The 2008–09 season was the 112th 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 ca ...

in Scotland.

Overview

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

competed in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when the ...

for the first time, their first season in the top-flight since the 1988–89 season, after being promoted as First Division champions the previous season. * Gretna were due to play in the First Division after being relegated from the SPL. However, on 29 May 2008, they were demoted to the Third Division due to their failure to guarantee that they would fulfill their fixtures. Gretna resigned from the SFL on 3 June 2008 with the club's administrators warning of the threat of

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redist ...

, creating an opening in the Third Division for a new SFL member. Following Gretna's demise a new club, Gretna 2008 was formed, they were given a place in the

East of Scotland League The East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) is a senior football league based in the east and south-east of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–9 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. F ...

, filling the gap left by Annan Athletic. * Ross County competed in the First Division after being promoted as Second Division champions. Airdrie United were also promoted into the First Division, filling Gretna's space, as they were the losing play-off finalists. *

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

competed in the Second Division after being relegated from the First Division as the bottom team. * East Fife and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. Ther ...

competed in the Second Division after being promoted as Third Division champions and Second Division play-off winners, respectively.

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch, Dumfries and Galloway, Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshir ...

were also promoted into the Second Division, filling the empty space following Gretna's relegation, as they were the losing play-off finalists. *

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing f ...

and Cowdenbeath competed in the Third Division after being relegated from the Second Division as the bottom team and through the Second Division play-offs, respectively. * Annan Athletic competed in the Third Division after being admitted to the SFL. They replaced Gretna, who resigned their league status on 3 June. * St Mirren moved into their new 8,000 seater stadium, New St Mirren Park, on 31 January 2009.

Notable events

2008

* 3 July – Annan Athletic, formerly of the

were admitted to the SFL, beating Cove Rangers, Edinburgh City, Preston Athletic and

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

. They replaced Gretna, who resigned their league status on 3 June. * 6 July – The first competitive match involving a Scottish team was played by Hibernian in the

2008 Intertoto Cup The 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup was the last UEFA Intertoto Cup football tournament, the 14th to be organised by UEFA and the third since the competition's format was given a major overhaul. Fifty teams were invited, with the eleven winners after the ...

, they lost 2–0 to Elfsborg. * 11 July – Gretna 2008, founded by the supporters of the bankrupt Gretna, join the

First Division. * 26 July – Competitive domestic competition got under way with the first fixtures of the 2008–09 Challenge Cup. * 2 August – The

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sou ...

begins with the playing of the first fixtures in the First and Second divisions. * 8 August – Former SPL members and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Gretna F.C. are formally liquidated by the club's administrators. * 9 August – The first matches of the 2008–09 Scottish Premier League take place. * 13 November – A consortium led by

Supporters Club agreed a deal to take over the club. Following a poor run of form, manager Allan McGonigal resigned at the same time saying "I made up my mind that when the current directors left I would move on." * 16 November – The 2008–09 Challenge Cup was won by Airdrie United who defeated Ross County 3–2 on penalties following a 2–2 draw after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

, the winning penalty was scored by Marc Smyth. * 4 December – Scotland fail in their attempt to have the match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and th ...

moved to October 2009, the match was to go ahead on 12 August 2009. * 13 December – Celtic drew 1–1 with Heart of Midlothian at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

which was followed by a reported dressing-room argument between Celtic manager

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

and player

Aiden McGeady Aiden John McGeady (born 4 April 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Premiership club Hibernian. Born in Scotland, he represented the Republic of Ireland national team from 2004 until 2017. He started his ...

. This led to Strachan banning the player without pay for two weeks, after initially saying he would contest the sanction McGeady accepted the punishment and later returned to the team.

2009

* 3 January – St Mirren drew 0–0 with

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanar ...

in their last game at

Love Street "Love Street" is a song performed by the American rock band the Doors. Sequenced as the second album track on ''Waiting for the Sun'', its lyrics were written by lead singer Jim Morrison and as with other songs, it was dedicated to his girlfriend ...

before they moved to New St Mirren Park. * 28 January – Shares in Berwick Rangers were transferred to complete the deal which handed control to a consortium led by Berwick Rangers Supporters Trust. * 31 January – St Mirren drew 1–1 with Kilmarnock in their first match at their new stadium. * 14 February – The

agreed to the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for ...

