Johnstone
Kilmarnock (via Fair Play)
Matches played180
Goals scored471 (2.62 per match)
Top goalscorerHenrik Larsson (29)
Biggest home winCeltic 6–1 Dundee (7 November)
Rangers 6–1 Dundee (20 February)
Biggest away winSt Johnstone 0–7 Rangers (8 November)
Highest scoringMotherwell 1–7 Celtic (21 February)
Highest attendance60,092, Celtic v St Johnstone (31 January)
Lowest attendance3,532, Dunfermline Athletic v Motherwell (23 May)
Average attendance18,577 (541)
← 1997–98 (Premier Division)

The league was made up of the twelve clubs that broke away from the Scottish Football League at the end of the 1997–98 season. Celtic went into the season as the defending Scottish champions, having won the 1997–98 Scottish First Division.

Rangers won the title with 3 matches still to play on 2 May 1999, after defeating Old Firm rivals Celtic 3–0 in controversial circumstances at Celtic Park.[2] Three players were red-carded during the game and referee Hugh Dallas was struck by a coin thrown by a Celtic supporter and required treatment from paramedics on the field.[2]

Teams

On 8 September 1997, the clubs in the Premier Division decided to split from the Scottish Football League and form a Scottish Premier League (SPL). This followed an earlier example in England, which came into force during the 1992–93 season. This decision was fuelled by a desire by the top clubs in Scotland to retain more of the revenue generated by the game. Originally, league sponsorship money was divided proportionally between clubs in all four divisions. After the SPL was formed, its clubs retained all of its commercial revenues except for an annual payment to the SFL and a parachute payment to relegated clubs.

The new league followed the same format as the previous season's Premier Division, with the ten clubs playing each other four times, twice at home and twice away. Hibernian were relegated to the First Division after finishing bottom of the 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division. They were replaced by Dundee, the champions of the previous season's First Division.

Location of clubs in 1998–99 Scottish Premier League

Stadia and locations
Aberdeen Celtic Dundee
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Dens Park
Capacity: 20,866[3] Capacity: 60,411[4] Capacity: 11,506[5]
Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Heart of Midlothian
Tannadice Park East End Park Tynecastle Park
Capacity: 14,223[6] Capacity: 11,480[7] Capacity: 18,008[8]
Kilmarnock Motherwell
Rugby Park Fir Park
Capacity: 17,889[9] Capacity: 13,677[10]
Rangers St Johnstone
Ibrox Stadium McDiarmid Park
Capacity: 50,817[11] Capacity: 10,696[12]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aberdeen Paul Hegarty (caretaker) Puma[13] Atlantic Telecom
Celtic Jozef Vengloš Umbro[14] Umbro
Dundee Jocky Scott Avec Sport[15] Scottish Hydro Electric
Dundee United Paul Sturrock Olympic Sports[16] Telewest
Dunfermline Athletic Dick Campbell Avec Sport[17] Landmark
Heart of Midlothian Jim Jefferies Olympic Sports[18] Strongbow
Kilmarnock Bobby Williamson Puma[19] Sports Division
Motherwell Billy Davies Xara[20] Motorola
Rangers Dick Advocaat Nike[21] McEwan's
St Johnstone Sandy Clark Xara[22] Scottish Hydro Electric

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Celtic Wim Jansen 11 May 1998[23] Resigned Pre-season Jozef Vengloš 17 July 1998[24]
Rangers Walter Smith 31 May 1998[25] Retired Dick Advocaat 1 June 1998[26]
Dundee United Tommy McLean 5 September 1998 Mutual consent 9th Paul Sturrock 5 September 1998
St Johnstone Paul Sturrock 5 September 1998 Signed by Dundee United 8th Sandy Clark 7 September 1998
Motherwell Harri Kampman 4 October 1998 Resigned 8th Billy Davies 14 October 1998[27]
Aberdeen Alex Miller 8 December 1998[28] Mutual consent 10th Paul Hegarty (caretaker) 8 December 1998[29]
Dunfermline Athletic Bert Paton 6 January 1999 Resigned 10th Dick Campbell 6 January 1999[30]

Overview

The 1998–99 Scottish Premier League season ended in success for Rangers who, managed by Dutchman Dick Advocaat, won the title by six points from nearest rivals Celtic. Dunfermline Athletic were relegated after three seasons in the top division. As champions, Rangers qualified for the Champions League while Celtic were joined by St Johnstone in qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Fourth placed Kilmarnock also gained a UEFA Cup place via the UEFA Fair Play ranking.

The £5.5m transfer of Andrei Kanchelskis to Rangers set a new Scottish transfer record.

The season began on 1 August 1998 with the first SPL goal scored by Aberdeen's Eoin Jess as they defeated newly promoted Dundee 2–0 at Dens Park.[31] Also on the first day of the season, Craig Burley scored the SPL's first hat-trick as defending champions Celtic defeated Dunfermline Athletic 5–0 at Celtic Park.[31]

1998–99 saw the introduction of a three-week break during January, which was well received by both players and managers.[31] In its inaugural year, the SPL was broadcast to over 120 countries worldwide,[31] while attendances increased[31] and more money was invested in youth development than ever before.[31] A new Scottish transfer record was also set as Rangers paid Fiorentina £5.5m for former Manchester United and Everton winger Andrei Kanchelskis.[32]

Rangers clinched the SPL title on 3 May 1999 by beating Old Firm-rivals Celtic 3–0 at Celtic Park.[2] Three players were red-carded during the game and referee Hugh Dallas was struck by a coin thrown by a Celtic supporter and required treatment from paramedics on the field.[2]

