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2007–08 Scottish Premier League

102nd season of top-tier football league in Scotland

Field	Value
competition	Scottish Premier League
season	2007–08
dates	4 August 2007 – 22 May 2008
winners	Celtic
6th Premier League title
42nd Scottish title
relegated	Gretna
continentalcup1	Champions League
continentalcup1 qualifiers	Celtic
Rangers
continentalcup2	UEFA Cup
continentalcup2 qualifiers	Motherwell
continentalcup3	Intertoto Cup
continentalcup3 qualifiers	Hibernian
league topscorer	Scott McDonald (25)
matches	228
total goals	610
biggest home win	Rangers 7–2 Falkirk (18 August)
Inverness CT 6–1 Gretna (3 May)
Celtic 5–0 Hearts (25 August)
Celtic 5–0 Inverness CT (15 September)
biggest away win	Aberdeen 1–5 Celtic (10 February)
St Mirren 1–5 Celtic (2 September)
St Mirren 1–5 Falkirk (1 December)
Gretna 0–4 Falkirk (4 August)
Gretna 0–4 Inverness CT (27 October)
Hearts 0–4 Rangers (27 February)
highest attendance	60,000, Celtic 0–0 Kilmarnock (5 August)
lowest attendance	431, Gretna 1–2 Inverness CT (5 April)
prevseason	[2006–07](2006-07-scottish-premier-league)
nextseason	[2008–09](2008-09-scottish-premier-league)

6th Premier League title 42nd Scottish title Rangers Inverness CT 6–1 Gretna (3 May) Celtic 5–0 Hearts (25 August) Celtic 5–0 Inverness CT (15 September) St Mirren 1–5 Celtic (2 September) St Mirren 1–5 Falkirk (1 December) Gretna 0–4 Falkirk (4 August) Gretna 0–4 Inverness CT (27 October) Hearts 0–4 Rangers (27 February)

The 2007–08 Scottish Premier League season was the tenth season of the Scottish Premier League. It began on 4 August 2007 and was originally due to end on 18 May 2008. Due to the death of Phil O'Donnell and extremely poor weather causing the postponement of fixtures during the winter, as well as a backlog of Rangers fixtures and their progression to the UEFA Cup Final, the SPL decided to move the final round of fixtures back four days to 22 May 2008. It was the first season under the sponsorship of the Clydesdale Bank.

Gretna had been promoted from the First Division and played in the SPL for the first time, replacing Dunfermline Athletic. Gretna did not play at their home stadium Raydale Park as it did not meet the SPL stadia criteria of 6,000 and instead used Motherwell's Fir Park for all but one of their games; that match was at Livingston's Almondvale Stadium.

The championship was determined on the final day of the season with Celtic and Rangers even on 86 points. Celtic travelled to Tannadice to play Dundee United knowing that a win would likely secure the title due to their superior goal difference (+57 to +53). Meanwhile, Rangers needed to better Celtic's result in their match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie (or in the event of both winning, overhaul the goal difference). As it turned out, Celtic won 1–0 following Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink's second-half header, while Aberdeen beat Rangers 2–0 thanks to goals from Lee Miller and Steve Lovell.

Celtic qualified directly for the Champions League, while second-placed Rangers qualified for the Second qualifying round. Third-placed Motherwell qualified for the UEFA Cup and Hibernian qualified for the Intertoto Cup. First Division side Queen of the South also qualified for the UEFA Cup after reaching the Scottish Cup Final, losing to Rangers. Gretna were relegated after just one season in the SPL and were replaced by First Division champions Hamilton Academical for the following season.