's request to delay the start of the SPL season by a week to give the Scotland national team extra time to prepare for the match against

. * 25 February – Former

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

and former East Fife player

Henry McLeish Henry Baird McLeish (born 15 June 1948) is a Scottish politician, author and academic who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2000 to 2001. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Fife from ...

was appointed to chair a review of Scottish football. * 15 March – Celtic won the 2008–09 League cup beating

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

2–0 after

in the final thanks to a goal from

Darren O'Dea Darren O'Dea (born 4 February 1987) is an Irish retired professional football player, who is currently the coach of Celtic B team. O'Dea has played as a centre back for clubs in Scotland, England, Canada, Ukraine and India, and represented th ...

and an

penalty. * 4 April –

were relegated to the Third Division after being beaten 3–0 by

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 Leag ...

. * 2 May –

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

won promotion to the Scottish Premier League as First Division champions following a 3–1 win over Greenock Morton. ** The Second Division title and promotion to the First Division was won by

, following a 1–0 win over Queen's Park at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the nor ...

. ** Clyde were relegated from the First Division despite beating

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

2–0. * 9 May – The Third Division title was won by

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

after they beat Annan Athletic 3–1, they therefore gained promotion to the second Division. * 17 May – Queen's Park were relegated from the Second Division after a 2–1 aggregate loss to Stenhousemuir in their Second Division play-off Semi-final. * 23 May –

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had ...

beat Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1–0 to stay in the SPL and relegate Inverness to the First Division on

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. **

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nea ...

won promotion to the Second Division as Second Division play-off winners, they beat Cowdenbeath 5–4 on penalties. * 24 May –

are crowned Scottish champions after beating

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 ...

3–0, Celtic drew 0–0 with Heart of Midlothian so Rangers won by 4 points. ** Airdrie United are relegated to the Second Division and

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname ...

are promoted to the First after Ayr won the First Division play-off Final 3–2 on aggregate. * 30 May – Rangers won the

2008–09 Scottish Cup The 2008–09 Scottish Cup was the 124th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The winners were Rangers, who defeated Falkirk in the 2009 final on 30 May 2009. The competition was under new sponsorship. While the ...

beating Falkirk 1–0 in the final thanks to a goal from substitute Nacho Novo just after half-time.

Transfer deals

Managerial changes

League Competitions

Scottish Premier League

Scottish First Division

Scottish Second Division

Scottish Third Division

Other honours

Cup honours

Non-league honours

Senior

Junior

West Region East Region North Region

Individual honours

PFA Scotland awards

Celtic midfielder Scott Brown was named Players' Player of the Year after winning the most votes from his fellow players. He was named on the shortlist along with three other

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply ...

players, Celtic defender Gary Caldwell and

midfielder's

Steven Davis Steven Davis (born 1 January 1985) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Rangers and captains the Northern Ireland national team. Davis made his full international debut in 2005 ...

and Pedro Mendes. The Young Player of the Year award was awarded to James McCarthy who was named on the shortlist along with; Heart of Midlothian winger Andrew Driver, Hibernian striker Steven Fletcher and fellow

midfielder

James McArthur James McFarlane McArthur (born 7 October 1987) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Crystal Palace. McArthur started his career at Hamilton Academical and was part of the team that won the 2007–0 ...

SFWA awards

Scottish clubs in Europe

Summary

Celtic

Rangers

Motherwell

Queen of the South

Hibernian

Scotland national team

Summary

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 th ...

began the season with a friendly against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Northern Ireland were denied a victory by substitute goalkeeper

Allan McGregor Allan James McGregor (born 31 January 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Rangers. McGregor has also previously played for St Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic, Turkish team Beşi ...

who saved a David Healy penalty after he brought down

Warren Feeney Warren James Feeney (born 17 January 1981) is a football manager and former Northern Ireland international footballer, who is currently manager of Welling United. In making his debut for the Northern Ireland national team, he became the thir ...

inside the area. The draw meant that Scotland had yet to win under

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most suc ...

after three matches. The

2010 World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

campaign began against Macedonia. Scotland faced an early free-kick after Macedonia striker

Goran Maznov Goran Maznov ( Macedonian Cyrillic: Горан Мазнов) (born 22 April 1981 in Strumica, SR Macedonia) is a Macedonian football striker who plays for FK Dojransko Ezero in the Macedonian third league group Southeast. Club career Internati ...

fell theatrically on the edge of the penalty area as he was challenged by stand-in captain Stephen McManus.

