1997–98 in Scottish football

The 1997–98 season was the 101st season of competitive football in Scotland. Celtic won the Premier Division championship, preventing rivals Rangers from winning a record 10th successive championship. ^[1]

1997–98 in Scottish football
Premier League champions
Celtic
Division One champions
Dundee
Division Two champions
Stranraer
Division Three champions
Alloa Athletic
Scottish Cup winners
Heart of Midlothian
League Cup winners
Celtic
Challenge Cup winners
Falkirk
Junior Cup winners
Arthurlie
Teams in Europe
Celtic, Dundee United, Kilmarnock, Rangers
Scotland national team
1998 World Cup qualification, 1998 World Cup
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Scottish Premier Division

Main article: 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic (C)	36	22	8	6	64	24	+40	74	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Rangers	36	21	9	6	76	38	+38	72	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Heart of Midlothian	36	19	10	7	70	46	+24	67	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
4	Kilmarnock	36	13	11	12	40	52	−12	50	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
5	St Johnstone	36	13	9	14	38	42	−4	48
6	Aberdeen	36	9	12	15	39	53	−14	39
7	Dundee United	36	8	13	15	43	51	−8	37
8	Dunfermline Athletic	36	8	13	15	43	68	−25	37
9	Motherwell	36	9	7	20	46	64	−18	34
10	Hibernian (R)	36	6	12	18	38	59	−21	30	Relegation to the First Division

Source: Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Top scorers

Player	Goals	Team
Marco Negri	32	Rangers
Kjell Olofsson	18	Dundee United
Henrik Larsson	16	Celtic
Andy Smith		Dunfermline Athletic
Tommy Coyne	14	Motherwell
Jim Hamilton		Heart of Midlothian
Owen Coyle	11	Motherwell
Jörg Albertz	10	Rangers
Craig Burley		Celtic
Billy Dodds		Aberdeen
Simon Donnelly		Celtic
Neil McCann		Heart of Midlothian
George O'Boyle		St Johnstone
Paul Wright		Kilmarnock

Source: Soccerbot

Scottish League Division One

Main article: 1997–98 Scottish First Division

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Dundee (C, P)	36	20	10	6	52	24	+28	70	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Falkirk	36	19	8	9	56	41	+15	65
3	Raith Rovers	36	17	9	10	51	33	+18	60
4	Airdrieonians	36	16	12	8	42	35	+7	60
5	Greenock Morton	36	12	10	14	40	47	−7	46
6	St Mirren	36	11	8	17	41	53	−12	41
7	Ayr United	36	10	10	16	40	56	−16	40
8	Hamilton Academical	36	9	11	16	43	56	−13	38
9	Partick Thistle (R)	36	8	12	16	45	55	−10	36	Relegation to the Second Division
10	Stirling Albion (R)	36	8	10	18	40	56	−16	34

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

Top scorers

P	Name	Goals
1	James Grady (Dundee)	15
2	Alex Bone (Stirling Albion)	13
3	Eddie Annand (Dundee)	12
=	Brian McPhee (Airdrieonians)	12
=	David Moss (Falkirk)	12
6	Stephen Cooper (Airdrieonians)	11
7	Laurent D'Jaffo (Ayr United)	10
=	Paul Hartley (Raith Rovers)	10
=	Warren Hawke (Morton)	10
=	Marino Keith (Falkirk)	10

Scottish League Division Two

Main article: 1997–98 Scottish Second Division

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Stranraer (C, P)	36	18	7	11	62	44	+18	61	Promotion to the First Division
2	Clydebank (P)	36	16	12	8	48	31	+17	60
3	Livingston	36	16	11	9	56	40	+16	59
4	Queen of the South	36	15	9	12	57	51	+6	54
5	Inverness CT	36	13	10	13	65	51	+14	49
6	East Fife	36	14	6	16	51	59	−8	48
7	Forfar Athletic	36	12	10	14	51	61	−10	46
8	Clyde	36	10	12	14	40	53	−13	42
9	Stenhousemuir (R)	36	10	10	16	44	53	−9	40	Relegation to the Third Division
10	Brechin City (R)	36	7	11	18	42	73	−31	32

Source: "1997-1998 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL (in Malay). Retrieved 29 April 2021.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Top scorers

P	Name	Goals
1	Iain Stewart (Inverness CT)	16
2	Graham Harvey (Livingston)	15
=	Ian Little (Stenhousemuir)	15
4	Martin McLauchan (Forfar Athletic)	14
5	Colin McDonald (Clydebank)	13
=	B Thomson (Inverness CT)	13
7	Ben Honeyman (Forfar Athletic)	12
8	Tommy Bryce (Queen of the South)	11
=	Matthew Dyer (East Fife)	11
=	Gordon Young (Stranraer)	11

