The 2008–09 season was the 112th season of competitive football in Scotland.

Overview

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 ...

for the first time, their first season in the top-flight since the 1988–89 season, after being promoted as First Division champions the previous season. * Gretna were due to play in the First Division after being relegated from the SPL. However, on 29 May 2008, they were demoted to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

due to their failure to guarantee that they would fulfill their fixtures. Gretna resigned from the SFL on 3 June 2008 with the club's administrators warning of the threat of

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistr ...

, creating an opening in the Third Division for a new SFL member. Following Gretna's demise a new club, Gretna 2008 was formed, they were given a place in the East of Scotland League, filling the gap left by Annan Athletic. * Ross County competed in the First Division after being promoted as Second Division champions. Airdrie United were also promoted into the First Division, filling Gretna's space, as they were the losing play-off finalists. * Stirling Albion competed in the Second Division after being relegated from the First Division as the bottom team. * East Fife and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. ...

competed in the Second Division after being promoted as Third Division champions and Second Division play-off winners, respectively. Stranraer were also promoted into the Second Division, filling the empty space following Gretna's relegation, as they were the losing play-off finalists. * Berwick Rangers and

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

competed in the Third Division after being relegated from the Second Division as the bottom team and through the Second Division play-offs, respectively. * Annan Athletic competed in the Third Division after being admitted to the SFL. They replaced Gretna, who resigned their league status on 3 June. * St Mirren moved into their new 8,000 seater stadium, New St Mirren Park, on 31 January 2009.

Notable events

2008

* 3 July – Annan Athletic, formerly of the East of Scotland League were admitted to the SFL, beating

Cove Rangers Cove Rangers Football Club is a senior Scottish football club currently playing in the Scottish Championship. They are based in the Cove Bay area of Aberdeen and play their football at Balmoral Stadium, having left their former home at Allan ...

, Edinburgh City,

Preston Athletic Preston Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Prestonpans, East Lothian. The club are nicknamed the Panners and play their home matches at Pennypit Park. The team play in dark blue. They were founding member ...

and

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: wikt:Σπάρτη, Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the nam ...

. They replaced Gretna, who resigned their league status on 3 June. * 6 July – The first competitive match involving a Scottish team was played by Hibernian in the

2008 Intertoto Cup The 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup was the last UEFA Intertoto Cup football tournament, the 14th to be organised by UEFA and the third since the competition's format was given a major overhaul. Fifty teams were invited, with the eleven winners after the ...

, they lost 2–0 to

Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

. * 11 July – Gretna 2008, founded by the supporters of the bankrupt Gretna, join the East of Scotland League First Division. * 26 July – Competitive domestic competition got under way with the first fixtures of the 2008–09 Challenge Cup. * 2 August – The

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a 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 km so ...

begins with the playing of the first fixtures in the First and Second divisions. * 8 August – Former SPL members and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Gretna F.C. are formally liquidated by the club's administrators. * 9 August – The first matches of the 2008–09 Scottish Premier League take place. * 13 November – A consortium led by Berwick Rangers Supporters Club agreed a deal to take over the club. Following a poor run of form, manager Allan McGonigal resigned at the same time saying "I made up my mind that when the current directors left I would move on." * 16 November – The 2008–09 Challenge Cup was won by Airdrie United who defeated Ross County 3–2 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 ...

following a 2–2 draw after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

, the winning penalty was scored by

Marc Smyth Marc Smyth (born 27 December 1982) is a Scottish-born Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is currently Head of Academy at Cliftonville after retiring. Career In his Scottish Football League career, Smyt ...

. * 4 December – Scotland fail in their attempt to have the match against

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 ...

moved to October 2009, the match was to go ahead on 12 August 2009. * 13 December – Celtic drew 1–1 with Heart of Midlothian at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

which was followed by a reported dressing-room argument between Celtic manager

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Co ...

and player Aiden McGeady. This led to Strachan banning the player without pay for two weeks, after initially saying he would contest the sanction McGeady accepted the punishment and later returned to the team.

2009

* 3 January – St Mirren drew 0–0 with

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

in their last game at Love Street before they moved to New St Mirren Park. * 28 January – Shares in Berwick Rangers were transferred to complete the deal which handed control to a consortium led by Berwick Rangers Supporters Trust. * 31 January – St Mirren drew 1–1 with Kilmarnock in their first match at their new stadium. * 14 February – The

agreed to the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility fo ...