Clubs

Promotion and Relegation from 2006–07

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Gretna

Relegated from Premier League to First Division

Dunfermline Athletic

Stadia and locations

Aberdeen	Celtic	Dundee United	Falkirk	Gretna	Heart of Midlothian	Hibernian	Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Pittodrie Stadium	Celtic Park	Tannadice Park	Falkirk Stadium
Capacity: 20,866	Capacity: 60,411	Capacity: 14,223	Capacity: 7,937
[[File:Pittodrie from Block Y, May 2015.jpg	200px]]	[[File:CelticPark.JPG	200px]]	[[File:East Stand Tannadice.jpg	200px]]	[[File:Falkirk Stadium - geograph.org.uk - 397119.jpg	200px]]
{{Location map+	UK Scotland	width=400	float=center	caption=Location of teams in 2007–08 Scottish Premier League	places=
Fir Park, Motherwell	Tynecastle Park
url=http://spfl.co.uk/clubs/motherwell/	title=Motherwell Football Club	publisher=Scottish Professional Football League	access-date=11 November 2013}}	Capacity: 17,420
[[File:Fir Park, Motherwell. - geograph.org.uk - 219204.jpg	200px]]	[[File:Tynecastle Stadium 2007.jpg	200px]]
Easter Road	Caledonian Stadium
Capacity: 17,500	Capacity: 7,500
[[File:Easter Road 2010.JPG	200px]]	[[File:Caledonianstadium.jpg	200px]]
Rugby Park	Fir Park	Ibrox Stadium	Love Street
Capacity: 17,889	Capacity: 13,677	Capacity: 50,817	Capacity: 10,800
[[File:Rugby Park.jpg	200px]]	[[File:Fir Park, Motherwell. - geograph.org.uk - 219204.jpg	200px]]	[[File:Ibrox Inside.jpg	200px]]	[[File:Mainstand.JPG	200px]]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Kit sponsor
Aberdeen	Scotland Jimmy Calderwood	Nike	Apex Tubulars
Celtic	Scotland Gordon Strachan	Nike	Carling
Dundee United	Scotland Craig Levein	hummel	Anglian Windows
Falkirk	Scotland John Hughes	Lotto	Central Demolition
Gretna	Scotland Mick Wadsworth (caretaker)	Crest Teamwear	Subway
Heart of Midlothian	Scotland Stephen Frail (caretaker)	Umbro	Ukio Bankas
Hibernian	Finland Mixu Paatelainen	Le Coq Sportif	Whyte and Mackay
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Scotland Craig Brewster	Erreà	Flybe
Kilmarnock	Scotland Jim Jefferies	Lotto	www.smallworldmedia.com
Motherwell	Scotland Mark McGhee	Bukta	Anglian Home Improvements
Rangers	Scotland Walter Smith	Umbro	Carling
St Mirren	Scotland Gus MacPherson	hummel	Braehead Shopping Centre

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of vacancy	Manner of departure	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Motherwell	Scotland Maurice Malpas	url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/motherwell/6712487.stm	work=BBC Sport	date=1 June 2007	access-date=18 February 2018	title=Malpas leaves post at Motherwell}}	Sacked	Pre-season	Scotland Mark McGhee	18 June 2007
Gretna	Scotland Rowan Alexander	url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/g/gretna/6753521.stm	work=BBC Sport	date=14 June 2007	access-date=18 February 2018	title=No return for Alexander at Gretna}}	Sacked	Scotland Davie Irons	url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/g/gretna/6903910.stm	work=BBC Sport	date=18 July 2007	access-date=18 February 2018	title=Irons will lead Gretna into SPL}}
Inverness	Scotland Charlie Christie	url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/i/inverness_ct/6954546.stm	work=BBC Sport	date=20 August 2008	access-date=18 February 2018	title=Christie quits as Inverness boss}}	Resigned	12th	Scotland Craig Brewster	url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2319984/Craig-Brewster-returns-to-Inverness.html	newspaper=The Daily Telegraph	date=28 August 2007	access-date=18 February 2018	title=Craig Brewster returns to Inverness}}
Hibernian	Scotland John Collins	url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/dec/20/newsstory.hibernian	newspaper=The Guardian	date=20 December 2007	access-date=18 February 2018	title=Collins stuns Hibernian with shock resignation}}	Resigned	5th	Finland Mixu Paatelainen	url=http://www.worldsoccer.com/news/hibs-appoint-paatelainen-173365	publisher=World Soccer	date=10 January 2008	access-date=18 February 2018	title=Hibs appoint Paatelainen}}
Hearts	Russia Anatoliy Korobochka	url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/7166958.stm	work=BBC Sport	date=1 January 2008	access-date=18 February 2018	title=Hearts to search for new manager}}	Sacked	10th	Scotland Stephen Frail (caretaker)	1 January 2008
Gretna	Scotland Davie Irons	url=https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/davie-irons-resigns-as-gretna-manager-and-heads-to-morton-1-1155804	newspaper=The Scotsman	date=19 February 2008	access-date=18 February 2018	title=Davie Irons resigns as Gretna manager and heads to Morton}}	Signed by Greenock Morton	12th	Scotland Mick Wadsworth (caretaker)	19 February 2008