Dunfermline Athletic were relegated to the Scottish First Division on 8 May 1999 after a 2–1 defeat to Celtic at East End Park.[33]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 36 23 8 5 78 31 +47 77 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Celtic 36 21 8 7 84 35 +49 71 Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3 St Johnstone 36 15 12 9 39 38 +1 57
4 Kilmarnock 36 14 14 8 47 29 +18 56
5 Dundee 36 13 7 16 36 56 −20 46
6 Heart of Midlothian 36 11 9 16 44 50 −6 42
7 Motherwell 36 10 11 15 35 54 −19 41
8 Aberdeen 36 10 7 19 43 71 −28 37
9 Dundee United 36 8 10 18 37 48 −11 34
10 Dunfermline Athletic (R) 36 4 16 16 28 59 −31 28 Relegation to the 1999–2000 Scottish First Division
Updated to match(es) played on end of season. Source: Soccerway and SPL official website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Since Rangers, the winners of the 1998–99 Scottish Cup, already qualified for the UEFA Champions League, Celtic, the losing finalist, earned a spot in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup. As such, the league's UEFA Cup place moved down to third-placed St Johnstone. Scotland were also awarded an additional UEFA Cup place as the association was top of the UEFA Fair Play ranking. Kilmarnock earned this place as winners of the Scottish Fair Play ranking.

Results

Matches 1–18

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

Home \ Away ABE CEL DND DUN DNF HOM KIL MOT RAN STJ
Aberdeen 3–2 2–2 0–3 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1
Celtic 2–0 6–1 2–1 5–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 5–1 0–1
Dundee 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–4 0–1
Dundee United 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 2–2 0–0 1–1
Dunfermline Athletic 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–1 1–1 0–3 1–1 0–2 1–1
Heart of Midlothian 2–0 2–1 0–2 0–1 2–1 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–1
Kilmarnock 4–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 0–0 3–0 0–0 1–3 2–2
Motherwell 2–2 1–2 2–1 1–0 0–0 3–2 0–0 1–0 1–0
Rangers 2–1 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 3–0 1–0 2–1 4–0
St Johnstone 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 0–0 5–0 0–7
Source: Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36

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

Home \ Away ABE CEL DND DUN DNF HOM KIL MOT RAN STJ
Aberdeen 1–5 1–2 0–4 3–1 2–5 2–1 1–1 2–4 1–0
Celtic 3–2 5–0 2–1 5–0 3–0 1–0 1–0 0–3 5–0
Dundee 1–2 0–3 1–3 3–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–1
Dundee United 3–0 1–2 0–2 1–1 1–3 0–0 0–3 1–2 0–1
Dunfermline Athletic 1–2 1–2 2–0 2–2 0–0 0–6 1–2 0–3 1–0
Heart of Midlothian 0–2 2–4 1–2 4–1 2–0 2–2 0–2 2–3 0–2
Kilmarnock 4–2 0–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–5 1–1
Motherwell 1–1 1–7 1–2 2–0 1–1 0–4 1–2 1–5 1–2
Rangers 3–1 2–2 6–1 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–0
St Johnstone 4–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 3–1
Source: Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers
Celtic's Henrik Larsson was the SPL's top scorer in the 1998–99 season.
PlayerGoalsTeam
Henrik Larsson29Celtic
Rod Wallace19Rangers
Billy Dodds16Dundee United
Eoin Jess14Aberdeen
Robbie Winters13Aberdeen
Gary McSwegan11Hearts
Jörg AlbertzRangers
Craig Burley9Celtic
Eddie AnnandDundee
Stéphane AdamHearts
Neil McCann8Hearts
Mark BurchillCeltic
Andy SmithDunfermline Athletic

Source: SPL official website

Attendances

The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 1998–99 season are shown below:

Team Average
Celtic59,233
Rangers49,094
Hearts14,232
Aberdeen12,713
Kilmarnock11,184
Dundee United9,187
Motherwell8,533
Dunfermline Athletic7,375
Dundee7,178
St Johnstone7,038

Source: SPL official website

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gollark: Also, filenames are not fixed-length, thusly things.
gollark: I want to avoid actually writing parsing code as much as practical.
gollark: Specifically, moving the per-file headers to go *after* the files or perhaps entirely removing them, and length-prefixing both actual file content and the per-file metadata.
gollark: <@309787486278909952> Given various difficulties with implementing another implementation of the decompressor, I'm thinking about some changes.

References
  1. "Scottish sponsorship deal is defended". The Independent. 1999-03-11. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  2. "Rangers make history out of chaos". BBC News. 1999-05-03. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  3. "Aberdeen Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  4. "Celtic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. "Dundee Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. "Dundee United Academical Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. "Dunfermline Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. "Heart of Midlothian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. "Kilmarnock Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. "Motherwell Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. "Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  12. "St Johnstone Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. "Aberdeen". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  14. "Celtic". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  15. "Dundee". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  16. "Dundee United". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  17. "Dunfermline Athletic". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  18. "Heart of Midlothian". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  19. "Kilmarnock". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  20. "Motherwell". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  21. "Rangers". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  22. "St Johnstone". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  23. "Jansen quits Celtic". BBC News. 11 May 1998. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  24. "Celtic appoints new coach". BBC News. 17 July 1998. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  25. "Walter Smith". Scotzine. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  26. "Dutch boss to take over at Ibrox". BBC News. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  27. "Davies to replace Kampman at Fir Park". The Herald. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  28. "Hegarty's hopes of Aberdeen job are higher with each victory". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  29. "Hearts sink". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  30. "Season Review - 1998-1999". spfl.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  31. "Kanchelskis move to Rangers". BBC News. 1998-07-15. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  32. "1999-05-08: Dunfermline 1-2 Celtic, Premier League". The Celtic Wiki. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
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