1996–97 in Scottish football

The 1996–97 season was the 100th season of competitive football in Scotland. This season saw a playoff system introduced between the second bottom club in the Premier Division and the second-top club in Division One.^[1]

1996–97 in Scottish football
Premier League champions
Rangers
Division One champions
St Johnstone
Division Two champions
Ayr United
Division Three champions
Inverness CT
Scottish Cup winners
Kilmarnock
League Cup winners
Rangers
Challenge Cup winners
Stranraer
Junior Cup winners
Pollok
Teams in Europe
Aberdeen, Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers
Scotland national team
1998 World Cup qualification
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Scottish Premier Division

Main article: 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rangers (C)	36	25	5	6	85	33	+52	80	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Celtic	36	23	6	7	78	32	+46	75	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round[a]
3	Dundee United	36	17	9	10	46	33	+13	60
4	Heart of Midlothian	36	14	10	12	46	43	+3	52
5	Dunfermline Athletic	36	12	9	15	52	65	−13	45
6	Aberdeen	36	10	14	12	45	54	−9	44
7	Kilmarnock	36	11	6	19	41	61	−20	39	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round[b]
8	Motherwell	36	9	11	16	44	55	−11	38
9	Hibernian (O)	36	9	11	16	38	55	−17	38	Qualification for the Play-off
10	Raith Rovers (R)	36	6	7	23	29	73	−44	25	Relegation to the First Division

Source: Soccerbase
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. As the League Cup winners Rangers had qualified for European competition via their league position, the place in the UEFA Cup was passed to the next highest placed team in the league, Dundee United.
2. Kilmarnock qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as the winners of the Scottish Cup.

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Raith Rovers

Premier Division/Division One playoff

• Hibernian 1–0 Airdrieonians
• Airdrieonians 2–4 Hibernian

(Hibernian win 5–2 on aggregate)^[2]

Scottish League Division One

Main article: 1996–97 Scottish First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	St Johnstone (C, P)	36	24	8	4	74	23	+51	80	Promotion to the Premier Division
2	Airdrieonians	36	15	15	6	56	34	+22	60	Qualification for the Play-off
3	Dundee	36	15	13	8	47	33	+14	58
4	St Mirren	36	17	7	12	48	41	+7	58
5	Falkirk	36	15	9	12	42	39	+3	54
6	Partick Thistle	36	12	12	12	49	48	+1	48
7	Stirling Albion	36	12	10	14	54	61	−7	46
8	Morton	36	12	9	15	42	41	+1	45
9	Clydebank (R)	36	7	7	22	31	59	−28	28	Relegation to the Second Division
10	East Fife (R)	36	2	8	26	28	92	−64	14

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promoted: St. Johnstone
Relegated: Clydebank, East Fife

Scottish League Division Two

Main article: 1996–97 Scottish Second Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Ayr United (C, P)	36	23	8	5	61	33	+28	77	Promotion to the First Division
2	Hamilton Academical (P)	36	22	8	6	75	28	+47	74
3	Livingston	36	18	10	8	56	38	+18	64
4	Clyde	36	14	10	12	42	39	+3	52
5	Queen of the South	36	13	8	15	55	57	−2	47
6	Stenhousemuir	36	11	11	14	49	43	+6	44
7	Brechin City	36	10	11	15	36	49	−13	41
8	Stranraer	36	9	9	18	29	51	−22	36
9	Dumbarton (R)	36	9	8	19	44	66	−22	35	Relegation to the Third Division
10	Berwick Rangers (R)	36	4	11	21	32	75	−43	23

Source: "1996-1997 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promoted: Ayr United, Hamilton Academical
Relegated: Dumbarton, Berwick Rangers

Scottish League Division Three

Main article: 1996–97 Scottish Third Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle (C, P)	36	23	7	6	70	37	+33	76	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Forfar Athletic (P)	36	19	10	7	74	45	+29	67
3	Ross County	36	20	7	9	58	41	+17	67
4	Alloa Athletic	36	16	7	13	50	47	+3	55
5	Albion Rovers	36	13	10	13	50	47	+3	49
6	Montrose	36	12	7	17	46	62	−16	43
7	Cowdenbeath	36	10	9	17	38	51	−13	39
8	Queen's Park	36	9	9	18	46	59	−13	36
9	East Stirlingshire	36	8	9	19	36	58	−22	33
10	Arbroath	36	6	13	17	31	52	−21	31

