1999–2000 Scottish Premier League

The 1999–2000 Scottish Premier League (known as the 1999–2000 Bank of Scotland Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of the Scottish Premier League, the top level of football in Scotland. It began in on 31 July 1999 and concluded on 21 May 2000.

Scottish Premier League
Season1999–2000
Dates31 July 1999 – 21 May 2000
ChampionsRangers
RelegatedNo relegation
Champions LeagueRangers
UEFA CupCeltic
Heart of Midlothian
Aberdeen (via Scottish Cup)
Matches played180
Goals scored528 (2.93 per match)
Top goalscorerMark Viduka (25)
Biggest home winCeltic 7–0 Aberdeen (16 October)
Biggest away winDundee 1–7 Rangers (27 February)
Aberdeen 0–6 Celtic (11 December)
Highest scoringMotherwell 5–6 Aberdeen (20 October)
Highest attendance60,253, Celtic 3–0 St Johnstone (7 August)
Lowest attendance4,039, Dundee 0–0 Kilmarnock (26 January)
Average attendance17,944 ( 633)

Rangers, the defending champions, retained their title on 22 April 2000, after their nearest challengers Celtic drew 1–1 with Hibernian.[1]

Teams

A total of 10 teams competed in the league, the top 9 sides from the 1998–99 Scottish Premier League and the champions of the 1998–99 Scottish First Division.

Hibernian were promoted to the league after winning the 1998–99 First Division by a 23 point margin. They replaced Dunfermline Athletic who were relegated after a three-season stint in the top flight, finishing bottom of the league the previous season.

Stadia and locations
Location of clubs in 1999–2000 Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen Celtic Dundee
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Dens Park
Capacity: 20,866[2] Capacity: 60,411[3] Capacity: 11,506[4]
Dundee United Heart of Midlothian Hibernian
Tannadice Park Tynecastle Park Easter Road
Capacity: 14,223[5] Capacity: 17,420[6] Capacity: 16,531[7]
Kilmarnock Motherwell
Rugby Park Fir Park
Capacity: 17,889[8] Capacity: 13,677[9]
Rangers St Johnstone
Ibrox Stadium McDiarmid Park
Capacity: 50,817[10] Capacity: 10,696[11]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Kit manufacturer Kit sponsor
Aberdeen Ebbe Skovdahl Puma[12] Atlantic Telecom
Celtic Kenny Dalglish (interim) Umbro[13] ntl:
Dundee Jocky Scott Xara[14] Ceramic Tile Warehouse
Dundee United Paul Sturrock Olympic Sports[15] Telewest
Heart of Midlothian Jim Jefferies Olympic Sports[16] Strongbow
Hibernian Alex McLeish Le Coq Sportif[17] Carlsberg
Kilmarnock Bobby Williamson Puma[18] JJB Sports
Motherwell Billy Davies Xara[19] Motorola
Rangers Dick Advocaat Nike[20] ntl:
St Johnstone Sandy Clark Xara[21] Scottish Hydro Electric

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Aberdeen Paul Hegarty 24 May 1999 Caretaker spell ended Pre-season Ebbe Skovdahl 1 July 1999[22]
Celtic Jozef Vengloš 1 June 1999[23] Mutual consent John Barnes 10 June 1999[23]
Celtic John Barnes 10 February 2000[24] Sacked 2nd Kenny Dalglish (caretaker) 10 February 2000[24]

Overview

The 1999–2000 Scottish Premier League was won by Rangers for the second successive year, finishing 21 points ahead of nearest rivals Celtic. As champions, Rangers qualified for the Champions League while Celtic and third-placed Hearts qualified for the UEFA Cup.

As the SPL was being expanded to 12 teams, the bottom finishing side were to face the second and third finishing sides from the First Division, in a three team play-off. However, due to Falkirk's stadium (Brockville Park) having fewer than the SPL minimum required 10,000 seats, the playoff did not take place. Therefore, bottom-placed Aberdeen were spared relegation and Dunfermline were promoted automatically as the First Division runner-up.[25] Aberdeen appeared in both the League Cup and Scottish Cup final, but lost both to Celtic and Rangers, respectively. However, as Scottish Cup runners-up, they also qualified for the following season's UEFA Cup.

