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

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

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

, 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 ...

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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

, 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 Bayern Munich. Alex Smith and Jocky Scott took joint charge of Aberdeen for the 1988–89 season following the departure of Ian Porterfield after less than two years in charge, but were still unable to return to the club to the glory days of Alex Ferguson, 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