The 1999–2000 Scottish Premier League (known as the 1999–2000
Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...
Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of the
Scottish Premier League, the top level of
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 ...
. It began in on 31 July 1999 and concluded on 21 May 2000.
Rangers, the defending champions, retained their title on 22 April 2000, after their nearest challengers
Celtic drew 1–1 with
Hibernian.
Teams
A total of 10 teams competed in the league, the top 9 sides from the
1998–99 Scottish Premier League
The 1998–99 Scottish Premier League season (also known as the 1998–99 Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier League for sponsorship reasons from 11 March) was the inaugural season of Scottish Premier League football, the top division of Scottish ...
and the champions of the
1998–99 Scottish First Division.
Hibernian were promoted to the league after winning the 1998–99 First Division by a 23-point margin. They replaced
Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...
who were relegated after a three-season stint in the top flight, finishing bottom of the league the previous season.
Stadia and locations
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
Overview
The 1999–2000 Scottish Premier League was won by
Rangers for the second successive year, finishing 21 points ahead of nearest rivals
Celtic. As champions, Rangers qualified for the
Champions League while Celtic and third-placed
Hearts qualified 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 ...
.
As the SPL was being expanded to 12 teams, the bottom finishing side were to be relegated but due to
Falkirk's stadium (
Brockville Park) having fewer than the SPL minimum required 10,000 seats, bottom-placed
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
were spared relegation and
Dunfermline were promoted automatically as the First Division runner-up.
Aberdeen appeared in both the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
and
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...](_blank)
player
John Barnes
John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to ce ...
taking charge in June 1999.
It proved to be a brief and unsuccessful reign, however, after being sacked in February 2000, ten points behind Rangers in the league, and in the wake of a
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional ...](_blank)
.
On 20 October 1999, Aberdeen and
Motherwell played out a match which finished in a 6–5 victory for Aberdeen at
Fir Park
Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. M ...
.
This was the record for the highest-scoring match in Scottish Premier League history, until Motherwell and
Hibernian played out a
6–6 draw in May 2010, also at Fir Park.
Rangers secured the league title on 22 April 2000, after Celtic drew 1–1 with Hibernian at Celtic Park, leaving Celtic with a 17-point deficit with only 5 matches left to play.
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
SPL official website
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Attendances
The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 1999/00 season are shown below:
Source
/small>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1999-2000 Scottish Premier League
Scottish Premier League seasons
1999–2000 in Scottish football leagues
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 ...