Scottish League Division Three

Main article: 1997–98 Scottish Third Division

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Alloa Athletic (C, P)	36	24	4	8	78	39	+39	76	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Arbroath (P)	36	20	8	8	67	39	+28	68
3	Ross County	36	19	10	7	71	36	+35	67
4	East Stirlingshire	36	17	6	13	50	48	+2	57
5	Albion Rovers	36	13	5	18	60	73	−13	44
6	Berwick Rangers	36	10	12	14	47	55	−8	42
7	Queen's Park	36	10	11	15	42	55	−13	41
8	Cowdenbeath	36	12	2	22	33	57	−24	38
9	Montrose	36	10	8	18	53	80	−27	38
10	Dumbarton	36	7	10	19	42	61	−19	31

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

Top scorers

Pos	Player	Club	Goals
1	Colin McGlashan	Montrose	20
2	Willie Irvine	Alloa Athletic	18
3	Billy Spence	Arbroath	16
4	Derek Adams	Ross County	15
5	Willie Watters	Albion Rovers	13
	Davie Watt	East Stirlingshire
7	Paul Forrester	Berwick Rangers	10
	Lee Gardner	Albion Rovers
	Brian Grant	Arbroath
	Colin McKinnon	Dumbarton

Other honours

Cup honours

Competition	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Report
Scottish Cup 1997–98	Heart of Midlothian	2 – 1	Rangers	Wikipedia article
League Cup 1997–98	Celtic	3 – 0	Dundee United	Wikipedia article
Challenge Cup 1997–98	Falkirk	1 – 0	Queen of the South	Wikipedia article
Youth Cup	Heart of Midlothian	2 – 0	Dundee United
Junior Cup	Arthurlie	4 – 0	Pollok

Individual honours

SPFA awards

Award	Winner	Club
Players' Player of the Year	Jackie McNamara	Celtic
Young Player of the Year	Gary Naysmith	Heart of Midlothian

SFWA awards

Award	Winner	Club
Footballer of the Year	Craig Burley	Celtic
Young Player of the Year	Henrik Larsson	Celtic
Manager of the Year	Wim Jansen	Celtic

Scottish clubs in Europe

Club	Competition(s)	Final round	Coef.
Rangers	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League	Second qualifying round First round	2.50
Kilmarnock	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	First round	2.50
Celtic	UEFA Europa League	First round	5.00
Dundee United	UEFA Europa League	Second qualifying round	2.50

Average coefficient – 3.125

Scotland national team

Main article: Scotland national football team 1980–1999 results

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score[2]	Competition	Scotland scorer(s)
7 September	Pittodrie, Aberdeen (H)	Belarus	4–1	WCQG4	Kevin Gallacher (2), David Hopkin (2)
11 October	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Latvia	2–0	WCQG4	Kevin Gallacher, Gordon Durie
12 November	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St Etienne (A)	France	1–2	Friendly	Gordon Durie
25 March	Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H)	Denmark	0–1	Friendly
22 April	Easter Road, Edinburgh (H)	Finland	1–1	Friendly	Darren Jackson
23 May	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford NJ (A)	Colombia	2–2	Friendly	John Collins, Craig Burley
30 May	RFK Memorial Stadium, Washington DC (A)	USA	0–0	Friendly
10 June	Stade de France, Saint-Denis (N)	Brazil	1–2	WCGA	John Collins (pen.)
16 June	Stade Lescure, Bordeaux (N)	Norway	1–1	WCGA	Craig Burley
23 June	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St Etienne (N)	Morocco	0–3	WCGA

Key:

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

Notable events

• After the end of the season, the 10 Premier Division clubs formed a breakaway Scottish Premier League similar to the one formed in England six years earlier.
• Celtic won the Premier Division title after nine successive title wins by Rangers.
• Walter Smith resigned as manager of Rangers after seven years to be succeeded by Dutchman Dick Advocaat.
• Rangers lost the Scottish Cup final 2–1 to Hearts, leaving them without a major trophy for the first time since 1986.
• Paul Gascoigne left Rangers in March to return to England in a £3.4million move to Middlesbrough.
• Ally McCoist left Rangers after 15 years and more than 300 goals to sign for Kilmarnock on a free transfer.
• Goalkeeper Andy Goram left Rangers after seven years, having just walked out of the Scotland squad for the World Cup in France.
• Also leaving Rangers after seven years was Stuart McCall, who moved to England and signed for Bradford City.
• After signing from Perugia in a £3.5million deal at the start of the season, Italian striker Marco Negri had a dream start to his career at Rangers – scoring 23 goals in his first 10 league games. However, after playing 27 league games and scoring 32 goals, his season was ended by a serious eye injury off the field in March.
• Brian Laudrup ended his four-year spell with Rangers and signed for Chelsea at the end of the season.