Craig Gordon Craig Sinclair Gordon (born 31 December 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian, where he is club captain, and the Scottish national team. Gordon started his c ...

was able to tip the resulting shot onto the post, but Ilčo Naumoski followed up to score five minutes into George Burley's first competitive match. Both teams had opportunities and Scotland were denied what appeared to be a clear penalty after

James McFadden James Henry McFadden (born 14 April 1983) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who played as a forward. McFadden started his playing career with Motherwell, where he came to prominence in the 2002–03 season by scorin ...

was brought down but the referee waved away the appeals and booked the striker for his protests. Scotland recovered from their opening defeat with a 2–1 victory away to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

in what was Burley's first win as manager. Kirk Broadfoot scored on his debut and James McFadden scored from a penalty, Iceland got back into the match after captain McManus handled in the box and

Eiður Guðjohnsen Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen (transliterated as Eidur Smari Gudjohnsen; born 15 September 1978) is an Icelandic professional football coach and former player who played as a forward. Eiður saw his greatest success in England and Spain with Chels ...

scored from the resulting penalty. Scotland held out for the win despite having to play the last 13 minutes down to ten men. Scotland drew 0–0 at home to

despite debutant striker

Chris Iwelumo Christopher Robert Iwelumo (; born 1 August 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a striker. Iwelumo started his career with St Mirren before moving to Danish club Aarhus Fremad for two years. A move to Stoke C ...

being presented with an open goal opportunity from just three yards, with the ball being crossed by Gary Naysmith from the left to the right side of the goal where Iwelumo is standing, he connects with the ball but somehow manages to put the ball wide of the left post. The draw left Scotland top of Group Nine but with just four points from three games, with the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

having played just one. They next played a friendly against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

's first match as Argentina manager, Maxi Rodríguez scored the winning goal for the Argentines in a 1–0 win. The Netherlands beat Scotland comfortably with goals from

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Dirk Jan Klaas "Klaas-Jan" Huntelaar (; born 12 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker. Huntelaar played for PSV, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, Heerenveen, Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan, before joining S ...

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Persie was known for his excellent technique and ball co ...

and

Dirk Kuyt Dirk Kuijt (anglicised to Kuyt, ; born 22 July 1980) is a Dutch former professional footballer and was the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Originally starting out as a striker, he played much of his career as a winger. Kuyt beg ...

, depleted by injuries Burley was forced to field an inexperienced side

Ross McCormack Ross McCormack (born 18 August 1986) is a Scottish professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for Aldershot Town. McCormack started his career with Scottish Premier League club Rangers in 2002, where he made few appearances ...

making his debut started along with

Christophe Berra Christophe Didier Berra (born 31 January 1985) is a Scottish professional football former player and coach, who is currently the first team coach for Livingston. Berra began his professional career with Heart of Midlothian, playing 146 times ...

and Allan McGregor, who were making their first competitive starts. Scotland were denied a chance to get back into the match at 2–0 down when referee

Massimo Busacca Massimo, also Massimino, and Massimine () is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: Given name: * Massimo Agostinelli (Max Agos) (born 1987), Swiss based Italian American artist, entrepreneur and activist * Massimo A ...

(who was suspended by his home federation) disallowed a seemingly perfectly good Gary Caldwell goal, minutes later the Netherlands were awarded a penalty from which Kuyt scored. Ross McCormack and Steven Fletcher both scored their first international goals in a 2–1 win over Iceland, McCormack opened the scoring after 39 minutes firing high into the net from an

Alan Hutton Alan Hutton (born 30 November 1984) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a right back. Hutton started his career with Rangers, and won the league title in 2005. He moved to English football with Tottenham Hotspur in 2008, ...

cross, Indridi Sigurdsson levelled for the visitors after Pálmi Rafn Pálmason hit the post, Scotland though regrouped and after 65 minutes were awarded a debatable corner which McCormack took, the ball was headed into the danger area by McManus and Fletcher headed into the net. Scotland had gained seven points from five matches and occupied second spot in Group nine, three points clear of Iceland, four matches between the other teams and Scotland retained second position having played less matches than all other teams in the group meaning they were in prime position for second place with Holland already guaranteed first, However, only the second placed teams from eight of the nine qualifying groups would go into the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Results

Deaths

* 17 July – George Niven, 79, Rangers and Partick Thistle goalkeeper. * 27 July –

Bob Crampsey Robert Anthony Crampsey (8 July 1930 – 27 July 2008) was a Scottish association football historian, author, broadcaster and teacher, described as a "much loved Scottish cultural institution" by ''The Times''. Early life and career Crampsey wa ...

