The 2005–06 season was the 109th season of competitive football in Scotland.

Notable events

2005

*1 June: Gordon Strachan officially takes charge of Celtic after the resignation of

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his pla ...

*1 June: Former Celtic player Paul Lambert officially takes charge of Livingston following the resignation of Richard Gough. *16 June: The SPL fine Livingston £15,000 for breaching transfer regulations after it emerged that amateur signing from last season, Hassan Kachloul, was paid money during his time at the club. *30 June: George Burley is confirmed as the new manager of Hearts after days of discussions with Chief Executive Phil Anderton and major shareholder Vladimir Romanov. *27 July: Celtic manager Gordon Strachan is under pressure after his first match in charge as Celtic are beaten 5–0 away to

Artmedia Bratislava Artmedia was one of the first scientific projects concerning the relationship between art, technology, philosophy and aesthetics. It was founded in 1985 at the University of Salerno. For over two decades, until 2009, dozens of projects, studies, e ...

in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round match, all but ending their European hopes for the season. *2 August: Celtic crash out of Europe, despite beating

4–0 in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier. *7 August: Hearts demonstrate their SPL title-challenge credentials as they claim a 4–0 home victory over local rivals Hibernian. *22 October: Despite their unbeaten start to the SPL season, Hearts Manager George Burley departs from his position just hours before their league match with Dunfermline. A club statement after the game declared that the departure of Burley had been mutually agreed and that there were "irreconcilable differences" between him and the Hearts board. Throughout his short spell in charge rumours persisted about an uneasy relationship between Burley and major shareholder Vladimir Romanov with Romanov having bought players without the consent of the Manager. *6 November: St Mirren win the first trophy of the season beating Hamilton Academical 2–1 in the Challenge Cup final. *8 November: Graham Rix is appointed as Hearts new head coach. *14 November: Rangers Chairman David Murray gives his short-term backing to under-fire Manager Alex McLeish despite recent poor results. *6 December: Rangers become first Scottish club to reach the Champions League knock-out stages after drawing 1–1 with Inter Milan at Ibrox.

2006

*10 January: Gordon Chisholm is sacked as Manager of Dundee United. *13 January: Dundee United appoint Inverness Manager Craig Brewster at the helm after the sacking of Gordon Chisholm. *19 January: Wolves and Scotland striker Kenny Miller signs a pre-contract agreement to play for Celtic from next season. The former Rangers player will become only the third man to play for both Old Firm clubs since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. *27 January: Inverness coach and former player Charlie Christie is appointed as the club's new manager. *8 February: Hearts principal shareholder Vladimir Romanov agrees to a meeting requested by the Hearts players, following speculation that Romanov had selected the team in the previous two matches, Manager Graham Rix meanwhile, refused to confirm or deny the speculation. *9 February: Rangers Chairman David Murray confirms that manager Alex McLeish will leave the club at the end of the current season. He also stated that an announcement regarding a new manager and significant levels of investment into the club will be made in March. *11 February: Livingston Manager Paul Lambert resigns after defeat at home to Dunfermline left them six points adrift at the bottom of the table having taken just 12 points from 26 games. *15 February: Livingston appoint former player John Robertson as their new Manager. *8 March: Rangers Chairman David Murray's announces a 10-year licence agreement with sports retailer JJB Sports. Rangers will net an initial £18m and a minimum of £3m each year on royalty fees for the duration of the licence. *11 March: Rangers confirm that former

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, ...

manager Paul Le Guen will succeed Alex McLeish at the start of the 2006–07 season, signing a three-year contract. *13 March: Former Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone dies at the age of 61 after a long battle with motor neurone disease. *19 March: Celtic win the League Cup, beating Dunfermline 3–0 at Hampden Park. *23 March: Hearts sack head coach Graham Rix after just 4 months in charge. Valdas Ivanauskas was appointed as head coach for the interim *25 March: Gretna win the Second Division and are promoted to the First Division with their second successive promotion. *5 April: Celtic win the SPL after beating 2nd placed Hearts 1–0 at Celtic Park. *16 April: St Mirren win promotion to the SPL after a 2–1 win over Dundee. *29 April: Livingston are relegated from the SPL after a 1–0 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Meanwhile, Cowdenbeath clinch the Third Division title after beating Elgin City 2–1. *3 May: Hearts clinch second place and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers with a 1–0 home win over Aberdeen. This marks the first time since the 1994–95 season that the Old Firm clubs have failed to finish in the top two places in the SPL. Hearts' win also ensures that Gretna will play European football next season in 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, cla ...

