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1996–97 in Scottish football
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| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| headerstyle | background:#BFD7FF | |
| above | 1996–97 in Scottish football | |
| image | [[File:Flag of Scotland with football.png | 200px]] |
| header1 | Premier League champions | |
| data2 | Rangers | |
| header3 | Division One champions | |
| data4 | St Johnstone | |
| header5 | Division Two champions | |
| data6 | Ayr United | |
| header7 | Division Three champions | |
| data8 | Inverness CT | |
| header9 | Scottish Cup winners | |
| data10 | Kilmarnock | |
| header11 | League Cup winners | |
| data12 | Rangers | |
| header13 | Challenge Cup winners | |
| data14 | Stranraer | |
| header15 | Junior Cup winners | |
| data16 | Pollok | |
| header17 | Teams in Europe | |
| data18 | Aberdeen, Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers | |
| header19 | Scotland national team | |
| data20 | [1998 World Cup qualification](1998-fifa-world-cup-qualification) | |
| data21 | ← [1995–96](1995-96-in-scottish-football) [1997–98](1997-98-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.
Scottish Premier Division
Main article: 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division
Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Raith Rovers
Premier Division/Division One playoff
- Hibernian 1–0 Airdrieonians
- Airdrieonians 2–4 Hibernian (Hibernian win 5–2 on aggregate)
Scottish League Division One
Main article: 1996–97 Scottish First Division
Promoted: St. Johnstone
Relegated: Clydebank, East Fife
Scottish League Division Two
Main article: 1996–97 Scottish Second Division
Promoted: Ayr United, Hamilton Academical
Relegated: Dumbarton, Berwick Rangers
Scottish League Division Three
Main article: 1996–97 Scottish Third Division
Promoted: Inverness CT, Forfar Athletic
Other honours
Cup honours
| Competition | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Scottish Cup 1996–97](1996-97-scottish-cup) | Kilmarnock | 1 – 0 | Falkirk | [Wikipedia article](1997-scottish-cup-final) |
| [League Cup 1996–97](1996-97-scottish-league-cup) | Rangers | 4 – 3 | Heart of Midlothian | [Wikipedia article](1996-scottish-league-cup-final) |
| [Challenge Cup 1996–97](1996-97-scottish-challenge-cup) | Stranraer | 1 – 0 | St Johnstone | [Wikipedia article](1997-scottish-challenge-cup-final) |
| Youth Cup | Celtic | 3 – 2 | Rangers | |
| Junior Cup | Pollok | 3 – 1 | Tayport |
Individual honours
SPFA awards
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Players' Player of the Year | ITA Paolo di Canio | Celtic |
| Young Player of the Year | SCO Robbie Winters | Dundee United |
SFWA awards
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Footballer of the Year | DEN Brian Laudrup | Rangers |
| Young Player of the Year | SCO Alex Burke | Kilmarnock |
| Manager of the Year | SCO 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](1996-97-uefa-cup-winners-cup) | 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 | Competition | Scotland scorer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 August 1996 | Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna (A) | Austria Austria | 0–0 | [WCQG4](1998-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-4) | |
| 5 October 1996 | Daugava Stadium, Riga (A) | Latvia Latvia | 2–0 | [WCQG4](1998-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-4) | John Collins, Darren Jackson |
| 10 November 1996 | Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) | Sweden Sweden | 1–0 | [WCQG4](1998-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-4) | John McGinlay |
| 11 February 1997 | Stade Louis II, Monaco (A) | Estonia Estonia | 0–0 | [WCQG4](1998-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-4) | |
| 29 March 1997 | Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (H) | Estonia Estonia | 2–0 | [WCQG4](1998-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-4) | Tom Boyd, own goal |
| 2 April 1997 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | Austria Austria | 2–0 | [WCQG4](1998-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-4) | Kevin Gallacher (2) |
| 30 April 1997 | Ullevi, Gothenburg (A) | Sweden Sweden | 1–2 | [WCQG4](1998-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-4) | Kevin Gallacher |
| 27 May 1997 | Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (H) | Wales Wales | 0–1 | Friendly | |
| 1 June 1997 | Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali (A) | Malta Malta | 3–2 | Friendly | Darren Jackson (2), Christian Dailly |
| 8 June 1997 | Dinamo Stadium, Minsk (A) | Belarus Belarus | 1–0 | [WCQG4](1998-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-4) | 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.
References
- "1996/97 - the Scottish Football League".
- (23 May 1997). "Airdrie captain sent off as Hibs secure premier division status". The Herald.
- Scotland's score is shown first.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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