1998–99 Scottish Premier League

Bank of Scotland Premier League
Season 1998–99
Champions Rangers
Promoted Dundee
Relegated Dunfermline Athletic
Champions League Rangers
UEFA Cup Celtic
St Johnstone
Kilmarnock
Intertoto Cup None
Goals scored 471 (26)
Average goals/game 2.62
Top goalscorer Sweden Henrik Larsson (29)
Biggest home win Celtic 6–1 Dundee (7 November)
Rangers 6–1 Dundee (20 February)
Biggest away win St Johnstone 0–7 Rangers (8 November)
Highest attendance 60,092, Celtic v St Johnstone (31 January)
Lowest attendance 3,532, Dunfermline Athletic v Motherwell (23 May)
Average attendance 18,577 (541)

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

Rangers finished the season as Scottish Premier League champions, gaining them their 48th Scottish top division title. Dunfermline Athletic were relegated in bottom place, being replaced by Scottish Division One champions Hibernian.

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 worldwide,[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]

Promotion and relegation from 1997–98

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Relegated from Premier Division to First Division

Events

League table

P Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers 36 23 8 5 78 31 +47 77 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
2 Celtic 36 21 8 7 84 35 +49 71 1999–2000 UEFA Cup Qualifying round
3 St Johnstone 36 15 12 9 39 38 +1 57 1999–2000 UEFA Cup Qualifying round
4 Kilmarnock 36 14 14 8 47 29 +18 56 1999–2000 UEFA Cup 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 –11 34
10 Dunfermline Athletic 36 4 16 16 28 59 –31 28 Relegated to 1999–2000 First Division

Source: SPL official website

Results

Matches 1–18

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

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DNDDUNDNFHOMKILMOTRANSTJ
Aberdeen 32 22 03 21 20 01 11 11 01
Celtic 20 61 21 50 11 11 20 51 01
Dundee 02 11 22 10 10 11 10 04 01
Dundee United 10 11 01 11 00 02 22 00 11
Dunfermline Athletic 11 22 20 21 11 03 11 02 11
Heart of Midlothian 20 21 02 01 21 21 30 21 11
Kilmarnock 40 20 21 20 00 30 00 13 22
Motherwell 22 12 21 10 00 32 00 10 10
Rangers 21 00 10 21 11 30 10 21 40
St Johnstone 20 21 11 13 11 11 00 50 07

Source: Soccerbase
1 ^ The 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.

Matches 19–36

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

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DNDDUNDNFHOMKILMOTRANSTJ
Aberdeen 15 12 04 31 25 21 11 24 10
Celtic 32 50 21 50 30 10 10 03 50
Dundee 12 03 13 31 20 21 10 11 01
Dundee United 30 12 02 11 13 00 03 12 01
Dunfermline Athletic 12 12 20 22 00 06 12 03 10
Heart of Midlothian 02 24 12 41 20 22 02 23 02
Kilmarnock 42 00 00 20 00 10 01 05 11
Motherwell 11 17 12 20 11 04 12 15 12
Rangers 31 22 61 01 10 00 11 21 10
St Johnstone 41 10 10 10 11 00 01 00 31

Source: Soccerbase
1 ^ The 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.

Top scorers

Celtic's Henrik Larsson was the SPL's top scorer in the 1998–99 season.
Player Goals Team
Sweden Henrik Larsson 29 Celtic
England Rod Wallace 19 Rangers
Scotland Billy Dodds 16 Dundee United
Scotland Eoin Jess 14 Aberdeen
Scotland Robbie Winters 13 Aberdeen
Scotland Gary McSwegan 11 Hearts
Germany Jörg Albertz Rangers
Scotland Craig Burley 9 Celtic
Scotland Eddie Annand Dundee
France Stéphane Adam Hearts
Scotland Neil McCann 8 Hearts
Scotland Mark Burchill Celtic
Scotland Andy Smith Dunfermline Athletic

Source: SPL official website

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

Managerial changes

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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Season Review - 1998-1999". ScotPrem.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  2. "Kanchelskis move to Rangers". BBC News. 1998-07-15. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  3. 1 2 3 "Rangers make history out of chaos". BBC News. 1999-05-03. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  4. "Scottish sponsorship deal is defended". The Independent. 1999-03-11. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
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