Notable events

Main article: 2007–08 in Scottish football

29 December: Thirty-five-year-old Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell collapsed on the pitch at Fir Park during a match against Dundee United, and died later that evening.
29 March: Gretna were relegated after losing 2–0 to St Mirren at Love Street.
19 April: Hamilton Academical won promotion to the Scottish Premier League as First Division champions following a 2–0 over Clyde.
22 May: Celtic won their third successive SPL title after defeating Dundee United 1–0.
29 May: Gretna were demoted to the Third Division after administrator David Elliot could not guarantee the Football League that the club would fulfil its fixtures next season.
2 June: Gretna resigned from the Scottish Football League because the administrator concluded that the club could not continue to run as a business.

League table

Results

Matches 1–22

During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away).

Matches 34–38

During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once.

Top six

Bottom six

Goals

Top scorers

Player	Goals	Club
AUS	25	Celtic
NED	15	Celtic
SCO	14	Rangers
ENG	Motherwell
SCO	13	Hibernian
IRL	Dundee United
SCO	Dundee United/Celtic
SCO	12	Motherwell
French Guiana	Rangers
SCO	Aberdeen
SCO	11	Kilmarnock/Hibernian
GAB	10	Rangers
ESP	Rangers
SCO	9	Inverness CT
ENG	8	Falkirk

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Scottish Premier League hat-tricks

Scorer	For	Against	Date
AUS Scott McDonald	Celtic	Dundee United	29 September 2007
ENG Clayton Donaldson	Hibernian	Kilmarnock	29 September 2007
AUS Scott McDonald	Celtic	Motherwell	27 October 2007
IRE Aiden McGeady	Celtic	Falkirk	11 December 2007
SCO Barry Robson	Dundee United	Heart of Midlothian	2 January 2008
SCO Steven Fletcher	Hibernian	Gretna	13 February 2008

Kits and shirt sponsors

Team	Kitmaker	Shirt sponsor	Notes
Aberdeen	Nike	Apex Tubulars	New home and third kits
Celtic	Nike	Carling	New home kit and new away kit to celebrate 40 years since being the first British team to win the European Cup.
Dundee United	hummel	Anglian Windows	New home and away kit
Falkirk	Lotto	Central Demolition	Lotto take over from previous manufacturer, TFG. Home kit is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the club's Scottish Cup victory in 1957.
Gretna	Crest Teamwear	Subway	Subway take over as new sponsor
Heart of Midlothian	Umbro	Ukio Bankas	Umbro take over from previous manufacturer, Hummel
Hibernian	Le Coq Sportif	Whyte and Mackay	New away kit and new home kit
Inverness CT	Erreà	Flybe	Flybe take over as new sponsor
Kilmarnock	Lotto	www.smallworldmedia.com	Lotto take over from previous manufacturer, TFG.
Motherwell	Bukta	Anglian Home Improvements	Bukta take over from previous manufacturer, Xara
Rangers	Umbro	Carling	New home, away and third kits
St Mirren	hummel	Braehead Shopping Centre	Hummel take over from previous manufacturer, Xara

For the first time in the SPL, certain teams also carried secondary sponsors on the back of their jerseys, above the players' names.

