The 1998–99 Scottish Premier League season (also known as the 1998–99

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...

Scottish Premier League for sponsorship reasons from 11 March) was the inaugural season of

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

football, the top division of

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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 ...

. It began on 1 August 1998 and concluded on 23 May 1999. The league was made up of the ten clubs that broke away from the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct 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&nbs ...

at the end of the 1997–98 season.

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 ...

went into the season as the defending Scottish champions, having won the

1997–98 Scottish Premier Division The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season was the last season of Scottish Football League Premier Division football before the change to the Scottish Premier League. It began on 1 August 1997. Overview The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division ...

. Rangers won the title with 3 matches still to play on 2 May 1999, after defeating

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rivals

3–0 in controversial circumstances at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

. Three players were red-carded during the game and referee Hugh Dallas was struck by a coin thrown by a Celtic supporter and required treatment from paramedics on the field.

Teams

On 8 September 1997, the clubs in the Premier Division decided to split from the

and form a

(SPL). This followed an earlier example in England, which came into force during the 1992–93 season. This decision was fuelled by a desire by the top clubs in Scotland to retain more of the revenue generated by the game. Originally, league sponsorship money was divided proportionally between clubs in all four divisions. After the SPL was formed, its clubs retained all of its commercial revenues except for an annual payment to the SFL and a parachute payment to relegated clubs. The new league followed the same format as the previous season's Premier Division, with the ten clubs playing each other four times, twice at home and twice away. Hibernian were relegated to the First Division after finishing bottom of the

. They were replaced by

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, the champions of the previous season's First Division.

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Overview

The 1998–99 Scottish Premier League season ended in success for Rangers who, managed by Dutchman

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...

, won the title by six points from nearest rivals

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

were relegated after three seasons in the top division. As champions, Rangers qualified for the Champions League while Celtic were joined by St Johnstone in qualifying for the

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. Fourth placed

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also gained a UEFA Cup place via the

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. The season began on 1 August 1998 with the first SPL goal scored by

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's Eoin Jess as they defeated newly promoted

2–0 at

Dens Park Dens Park is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards (183 metres) away. History Dundee moved to "Dens" from the ...

. Also on the first day of the season, Craig Burley scored the SPL's first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

as defending champions Celtic defeated Dunfermline Athletic 5–0 at

. 1998–99 saw the introduction of a three-week break during January, which was well received by both players and managers. In its inaugural year, the SPL was broadcast to over 120 countries worldwide, while attendances increased and more money was invested in youth development than ever before. A new Scottish transfer record was also set as Rangers paid

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

£5.5m for former

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and Everton winger

Andrei Kanchelskis Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis (; ; born 23 January 1969) is a Russian professional Association football, football coach and former player who currently manages Russian Second League side FC Dynamo Bryansk, Dynamo Bryansk. During his playing c ...

. Rangers clinched the SPL title on 2 May 1999 by beating

-rivals Celtic 3–0 at

. Three players were red-carded during the game and referee Hugh Dallas was struck by a coin thrown by a Celtic supporter and required treatment from paramedics on the field. Dunfermline Athletic were relegated to the

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

on 8 May 1999 after a 2–1 defeat to Celtic at

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of side, Dunfermline Athle ...

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 1998–99 season are shown below: Source

/small>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 Scottish Premier League Scottish Premier League seasons 1

Scot Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ...