The 1988–89 season was the 92nd season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Notable events

Rangers regained their league title and retained the League Cup, but defeat by Celtic in the Scottish Cup final ended their hopes of a domestic treble. Graeme Souness's acquisition of English players continued with the signing of

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

striker

Kevin Drinkell Kevin Smith Drinkell (born 18 June 1960) is an English former professional football player and manager. Drinkell was a centre forward, noted for his aerial ability and the number of headed goals he scored as a result. Career Drinkell began h ...

and Everton defender Gary Stevens. For the title run-in, he also signed defender

Mel Sterland Melvyn Sterland (born 1 October 1961 in Sheffield) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played in the Football League for Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United F.C., Leeds United and in t ...

from

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

, only to sell him to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

in the close season. Hearts enjoyed the best European run out of all the Scottish clubs, reaching the quarter finals of 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 Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

, where they were narrowly beaten by the

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

giants

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and

Jocky Scott John Alexander "Jocky" Scott (born 14 January 1948) is a Scottish football coach and former player. During his playing career he played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Seattle Sounders and Scotland. An extensive management career followed with spells a ...

took joint charge of Aberdeen for the 1988–89 season following the departure of

Ian Porterfield John Ian Porterfield (11 February 1946 – 11 September 2007) was a Scottish professional footballer, and an experienced football coach who worked at both club and international level for almost 30 years. At the time of his death, he was the coa ...

after less than two years in charge, but were still unable to return to the club to the glory days of

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

, as Rangers and Celtic collected all the major prizes once again.

Scottish Premier Division

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Hamilton Academical

Scottish League Division One

Promoted: Dunfermline Athletic
Relegated: Kilmarnock, Queen of the South

Scottish League Division Two

Promoted: Albion Rovers, Alloa Athletic

Other honours

Cup honours

Non-league honours

Senior

Individual honours

SPFA awards

SFWA awards

Scottish clubs in Europe

Results for Scotland's participants in European competition for the 1988–89 season

Celtic

Dundee United

Aberdeen

Heart of Midlothian

Rangers

Scotland national team

Key: *(H) = Home match *(A) = Away match *WCQG5 = World Cup qualifying – Group 5 *F = Friendly

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988-89 in Scottish football Seasons in Scottish football