Celtic entered the season under new management with former Liverpool player John Barnes taking charge in June 1999.[26] It proved to be a brief and unsuccessful reign, however, after being sacked in February 2000, ten points behind Rangers in the league, and in the wake of a Scottish Cup defeat to First Division Inverness Caledonian Thistle.[24]

On 20 October 1999, Aberdeen and Motherwell played out a match which finished in a 6–5 victory for Aberdeen at Fir Park.[27] This was the record for the highest-scoring match in Scottish Premier League history, until Motherwell and Hibernian played out a 6–6 draw in May 2010, also at Fir Park.

Rangers secured the league title on 22 April 2000, after Celtic drew 1–1 with Hibernian at Celtic Park, leaving Celtic with a 17-point deficit with only 5 matches left to play.[1]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 36 28 6 2 96 26 +70 90 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Celtic 36 21 6 9 90 38 +52 69 Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 Heart of Midlothian 36 15 9 12 47 40 +7 54
4 Motherwell 36 14 10 12 49 63 −14 52
5 St Johnstone 36 10 12 14 36 44 −8 42
6 Hibernian 36 10 11 15 49 61 −12 41
7 Dundee 36 12 5 19 45 64 −19 41
8 Dundee United 36 11 6 19 34 57 −23 39
9 Kilmarnock 36 8 13 15 38 52 −14 37
10 Aberdeen 36 9 6 21 44 83 −39 33 Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
Updated to match(es) played on end of season. Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. Since Rangers, the winners of the 1999–2000 Scottish Cup, already qualified for the UEFA Champions League, Aberdeen, the losing finalist, earned a spot in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup. As the bottom team, Aberdeen were also due to take part in a three-team play-off with Dunfermline Athletic and Falkirk, but as Falkirk's stadium did not meet SPL criteria, the play-off did not take place and Aberdeen were spared relegation.[25]

Results

Matches 1–18

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

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

Top scorers
Celtic's Mark Viduka was the SPL's top scorer in season 1999-2000.
PlayerClubGoals
Mark VidukaCeltic25
Jörg AlbertzRangers17
Rod WallaceRangers16
Gary McSweganHearts13
Willie FalconerDundee12
Mark BurchillCeltic11
Kenny MillerHibernian11
John SpencerMotherwell11
Billy DoddsRangers10
Nathan LowndesSt Johnstone10
Michael MolsRangers9
Tommy JohnsonCeltic9

Source: SPL official website

Attendances

The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 1999/00 season are shown below:

Team Average
Celtic54,440
Rangers48,116
Hearts14,246
Aberdeen12,813
Hibernian11,870
Kilmarnock9,419
Dundee United8,186
Motherwell7,297
Dundee6,938
St Johnstone6,117

Source: SPL official website

References
  1. "Rangers handed Scottish crown". BBC News. 2000-04-24. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  2. "Aberdeen Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  3. "Celtic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  4. "Dundee Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. "Dundee United Academical Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. "Heart of Midlothian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. "Hibernian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. "Kilmarnock Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. "Motherwell Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. "Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  11. "St Johnstone Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. "Aberdeen". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  13. "Celtic". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  14. "Dundee". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  15. "Dundee United". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  16. "Heart of Midlothian". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  17. "Hibernian". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  18. "Kilmarnock". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  19. "Motherwell". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  20. "Rangers". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  21. "St Johnstone". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  22. "Spiers to be Skovdahl's assistant". BBC News. 30 June 1999. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  23. "Dalglish and Barnes move in at Celtic". The Guardian. 10 June 1999. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  24. "Barnes forced out". BBC News. 2000-02-10. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  25. "Falkirk stadium hopes boost". BBC News. 6 December 2000. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  26. "Dalglish back at Parkhead". BBC News. 1999-06-10. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  27. "SPL from the archives: Motherwell 5-6 Aberdeen". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
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