Attendances

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Lowest	Highest	Average
Celtic	Celtic Park	60,832	45,000	60,000	56,676
Rangers	Ibrox Stadium	51,082	47,419	50,440	48,090
Heart of Midlothian	Tynecastle Stadium	17,420	10,512	17,131	15,930
Hibernian	Easter Road	17,500	7,650	17,015	13,840
Aberdeen	Pittodrie	22,199	8,240	17,798	11,993
Dundee United	Tannadice Park	14,209	5,845	13,613	8,530
Kilmarnock	Rugby Park	18,128	4,456	11,544	6,181
Motherwell1	Fir Park	13,742	4,086	10,445	6,598
Falkirk	Falkirk Stadium	6,935	4,490	6,803	5,657
Inverness CT	Caledonian Stadium	7,500	3,420	7,753	4,752
St Mirren	Love Street	10,800	3,163	7,840	4,547
Gretna1	Fir Park	13,742	431	6,137	2,283

As of 22 May 2008

1 Gretna were sharing Motherwell's stadium whilst Raydale Park was being upgraded. However, in March the Fir Park pitch was considered unplayable so the game between Gretna and Celtic was played instead at Almondvale, the home of First Division club Livingston.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Motherwell	SCO Maurice Malpas	Sacked	18 June 2007	SCO Mark McGhee	1 June 2007
Gretna	SCO Andy Smith	Health	4 August 2007	SCO Davie Irons	18 July 2007
Heart of Midlothian	Lithuania Valdas Ivanauskas	Mutual consent		SCO Stephen Frail & RUS Anatoly Korobochka	30 July 2007
Inverness CT	SCO Charlie Christie	Resigned	August 2007	SCO Craig Brewster	27 August 2007
Hibernian	SCO John Collins	Resigned	20 December 2007	Finland Mixu Paatelainen	10 January 2008
Gretna	SCO Davie Irons	Resigned	19 February 2008	ENG Mick Wadsworth	19 February
Heart of Midlothian	SCO Stephen Frail	Mutual Consent	27 May 2008	HUN Csaba László	11 July

Awards

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Monthly awards

Main article: Scottish Premier League monthly awards}} {{See also, 2007–08 in Scottish football#Monthly awards

Month	Manager	Player	Young player	Rising star
August	SCO Walter Smith (Rangers)	ESP Carlos Cuéllar (Rangers)	SCO Steven Fletcher (Hibernian)	SCO Mark Staunton (Falkirk)
September	SCO John Collins (Hibernian)	Australia Scott McDonald (Celtic)	England Andrew Driver (Heart of Midlothian)	SCO Scott Anson (Kilmarnock)
October	SCO Craig Levein (Dundee United)	SCO Lee Wilkie (Dundee United)	SCO Ross McCormack (Motherwell)	SCO Jack Wilson (Hibernian)
November	SCO Mark McGhee (Motherwell)	IRE Aiden McGeady (Celtic)	SCO Ross McCormack (Motherwell)	SCO Liam Cusack (Gretna)
December	SCO Craig Brewster (Inverness CT)	ROM Marius Niculae (Inverness CT)	SCO Scott Arfield (Falkirk)	—
January	SCO Walter Smith (Rangers)	SCO Barry Robson (Dundee United)	ENG Danny Grainger (Dundee United)	—
February	Finland Mixu Paatelainen (Hibernian)	Ireland Aiden McGeady (Celtic)	Scotland Steven Fletcher (Hibernian)	SCO Ryan Strachan (Aberdeen)
March	SCO Walter Smith (Rangers)	SCO Darren Barr (Falkirk)	SCO Garry Kenneth (Dundee United)	SCO Ryan Crighton (St Mirren)
April	SCO Gordon Strachan (Celtic)	SCO Barry Robson (Celtic)	SCO Gary Glen (Heart of Midlothian)	—

