The 1989–90 season was the 93rd season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in Scotland.

Notable events

Rangers won their third league title in four seasons under the management of

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

won their first major honours since the departure of

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

, winning a cup double of the Scottish Cup and the League Cup.

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

finished the season without winning a trophy, mounting the pressure on manager

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...

. Rangers abandoned their longstanding signing policy by acquiring Mo Johnston, who was the first high-profile

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

player to sign for Rangers. Johnston joined Rangers after having come close to rejoining his old club Celtic from French club Nantes. Also arriving at Rangers was the Everton and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

winger Trevor Steven, filling the gap on the right wing left by club hero David Cooper, who signed for Motherwell. Rangers had four players – more than any other club – selected for the England

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

squad. Goalkeeper

Chris Woods Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team. As a player, he was a goalkeeper (association football), goalke ...

, defenders Gary Stevens and Terry Butcher, and winger Trevor Steven helped them reach the semi-finals.

Scottish Premier Division

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Dundee

Scottish League Division One

Promoted: St Johnstone
Relegated: Albion Rovers, Alloa Athletic

Scottish League Division Two

Promoted: Brechin City, Kilmarnock

Other honours

Cup honours

Senior

Individual honours

SPFA awards

SFWA awards

Scotland national team

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

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:1989-90 in Scottish football Seasons in Scottish football