Scottish Premier League 1998-99

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Bank of Scotland Premier League
Season	1998-99
Champions	Rangers
Relegated	Dunfermline Athletic
Champions League	Rangers
UEFA Cup	Celtic, St. Johnstone, Kilmarnock
Intertoto Cup	None
Top goalscorer	Henrik Larsson (27)
Biggest home win	Celtic 6-1 Dundee (07 Nov) Rangers 6-1 Dundee (20 Feb)
Biggest away win	St. Johnstone 0-7 Rangers (08 Nov)
Total goals	471 (26)
Average goals/game	2.62
Highest attendance	60,092, Celtic 5-0 St. Johnstone (31 Jan)
Lowest attendance	3,532, Dunfermline 1-2 Motherwell (23 May)
Average attendance	18,577 (541)
← Previous season 1997–98 (Premier Division)	Next season → 1999–2000

The 1998–99 Scottish Premier League season was the inaugural season of Scottish Premier League football. It began on 1 August 1998.

1 Overview
2 Promotion and relegation from 1997-98
3 Events
4 Table
5 Results
- 5.1 Matches 1-18
- 5.2 Matches 19-36
6 Top scorers
7 Attendances
8 Managerial changes
9 References
10 See also

[edit] 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.^[1] 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.^[1]

1998–99 saw the introduction of a three week break during January, which was well received by both players and managers.^[1] In its inaugural year, the SPL was broadcast to over 120 countries world-wide,^[1] while attendances increased^[1] and more money was invested in youth development than ever before.^[1] A new Scottish transfer record was also set as Rangers paid Fiorentina £5.5m for former Manchester United and Everton winger Andrei Kanchelskis.^[2]

Rangers clinched the SPL title by beating Old Firm-rivals Celtic 3–0 at Celtic Park.^[3] 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.^[3]

[edit] Promotion and relegation from 1997-98

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Dundee

Relegated from Premier Division to Scottish First Division

Hibernian

[edit] Events

March 11: The Scottish Premier League agrees a two-year sponsership deal with Bank of Scotland^[4]
May 2: Rangers win the title after defeating Celtic 3-0 at Celtic Park.^[3]

[edit] Table

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rangers	36	23	8	5	78	31	47	77	UEFA Champions League 1999-2000 Second qualifying round
2	Celtic	36	21	8	7	84	35	49	71	UEFA Cup 1999-00 Qualifying round
3	St Johnstone	36	15	12	9	39	38	1	57	UEFA Cup 1999-00 Qualifying round
4	Kilmarnock	36	14	14	8	47	29	18	56	UEFA Cup 1999-00 Qualifying round
5	Dundee	36	13	7	16	36	56	-20	46
6	Hearts	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	-9	34
10	Dunfermline Athletic	36	4	16	16	28	59	-31	28	Relegated to First Division 1999-00

Source: SPL official website

[edit] Results

[edit] Matches 1-18

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

Home \ Away¹	ABER	CELT	DUND	DUNU	DUNF	HEAR	KILM	WELL	RANG	STJO
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
Hearts	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
¹The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; White = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

[edit] Matches 19-36

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

Home \ Away¹	ABER	CELT	DUND	DUNU	DUNF	HEAR	KILM	WELL	RANG	STJO
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
Hearts	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

[edit] Top scorers

Celtic's Henrik Larsson was the SPL's top scorer in season 1998-99.

Player	Goals	Team
Henrik Larsson	27	Celtic
Rod Wallace	19	Rangers
Billy Dodds	16	Dundee United
Eoin Jess	14	Aberdeen
Robbie Winters	13	Aberdeen
Gary McSwegan	11	Hearts
Jorg Albertz	11	Rangers
Craig Burley	9	Celtic
Eddie Annand		Dundee
Stephane Adam		Hearts
Neil McCann	8	Hearts
Mark Burchill		Celtic
Gary McSwegan		Hearts
Andy Smith		Dunfermline Athletic

Source: SPL official website

[edit] Attendances

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

Team	Average
Celtic	59,233
Rangers	49,094
Hearts	14,232
Aberdeen	12,713
Kilmarnock	11,184
Dundee United	9,187
Motherwell	8,533
Dunfermline Athletic	7,375
Dundee	7,178
St. Johnstone	7,038

Source: SPL official website

[edit] Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Rangers	Walter Smith	Resigned	May 1998	Dick Advocaat	June 1998
Celtic	Wim Jansen	Resigned	May 1998	Jozef Vengloš	June 1998
Dundee United	Tommy McLean	Mutual consent	4 September 1998	Paul Sturrock	5 September 1998
St. Johnstone	Paul Sturrock	Resigned	5 September 1998	Sandy Clark	7 September 1998
Motherwell	Harri Kampman	Resigned	15 October 1998	Billy Davies	15 October 1998
Aberdeen	Alex Miller	Sacked	8 December 1998	Paul Hegarty (Caretaker)	8 December 1998
Dunfermline Athletic	Bert Paton	Resigned	5 January 1999	Dick Campbell (Caretaker)	5 January 1999