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards

Award	Recipient
Player of the Season	ESP Carlos Cuéllar (Rangers)
Manager of the Season	SCO Walter Smith (Rangers)
Young Player of the Season	Ireland Aiden McGeady (Celtic)
Goal of the Season	IRL Willo Flood (Dundee United v St Mirren)
Under-19 League Player of the Season	SCO Scott Anson (Kilmarnock)
Best Club Media Relations	Kilmarnock
Best Fan Initiative	Heart of Midlothian
Best Matchday Hospitality Package	Rangers
Best Community Initiative	Falkirk
Best Away Ground	Tynecastle (Heart of Midlothian)

Broadcasting rights

Setanta Sports provided domestic TV live coverage and highlights as in previous seasons, with STV and BBC Scotland also broadcasting free-to-air highlights. BBC Radio Scotland continued to provide domestic radio coverage, with many games also available internationally, and all domestically, through their website. The BBC held rights to show highlights online and do so through the BBC Sport website. Internationally, the Premier League's overseas television broadcasting partner was TWI, with coverage of the SPL available in over 100 territories worldwide.Overseas Broadcasting | Scottish Premier League | Broadcasting | Overseas

Transfer deals

References

(22 April 2008). "SPL prepares for season extension".
"Aberdeen Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
"Celtic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
"Dundee United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
"Falkirk Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
[[Gretna F.C.. Gretna]] played their home matches at [[Motherwell F.C.. Motherwell]]'s Fir Park as their home ground, [[Raydale Park]], did not meet the league's minimum standards. They also played one match against [[Celtic F.C.. Celtic]] at [[Livingston F.C.. Livingston]]'s [[Almondvale Stadium]] as the pitch at Fir Park was considered unplayable.
"Motherwell Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
"Heart of Midlothian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
"Hibernian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
(April 2019). "Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
"Kilmarnock Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
"Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
"St Mirren Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League.
(1 June 2007). "Malpas leaves post at Motherwell". [[BBC Sport]].
(18 June 2007). "McGhee named new Motherwell boss". [[BBC Sport]].
(14 June 2007). "No return for Alexander at Gretna". [[BBC Sport]].
(18 July 2007). "Irons will lead Gretna into SPL". [[BBC Sport]].
(20 August 2008). "Christie quits as Inverness boss". [[BBC Sport]].
(28 August 2007). "Craig Brewster returns to Inverness". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
(20 December 2007). "Collins stuns Hibernian with shock resignation". [[The Guardian]].
(10 January 2008). "Hibs appoint Paatelainen". World Soccer.
(1 January 2008). "Hearts to search for new manager". [[BBC Sport]].
(19 February 2008). "Davie Irons resigns as Gretna manager and heads to Morton". [[The Scotsman]].
[https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/motherwell/7164150.stm Motherwell captain O'Donnell dies] ''BBC Sport''. Retrieved 29 December 2007
(29 March 2008). "St Mirren 2-0 Gretna". [[BBC Sport]].
(19 April 2008). "Hamilton Accies 2-0 Clyde". [[BBC Sport]].
(22 May 2008). "Dundee United 0-1 Celtic". [[BBC Sport]].
(29 May 2008). "Gretna demoted to Division Three". [[BBC Sport]].
(2 June 2008). "Gretna resign from Scottish Football League". The Times.
(5 April 2008). "Gretna 1-2 Inverness CT".
(1 April 2008). "Gretna return 'home' to Fir Park". BBC Sport.
(9 July 2008). "Hearts confirm Frail's departure". [[BBC Sport]].
(11 July 2008). "Hearts appoint Laszlo as manager". [[BBC Sport]].
"Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards Season 2007/08".

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