. *13 May: Hearts win the Scottish Cup 4–2 on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * P ...

after a 1–1 draw with Second Division champions Gretna.

Major transfer deals

2005

*3 June 2005 – Lee Miller from Bristol City to Dundee United, £225,000 *9 June 2005 – Ian Murray from Hibernian to

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 ...

, Free *13 June 2005 – Jamie Smith from ADO Den Haag to

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), ...

, Free *14 June 2005 –

Brahim Hemdani Brahim Hemdani (born 15 March 1978) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Hemdani was born in Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine. He started his career with Cannes, where he spent two seasons. He ...

from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

, Free *14 June 2005 –

Jackie McNamara Jackie McNamara (born 24 October 1973) is a Scottish professional football agent, and former player, manager and executive. He won 33 international caps playing for Scotland, and filled a variety of defensive roles in his career. McNamara ...

from Celtic to Wolves, Free *16 June 2005 – Paul Tierney from

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

to Livingston, Free *21 June 2005 –

Mohammed Camara Mohamed "Mo" Camara (born 25 June 1975) is a Guinean former professional footballer who played as a left-back or left midfielder. Club career Early career Born in Conakry, Guinea, Camara spent the early years of his professional career in Fre ...

from

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

to Celtic, Free *30 June 2005 – Michael Stewart from

to Hibernian, Free *1 July 2005 –

Jérémie Aliadière Jérémie Aliadière (born 30 March 1983) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. As a graduate of the elite INF Clairefontaine, Clairefontaine academy, he signed ...

from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

to Celtic, Loan *5 July 2005 – Jose-Karl Pierre-Fanfan from Paris Saint Germain to

, Free *6 July 2005 – Mark Burchill from Hearts to Dunfermline, Free *7 July 2005 – Maciej Żurawski from

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. ...

to Celtic, £2m *7 July 2005 – Derek Stillie from Dunfermline to Dundee United, Undisclosed fee *7 July 2005 – Barry Nicholson from Dunfermline to

, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000) *8 July 2005 –

Federico Nieto Federico Gastón Nieto (born 26 August 1983) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Barcelona SC. Career Nieto was born in Buenos Aires. He previously played for Almagro, with a loan spell at Scottish club Rangers ...

from Club Almagro to

, Loan *13 July 2005 – Artur Boruc from Legia Warszawa to Celtic, Loan *14 July 2005 –

Steve Lovell Stephen William Henry Lovell (born 6 December 1980) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. Lovell played the majority of his career in the Scottish Premier League, representing Dundee, Aberdeen and Falkirk, but also played i ...

from Dundee to

, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000) *19 July 2005 – Rudolf Skácel from

to Hearts, Loan *20 July 2005 –

Adam Virgo Adam John Virgo (born 25 January 1983) is a former professional footballer, who now works as a pundit and commentator. Playing career Early career From the age of seven Virgo played for the St. Aubyns Preparatory School football team. At 13 h ...

from Brighton to Celtic, £1.5m *21 July 2005 – Paul Telfer from

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

to Celtic, Undisclosed fee *25 July 2005 –

Edgaras Jankauskas Edgaras Jankauskas (born 12 March 1975) is a Lithuanian football manager and former professional player. A powerful forward during his playing career, Jankauskas excelled in the physical side of the game. Other than in his native Lithuania, he ...

from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan *29 July 2005 – Shunsuke Nakamura from Reggina to Celtic, £2.5m *4 August 2005 – Julien Rodriguez from AS Monaco to

, £1m *12 August 2005 – David Fernández from Celtic to Dundee United, Free *30 August 2005 – Sotirios Kyrgiakos from Panathinaikos to

, Free *31 August 2005 – Maurice Ross 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 ...

