The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season was the last season of Scottish Football League Premier Division football before the change to the Scottish Premier League. It began on 1 August 1997.
Overview The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season ended in success for Celtic who won by two points from nearest rivals Rangers, beating St Johnstone on the last day to clinch the title. Claiming the trophy would have given Rangers a record-breaking 10 Scottish League Championships in a row (having matched Celtic's record the previous season). Heart of Midlothian ran Celtic and Rangers very close to winning the title, and led for large spells of the season before falling away towards the end of the season. Hibernian were relegated to the First Division after finishing bottom. As champions, Celtic qualified for the Champions League while Rangers were joined by Kilmarnock in qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Third-placed Heart of Midlothian qualified for the last Cup Winners' Cup as Scottish Cup winners.
Rangers were involved in some of the season's big transfers with Lorenzo Amoruso and Marco Negri arriving in multimillion-pound deals. Paul Gascoigne also left the club, heading for Middlesbrough in a £3.5m deal. Negri went on to become only the second player to score five goals in a Scottish Premier Division match, equalling Paul Sturrock's record by netting all five goals in a 5–1 win over Dundee United.
The season began on 2 August with the first goal of the season scored by Dundee United's Kjell Olofsson as they drew 1–1 at newly promoted St Johnstone. The season ended on 9 May with Hibernian's Stevie Crawford netting a last-minute equaliser away to Kilmarnock to score the final goal of the season.
Clubs Promotion and relegation from 1996–97 Promoted from First Division to Premier League St Johnstone
Relegated from Premier Division to First Division Raith Rovers
Stadia and locations
Team Location StadiumAberdeen Aberdeen Pittodrie StadiumCeltic Parkhead, Glasgow Celtic ParkDundee UnitedDundeeTannadice ParkDunfermline AthleticDunfermlineEast End ParkHeart of MidlothianGorgie, EdinburghTynecastle ParkHibernianLeith, EdinburghEaster RoadKilmarnockKilmarnockRugby ParkMotherwellMotherwellFir ParkRangersIbrox, GlasgowIbrox ParkSt JohnstonePerthMcDiarmid Park
Managers Team ManagerAberdeen Alex MillerCeltic Wim JansenDundee United Tommy McLeanDunfermline Athletic Bert PatonHeart of Midlothian Jim JefferiesHibernian Alex McLeishKilmarnock Bobby WilliamsonMotherwell Harri KampmanRangers Walter SmithSt Johnstone Paul Sturrock
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Incoming manager Date of appointmentCeltic Billy Stark 11 May 1997Caretaker spell ended Wim Jansen4 July 1997Aberdeen Roy Aitken10 November 1997Sacked Alex Miller21 November 1997Hibernian Jim Duffy2 February 1998Sacked Alex McLeish11 February 1998Motherwell Alex McLeish11 February 1998Signed by Hibernian Harri Kampman25 February 1998
Events 23 August: Marco Negri equals Paul Sturrock's record with five goals in one match in the 5–1 win over Dundee United September: Darren Jackson undergoes surgery for hydrocephalus, returning to action within three months 9 May: Celtic win the title after a 2–0 home win over St Johnstone F.C
League table
Results
Matches 1–18 During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).
Matches 19–36 During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team a further two times (home and away).
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
Awards
Player awards
AwardWinnerClubPFA Players' Player of the Year CelticPFA Young Player of the Year Heart of MidlothianSFWA Footballer of the Year Celtic
Manager awards
AwardWinnerClubSFWA Manager of the Year Celtic
References