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Promoted: Inverness CT, Forfar Athletic

Other honours

Cup honours

Competition	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Report
Scottish Cup 1996–97	Kilmarnock	1 – 0	Falkirk	Wikipedia article
League Cup 1996–97	Rangers	4 – 3	Heart of Midlothian	Wikipedia article
Challenge Cup 1996–97	Stranraer	1 – 0	St Johnstone	Wikipedia article
Youth Cup	Celtic	3 – 2	Rangers
Junior Cup	Pollok	3 – 1	Tayport

Individual honours

SPFA awards

Award	Winner	Club
Players' Player of the Year	Paolo di Canio	Celtic
Young Player of the Year	Robbie Winters	Dundee United

SFWA awards

Award	Winner	Club
Footballer of the Year	Brian Laudrup	Rangers
Young Player of the Year	Alex Burke	Kilmarnock
Manager of the Year	Walter Smith	Rangers

Scottish clubs in Europe

Club	Competition(s)	Final round	Coef.
Rangers	UEFA Champions League	Group stage	5.00
Heart of Midlothian	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Qualifying round	1.00
Aberdeen	UEFA Europa League	Second round	5.00
Celtic	UEFA Europa League	First round	1.50

Average coefficient – 3.125

Scotland national team

Main article: Scotland national football team 1980–1999 results

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score[3]	Competition	Scotland scorer(s)
31 August 1996	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna (A)	Austria	0–0	WCQG4
5 October 1996	Daugava Stadium, Riga (A)	Latvia	2–0	WCQG4	John Collins, Darren Jackson
10 November 1996	Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H)	Sweden	1–0	WCQG4	John McGinlay
11 February 1997	Stade Louis II, Monaco (A)	Estonia	0–0	WCQG4
29 March 1997	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (H)	Estonia	2–0	WCQG4	Tom Boyd, own goal
2 April 1997	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Austria	2–0	WCQG4	Kevin Gallacher (2)
30 April 1997	Ullevi, Gothenburg (A)	Sweden	1–2	WCQG4	Kevin Gallacher
27 May 1997	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (H)	Wales	0–1	Friendly
1 June 1997	Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali (A)	Malta	3–2	Friendly	Darren Jackson (2), Christian Dailly
8 June 1997	Dinamo Stadium, Minsk (A)	Belarus	1–0	WCQG4	Gary McAllister (pen.)

Key:

• (H) = Home match
• (A) = Away match
• WCQG4 = World Cup qualifying – Group 4

Notable events

• Rangers matched Celtic's record of nine successive top division titles.
• Tommy Burns was sacked as Celtic manager after the end of the season, having won just one trophy in his three years in charge.
• Mark Hateley briefly returned to Rangers after a year in England to provide cover in attack during the title run-in, before moving back to England as player-manager of Hull City.
• Kilmarnock won the Scottish Cup to end their 32-year wait for a major trophy.
• Veteran goalkeeper Jim Leighton transferred from Hibernian to Aberdeen at the end of the season.
• Former Scotland striker Mo Johnston moved to America at the start of the season to play for Kansas City Wizards in the American Major League.
• Trevor Steven, the former England winger, retired from playing at the end of the season after winning seven league titles with Rangers since first joining them in 1989.
• St Johnstone returned to the Premier Division by winning the Division One title by a 20-point margin.
• Brian Laudrup was voted SFWA Footballer of the Year.
• Paolo di Canio was voted SPFA Players' Player of the Year after scoring 15 league goals for Celtic after joining them from AC Milan in his native Italy, but during the close season left them to join Sheffield Wednesday for £4.7million.

Notes and references

1. "1996/97 - the Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
2. "Airdrie captain sent off as Hibs secure premier division status". The Herald. 23 May 1997. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
3. Scotland's score is shown first.