1975–76 in Scottish football

The 1975–76 season was the 103rd season of competitive football in Scotland and the 79th season of Scottish league football. It was the first season in the new, three-tier setup. Division One was no longer the top division in Scottish football, although all three divisions are still part of the Scottish Football League. [1]

1975–76 in Scottish football
Premier Division champions
Rangers
Division One champions
Partick Thistle
Division Two champions
Clydebank
Scottish Cup winners
Rangers
League Cup winners
Rangers
Spring Cup winners
Airdrieonians
Junior Cup winners
Bo'ness United
Teams in Europe
Celtic, Dundee United, Hibernian, Rangers
Scotland national team
1976 BHC, UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying

The Premier Division champions succeeded the last Division One champions, and the new Division One champions are equivalent to the old Division Two champions. The new Division Two is a completely new competition, although it shares its name with the old Division Two.

Both Division One and Two now contained 14 teams, previously considered a difficult number to ensure a balanced schedule. A 26-game programme, with every team playing each other home and away, was considered too short, a 52-game programme (with each team playing each other home and away twice) too congested. A 39-game schedule would leave an imbalance with each side having two fixtures at home against some teams, and one against others. The Scottish Football League addressed the problem by opting for a 26-game calendar and introducing a supplementary competition, the Spring Cup, open only to teams from Divisions One and Two, to be played at the season's end. It was discontinued after a single season.

Scottish Premier Division
Main article: 1975–76 Scottish Premier Division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 36 23 8 5 60 24 +36 54 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Celtic 36 21 6 9 71 42 +29 48 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Hibernian 36 18 7 11 55 43 +12 43
4 Motherwell 36 16 8 12 57 49 +8 40
5 Heart of Midlothian 36 13 9 14 39 45 −6 35 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
6 Ayr United 36 14 5 17 46 59 −13 33
7 Aberdeen 36 11 10 15 49 50 −1 32
8 Dundee United 36 12 8 16 46 48 −2 32
9 Dundee (R) 36 11 10 15 49 62 −13 32 Relegation to the 1976–77 Scottish First Division
10 St Johnstone (R) 36 3 5 28 29 79 −50 11
Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Dundee, St Johnstone

Scottish League Division One
Main article: 1975–76 Scottish First Division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Partick Thistle (C, P) 26 17 7 2 47 19 +28 41 Promotion to Premier Division
2 Kilmarnock (P) 26 16 3 7 44 29 +15 35
3 Montrose 26 12 6 8 53 43 +10 30
4 Dumbarton 26 12 4 10 53 46 +7 28
5 Arbroath 26 11 4 11 41 39 +2 26
6 St Mirren 26 9 8 9 37 37 0 26
7 Falkirk 26 10 5 11 38 35 +3 25
8 Airdrieonians 26 7 11 8 44 41 +3 25
9 Hamilton Academical 26 7 10 9 37 37 0 24
10 Queen of the South 26 9 6 11 44 47 −3 24
11 Morton 26 7 9 10 31 40 −9 23
12 East Fife 26 8 7 11 39 53 −14 23
13 Dunfermline Athletic (R) 26 5 10 11 30 51 −21 20 Relegation to Second Division
14 Clyde (R) 26 5 4 17 34 52 −18 14
Source: RSSSF and statto[2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.

Promoted: Partick Thistle, Kilmarnock
Relegated: Dunfermline Athletic, Clyde

Scottish League Division Two
Main article: 1975–76 Scottish Second Division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Clydebank 26 17 6 3 46 15 +31 40 Promotion to the 1976–77 First Division
2 Raith Rovers 26 15 10 1 45 22 +23 40
3 Alloa Athletic 26 14 7 5 48 32 +16 35
4 Queen's Park 26 10 9 7 41 33 +8 29
5 Cowdenbeath 26 11 7 8 44 43 +1 29
6 Stirling Albion 26 9 7 10 39 32 +7 25
7 Stranraer 26 11 3 12 49 43 +6 25
8 East Stirlingshire 26 8 8 10 33 33 0 24
9 Albion Rovers 26 7 10 9 35 38 −3 24
10 Stenhousemuir 26 9 5 12 39 44 −5 23
11 Berwick Rangers 26 7 5 14 32 44 −12 19
12 Forfar Athletic 26 4 10 12 28 48 −20 18
13 Brechin City 26 6 5 15 30 53 −23 17
14 Meadowbank Thistle 26 5 6 15 24 53 −29 16
Source:

Promoted: Clydebank, Raith Rovers

Cup honours
Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Scottish Cup 1975–76 Rangers 3 – 1 Heart of Midlothian
League Cup 1975–76 Rangers 1 – 0 Celtic
Spring Cup Airdrieonians 4 – 2 (a.e.t.) Clydebank
Junior Cup Bo'ness United 3 – 0 Darvel Juniors

Other Honours

National
Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Scottish Qualifying Cup - North Elgin City 3 – 1 * Inverness Thistle
Scottish Qualifying Cup - South Vale of Leithen 5 – 2 * Girvan

County
Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Aberdeenshire Cup Fraserburgh
Ayrshire Cup Ayr United 4 – 0 * Kilmarnock
East of Scotland Shield Hearts 8 – 0 Meadowbank Thistle
Fife Cup Raith Rovers 3 – 2 * East Fife
Forfarshire Cup Dundee United 3 – 1 Dundee
Glasgow Cup Rangers 3 – 1 Celtic
Lanarkshire Cup Airdrie
Stirlingshire Cup Stenhousemuir 1 – 0 East Stirling

* - aggregate over two legs

Highland League
Top Three
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Nairn County 30 19 6 5 75 35 +40 44
2 Fraserburgh 30 20 4 6 67 35 +32 44
3 Keith 30 19 5 6 65 30 +35 43
Source:

Individual honours
Award Winner Club
Footballer of the Year John GreigRangers

Scotland national team
Main article: Scotland national football team 1960–79 results
Date Venue Opponents Score[3] Competition Scotland scorer(s)
3 September Idraetsparken, Copenhagen (A)  Denmark 1–0 ECQG4 Joe Harper
29 October Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Denmark 3–1 ECQG4 Kenny Dalglish, Bruce Rioch, Ted MacDougall
17 December Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Romania 1–1 ECQG4 Bruce Rioch
7 April Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)   Switzerland 1–0 ECQG4 Willie Pettigrew
6 May Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Wales 3–1 BHC Willie Pettigrew, Bruce Rioch, Eddie Gray
8 May Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Northern Ireland 3–0 BHC Archie Gemmill, Kenny Dalglish, Don Masson
15 May Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  England 2–1 BHC Don Masson, Kenny Dalglish

1976 British Home Championship - Winners

Key:

  • (H) = Home match
  • (A) = Away match
  • ECQG4 = European Championship qualifying - Group 4
  • BHC = British Home Championship

Notes and references
  2. "Scottish Division One 1975-1976 Season Summary". statto.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  3. Scotland's score is shown first.
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