, 78, broadcaster and writer who contributed to sports programming on BBC Scotland, STV and Radio Clyde. * 28 August – Bobby Cummings, 72, Aberdeen player. * 31 August – Jamie Dolan, 39, Motherwell, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Livingston, Forfar Athletic and Partick Thistle player. * 4 September –

Tommy Johnston Thomas Bourhill Johnston (18 August 1927 – 4 September 2008) was a Scottish professional footballer who scored 256 goals from 425 appearances in the Scottish and English Football Leagues. Johnston was the Football League Second Division top ...

, 81, Kilmarnock player. * 25 September –

Jimmy Sirrel James Sirrel (2 February 1922 – 25 September 2008) was a Scottish football player and manager; he gained his highest profile in the latter role. Born in Glasgow, Sirrel began his career with Celtic before moving to England, spending most of ...

, 86, Celtic player. * 2 October –

John Sjoberg John Sjoberg (12 June 1941 – 2 October 2008) was a Scottish footballer who played 15 seasons for Leicester City between 1958 and 1973. Sjoberg joined the Foxes from Scottish amateur side Banks O' Dee in August 1958, and went on to play 413 ...

, 67, Leicester City player. * 15 October – Eddie Thompson, 67, Dundee United chairman. * 25 October –

Ian McColl John Miller "Ian" McColl (7 June 1927 – 25 October 2008) was a Scottish football player and manager. McColl played as a defender for Queen's Park and Rangers, while he also represented both the Scotland national team and the Scottish Leagu ...

, 81, Rangers defender; Scotland manager. * 27 October – Andy Young, 83, Raith Rovers and Celtic player. * 3 November –

Brooks Mileson Brooks John Joseph Mileson (13 November 1947 – 3 November 2008) was an English businessman and the owner of now dissolved professional football club Gretna as well as being a philanthropist to 70 non-League clubs. Early life The eldest s ...

, 60, Gretna owner. * 4 November – Paddy Buckley, 83, St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Scotland player. * 5 November –

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...

, 54, Dundee and St Johnstone player. * 27 November – Gil Heron, 87, first black player to play for Celtic. * 6 December – John Cumming, 78, Hearts and Scotland player. * 26 December – George Miller, 69, Dunfermline, Hearts and Falkirk player; Hamilton and Dunfermline manager. * 28 December – Willie Clark, 90, Hibernian and St Johnstone defender. * 6 January –

Charlie Thomson Charles Richard Thomson (2 March 1930 – 6 January 2009), also known as Chic Thomson, was a Scottish football goalkeeper. After playing for Clyde he won the 1954–55 Football League with Chelsea and the 1959 FA Cup Final with Nottingham Fore ...

, 78, Clyde goalkeeper. * 7 January – Alfie Conn, Sr., 82, Hearts and Raith Rovers player; Gala Fairydean and Raith Rovers manager. Part of the ''Terrible Trio'' forward line. * 2 March –

Andy Bowman Andrew Bowman (7 March 1934 – 2 March 2009) was a Scottish footballer who played most of his career with Hearts. He played as a wing half. Playing career He played for the Scottish schoolboy international side in 1949 which brought him to t ...

, 74, Hearts, Hamilton Academical and Hawick Royal Albert player. * 28 March –

Hughie Kelly Hugh Thomas Kelly (23 July 1923 – 28 March 2009) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He played as a left half and spent his entire 14-year professional career with Blackpool. Club career Born in Valleyfield, Fife, Kelly ...

, 85, Blackpool and Scotland player. * 22 April – Billy Smith, 78, Aberdeen defender. * 3 May – Bobby Campbell, 86, Falkirk and Scotland player; Dumbarton manager. * 25 May – Billy Baxter, 70, Scottish defender who mostly played for Ipswich Town. * 7 June – Willie Kilmarnock, 87, Motherwell and Airdrie player. * 7 June – Gordon Lennon, 26, Stenhousemuir, Albion Rovers and Dumbarton player.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 In Scottish Football Seasons in Scottish football