, season Loan *31 August 2005 – Zurab Khizanishvili from

to Blackburn Rovers, season Loan *31 August 2005 – Francis Jeffers from Charlton Athletic to

, six-month Loan *31 August 2005 –

Samuel Almeida Camazzola Samuel Camazzola (born 30 August 1982 in Caxias do Sul) is a former Brazilian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played 71 Série A games for Esporte Clube Juventude. Career Camazzola began his career with Juventude a ...

from Juventude to Hearts, season Loan *31 August 2005 – Du Wei from Shanghai Shenhua to Celtic, Loan *31 August 2005 – Michael Ball from

to PSV Eindhoven, Free *31 August 2005 –

Filippo Maniero Filippo "Pippo" Maniero (born 11 September 1972, in Padua) is an Italian retired association footballer who played as a striker. Club career Maniero played for several teams throughout his career, most notably A.C. Milan, Parma, Palermo and Tor ...

from Torino to

, Free *1 September 2005 – Olivier Bernard from

, Free

2006

*1 January 2006 – Kris Boyd from Kilmarnock to

, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £400,000) *1 January 2006 – Roy Keane from

to Celtic, Free *3 January 2006 –

Wes Hoolahan Wesley Patrick Hoolahan (born 20 May 1982) is an Irish professional footballer who most recently played as an attacking midfielder for League One club Cambridge United. Hoolahan began his playing career with Shelbourne and has previously pl ...

from Shelbourne to Livingston, £100,000 *5 January 2006 – Chris Sutton from Celtic to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, Free *10 January 2006 – Steven Thompson from

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000) *10 January 2006 – Darryl Duffy from

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 a ...

to Hull City, Undisclosed fee *11 January 2006 –

Steven Hislop Robert Steven Hislop (11 January 1962 – 30 July 2003) was a Scottish motorcycle racer. Hislop won at the Isle of Man TT eleven times, won the British 250cc Championship (1990) and British Superbike championship (1995 and 2002). Hislop die ...

from Gillingham to Livingston, Undisclosed fee (reportedly Nominal) *11 January 2006 – Lee Johnson from Yeovil Town to Hearts, Nominal fee *13 January 2006 –

Nerijus Barasa Nerijus Barasa (born 1 June 1978) is a Lithuanian former professional footballer. He played as a right-back or defensive midfielder. Career Barasa started his career with FBK Kaunas in 1994 before joining Atlantas Klaipėda the following season. ...

from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, six-month Loan *16 January 2006 – Mark Wilson from Dundee United to Celtic, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £500,000) *17 January 2006 – Neil McCann from

to Hearts, Free *24 January 2006 – Chris Hackett from Oxford United to Hearts, £20,000 *26 January 2006 – Chris Killen from Oldham Athletic to Hibernian, Free *26 January 2006 – Neil MacFarlane from Hearts to

, Free *27 January 2006 –

Scott Muirhead Scott Muirhead (born 5 August 1984 in Paisley) is a Scottish professional footballer. He is currently retired, residing in Melbourne, Australia. Career Muirhead made his debut for Aberdeen as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with Dundee United in ...

from

to Dunfermline, Free *27 January 2006 –

Andy Campbell Andrew Paul Campbell (born 18 April 1979) is an English football manager and former player who is currently manager of Middlesbrough Women. Campbell played as a striker, notably for Middlesbrough, Cardiff City and Dunfermline Athletic. Afte ...

from

to Dunfermline, Free *27 January 2006 – Stephen Simmons from Hearts to Dunfermline, Free *30 January 2006 – Dion Dublin from Leicester City to Celtic, Free *31 January 2006 – José Gonçalves from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan *31 January 2006 – Juho Mäkelä from HJK Helsinki to Hearts, Free *31 January 2006 – Bruno Aguiar from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan *31 January 2006 – Mirsad Bešlija from Racing Genk to Hearts, £850,000 *31 January 2006 – Lindsay Wilson from PSV Eindhoven to Kilmarnock, Loan *31 January 2006 – Paul Dalglish from Livingston to Hibernian, Nominal fee *31 January 2006 –

