The 1995–96 season was the 99th season of competitive football in Scotland.
Scottish Premier Division
Summary Rangers won the Premier Division with a record 87 points, finishing four ahead of rivals Celtic. Aberdeen were third with 55 points (on goal difference).
Falkirk were relegated after finishing bottom. Partick Thistle were relegated via the play-offs, losing 3–2 on aggregate to Dundee United, who returned to the Premier Division at the first attempt. This was the only occasion on which this short-lived play-off system relegated a team from the Premier Division.
Rangers qualified for the European Cup, with Celtic and Aberdeen making it into the UEFA Cup. All three clubs entered at the qualifying round stage.
Celtic's Pierre van Hooijdonk was the top scorer with 26 goals, ahead of the Rangers trio of Gordon Durie (17), Ally McCoist (16) and Paul Gascoigne (14).
Rangers recorded the biggest win of the campaign with a 7–0 home win over Hibernian, with Gordon Durie scoring four times. Incredibly, Hibs had won 1–0 at Ibrox just three months earlier, and Hearts won 3–0 there just three weeks after the 7–0 match.
Celtic went 31 games unbeaten, from 4 October to the end of the season. Motherwell had the best winning run with five consecutive successes, while Falkirk lost eight in a row.
Meadowbank Thistle, who had been relegated from the Second Division, were renamed Livingston to reflect their relocation from Edinburgh to Livingston for this season. The renamed club ended the season as Third Division champions.
Table
Champions: Rangers Relegated: Partick Thistle, Falkirk
Scottish League Division One
Promoted: Dunfermline Athletic, Dundee United Relegated: Hamilton Academical, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division Two
Promoted: Stirling Albion, East Fife Relegated: Forfar Athletic, Montrose
Scottish League Division Three
Promoted: Livingston, Brechin City
Other honours
Cup honours Rangers won the Scottish Cup, beating Hearts 5–1 in the final, with Gordon Durie scoring a second half hat-trick.
The Coca-Cola Cup went to Aberdeen, who beat Dundee 2–0 to win the trophy for the sixth time.The 1945–46 competition was not competed for by all clubs, owing to wartime restrictions, and does not usually count towards official records, often being referred to as the 'Southern League Cup'. However, Aberdeen include it on their honour roll.
The Challenge Cup was won by Stenhousemuir, who beat Dundee United on penalties after a 0–0 draw. United never conceded a goal in the competition.
CompetitionWinnerScoreRunner-upReportScottish Cup 1995–96Rangers5 – 1Heart of MidlothianWikipedia articleLeague Cup 1995–96Aberdeen2 – 0DundeeWikipedia articleChallenge Cup 1995–96Stenhousemuir0 – 0 (5 – 4 pen.)Dundee UnitedWikipedia articleYouth CupCeltic4 – 1DundeeJunior CupTayport2 – 0 Camelon
Individual honours
SPFA awards AwardWinnerClubPlayers' Player of the Year Paul Gascoigne RangersYoung Player of the Year Jackie McNamara Celtic
SFWA awards AwardWinnerClub Footballer of the Year Paul Gascoigne Rangers Manager of the Year Walter Smith Rangers
Scottish clubs in Europe
ClubCompetition(s)Final roundCoef.RangersUEFA Champions LeagueGroup stage5.50CelticUEFA Cup Winners' CupSecond round4.00Raith RoversUEFA CupSecond round3.50MotherwellUEFA CupPreliminary round1.00
Average coefficient - 3.500
Scotland national team
Scotland recorded home wins over Greece, Finland and San Marino between August and November in the European Championship qualifiers to secure qualification, keeping a clean sheet in each match. The final three friendly matches before Euro 96 were lost, including two just two weeks before the first match.
In the competition, Scotland battled to a 0–0 draw in the opener against the Netherlands at Villa Park. They were then beaten 2–0 at Wembley by hosts England in the second group match. During this match Gary McAllister had a penalty kick saved by David Seaman when the score was 1–0 to England. Moments later, Paul Gascoigne scored one of the great Wembley goals to make the score 2–0 and effectively win the match.
Going into the final match at Villa Park, Scotland had to beat Switzerland and hope that England beat the Netherlands, while also needing a five-goal swing in their favour. A goal by Ally McCoist put Scotland on their way to a 1–0 victory and with England leading 4–0 against the Dutch, Scotland were going through. But Patrick Kluivert scored a 78th-minute goal against England, which was enough to send Craig Brown's squad out of the tournament on goals scored (goal difference was tied).
DateVenueOpponentsCompetitionScotland scorer(s)16 August 1995Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) Greece1–0ECQG8Ally McCoist6 September 1995Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) Finland1–0ECQG8Scott Booth11 October 1995Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm (A) Sweden0–2Friendly15 November 1995Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) San Marino5–0ECQG8Eoin Jess, Scott Booth, Ally McCoist, Pat Nevin, own goal27 March 1996Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) Australia1–0FriendlyAlly McCoist24 April 1996Parken Stadium, Copenhagen (A) Denmark0–2Friendly26 May 1996Veteran's Stadium, New Britain, Connecticut (A) USA1–2FriendlyGordon Durie29 May 1996Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida (A) Colombia0–1Friendly10 June 1996Villa Park, Birmingham (N) Netherlands0–0ECGA15 June 1996Wembley Stadium, London (N) England0–2ECGA18 June 1996Villa Park, Birmingham (N) Switzerland1–0ECGAAlly McCoist
Key: (H) = Home match (A) = Away match ECQ8 = European Championship qualifying - Group 8 ECGA = European Championship - Group A
Notes and references