The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season was the last season of

Scottish Football League Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

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 A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. Third-placed Heart of Midlothian qualified for the last

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Lorenzo Amoruso Lorenzo Pier Paolo Amoruso (born 28 June 1971) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defender for seven teams in Italy, Scotland, England, and San Marino during his footballing career, but is perhaps best known for his six ...

and Marco Negri arriving in multimillion-pound deals. Paul Gascoigne also left the club, heading for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

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 Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He w ...

's record by netting all five goals in a 5–1 win over

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. The season began on 2 August with the first goal of the season scored by

Kjell Olofsson Kjell Olofsson (born 23 July 1965 in Gothenburg) is a former Swedish footballer who played as a striker. Career Dundee United 1996–97 season Olofsson joined Scottish club Dundee United during the 1996–97 season. Brought in by then mana ...

as they drew 1–1 at newly promoted St Johnstone. The season ended on 9 May with Hibernian's

Stevie Crawford Stephen Crawford (born 9 January 1974) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Crawford started his career with Raith Rovers, with whom he won the 1994 Scottish League Cup final and played in the UEFA Cup. This earned him ...

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 The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

* St Johnstone Relegated from Premier Division to First Division *

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

Stadia and locations

Managers

Managerial changes

Events

* 23 August: Marco Negri equals

's record with five goals in one match in the 5–1 win over

* September:

Darren Jackson Darren Jackson (born 25 July 1966) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played predominantly as a forward. Jackson played for several clubs in Scotland and England, including Newcastle United, Dundee United, Hibernian, Celtic ...

undergoes surgery for

hydrocephalus Hydrocephalus is a condition in which an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) occurs within the brain. This typically causes increased pressure inside the skull. Older people may have headaches, double vision, poor balance, urinary inc ...

, 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

Source
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1997-98 Scottish Premier Division Scottish Premier Division seasons

Scot The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

1997–98 Scottish Football League