Luděk Stracený Luděk Stracený (born 19 April 1977, in Prague) is a Czech former professional 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 ...

from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan *31 January 2006 –

Martin Petráš Martin Petráš (born 2 November 1979 in Bojnice) is a Slovak football central defender who previously played for A.C. Delta Porto Tolle. He made 38 appearances for the Slovakia national football team. He measures 186 cm, weighing 82 ...

from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan *31 January 2006 – Ferne Snoyl from Feyenoord to

, Loan *8 March 2006 – Garry O'Connor from Hibernian to Lokomotiv Moscow, £1.6m

League competitions

Scottish Premier League

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 t ...

2005–06 season finished in May 2006 with Celtic as champions. Livingston were relegated to the First Division and First Division winners St Mirren were promoted. For the first time in 11 years, when Celtic finished fourth behind

, Motherwell and Hibernian, the

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 e ...

were separated with

finishing third behind Hearts. Kris Boyd was the top scorer with 32 goals (15 for Kilmarnock and 17 for Rangers). Attendances went up to 3.7 million, the highest figure in top-flight Scottish football since the 1960s.

Scottish First Division

Scottish Second Division

Scottish Third Division

Other honours

Cup honours

Hearts became the first non-

club to win the Scottish Cup since they themselves lifted the trophy in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. Second Division side Gretna became the first club in history from the third-tier of Scottish football to reach the final. Celtic meanwhile lifted the League Cup in what was manager Gordon Strachan's first trophy as manager. St Mirren were winners of the Challenge Cup in a season that would eventually see them promoted to the SPL. Auchinleck Talbot lifted the Junior Cup.

Non-league honours

Senior honours

Junior honours

Individual honours

SPFA awards

SFWA awards

Scottish clubs in Europe

Summary

Average coefficient �
4.250
/small>

Rangers

Celtic

Hibernian

Dundee United

Scotland national team

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 ...

failed in their attempt to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, eventually finishing third in their group. However, significant improvement was shown in results with just two defeats from nine matches, compared with four defeats from nine during the previous season. Wins against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

and

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 t ...

and a draw at home to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

had raised hopes that Scotland could gain second place behind Italy and therefore enter the play-offs. However a 1–0 defeat at home to

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ended their hopes of qualification. They finished the season strongly, however, with a victory over

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

and also lifted the Kirin Cup — beating

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

and drawing with hosts Japan. ;Key * (A) = Away match * (H) = Home match * WCQ5 = World Cup Qualifying – Group 5

Deaths

*14 July: Matt Patrick, 86, Cowdenbeath forward. *30 August: John Brown, 90, Clyde and Scotland goalkeeper. *25 November: George Best, 59, Hibs winger. *30 December: Fred "Jock" Smith, 79, Aberdeen and Montrose inside forward. *17 January:

Wallace Mercer Alexander Wallace Mercer (4 June 1946 – 17 January 2006) was chairman of the Scottish football club Heart of Midlothian from 1981 to 1994. Hearts Mercer became chairman on 25 May 1981 when he bought a controlling interest in Hearts for £265,00 ...

, 59, Hearts chairman. *10 February: John Prentice, 79, Scotland manager. *13 March: Jimmy Johnstone, 61, Celtic ( Lisbon Lions) and Scotland winger. *3 April:

Ewan Fenton Alexander Ewan Fenton, more commonly known as Ewan Fenton (17 November 1929 – 3 April 2006) was a Scottish professional footballer. He spent thirteen seasons at Blackpool, with whom he was victorious in the famous FA Cup Final of 1953. Play ...

, 76, Scottish defender for Blackpool *19 June: Hugh Baird, 76, Airdrie, Aberdeen and Scotland forward.

Notes

References

External links

Scottish Premier League official website

Scottish Football League official website

BBC Scottish Premier League portal

BBC Scottish Football League portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:2005-06 in Scottish football Seasons in Scottish football