's request to delay the start of the SPL season by a week to give the

Scotland national team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the thr ...

extra time to prepare for the match against

. * 25 February – Former First Minister and former East Fife player

Henry McLeish Henry Baird McLeish (born 15 June 1948) is a Scottish politician, author and academic who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2000 to 2001. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Fife from ...

was appointed to chair a review of Scottish football. * 15 March – Celtic won the 2008–09 League cup beating

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 ...

2–0 after

in the final thanks to a goal from Darren O'Dea and an Aiden McGeady penalty. * 4 April – Stranraer were relegated to the

after being beaten 3–0 by

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

. * 2 May –

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

won promotion to the Scottish Premier League as First Division champions following a 3–1 win over Greenock Morton. ** The Second Division title and promotion to the First Division was won by

, following a 1–0 win over Queen's Park at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

. ** Clyde were relegated from the First Division despite beating Dundee 2–0. * 9 May – The Third Division title was won by

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

after they beat Annan Athletic 3–1, they therefore gained promotion to the second Division. * 17 May – Queen's Park were relegated from the Second Division after a 2–1

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

loss to Stenhousemuir in their Second Division play-off Semi-final. * 23 May –

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 ...

beat Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1–0 to stay in the SPL and relegate Inverness to the First Division on

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches a ...

. **

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nea ...

won promotion to the Second Division as Second Division play-off winners, they beat

5–4 on penalties. * 24 May –

are crowned Scottish champions after beating Dundee United 3–0, Celtic drew 0–0 with Heart of Midlothian so Rangers won by 4 points. ** Airdrie United are relegated to the Second Division and Ayr United are promoted to the First after Ayr won the First Division play-off Final 3–2 on aggregate. * 30 May – Rangers won the 2008–09 Scottish Cup beating Falkirk 1–0 in the final thanks to a goal from substitute Nacho Novo just after half-time.

Transfer deals

Managerial changes

League Competitions

Scottish Premier League

Scottish First Division

Scottish Second Division

Scottish Third Division

Other honours

Cup honours

Non-league honours

Senior

Junior

West Region East Region North Region

Individual honours

PFA Scotland awards

Celtic midfielder Scott Brown was named Players' Player of the Year after winning the most votes from his fellow players. He was named on the shortlist along with three other

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 ...

players, Celtic defender

Gary Caldwell Gary Caldwell (born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach who is the current manager of Exeter City. Caldwell played for Newcastle United, Darlington, Coventry City, Derby County, Hibernian, Celtic, Wigan A ...

and

midfielder's Steven Davis and Pedro Mendes. The

Young Player of the Year Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American r ...

award was awarded to James McCarthy who was named on the shortlist along with; Heart of Midlothian winger Andrew Driver, Hibernian striker Steven Fletcher and fellow Hamilton Academical midfielder James McArthur.

SFWA awards

Scottish clubs in Europe

Summary

Celtic

Rangers

Motherwell

Queen of the South

Hibernian

Scotland national team

Summary

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 ...

began the season with a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

. Northern Ireland were denied a victory by substitute goalkeeper Allan McGregor who saved a David Healy penalty after he brought down

Warren Feeney Warren James Feeney (born 17 January 1981) is a football manager and former Northern Ireland international footballer, who is currently manager of Welling United. In making his debut for the Northern Ireland national team, he became the thir ...

inside the area. The draw meant that Scotland had yet to win under George Burley after three matches. The

2010 World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

campaign began against

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

. Scotland faced an early free-kick after Macedonia striker Goran Maznov fell theatrically on the edge of the penalty area as he was challenged by stand-in captain

Stephen McManus Stephen David McManus (born 10 September 1982) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is a first team coach at Scottish Premiership club Celtic. McManus, who played as a centre-back, was a product of Celtic's youth acad ...

Craig Gordon Craig Sinclair Gordon (born 31 December 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian, where he is club captain, and the Scottish national team. Gordon started his ...

was able to tip the resulting shot onto the post, but

Ilčo Naumoski Ilčo Naumoski ( mk, Илчо Наумоски) (born 29 July 1983 in Prilep) is a Republic of Macedonia, Macedonian football (soccer), football player currently playing as a striker for FK Vardar in Republic of Macedonia, Macedonia. He has spen ...

followed up to score five minutes into George Burley's first competitive match. Both teams had opportunities and Scotland were denied what appeared to be a clear penalty after James McFadden was brought down but the referee waved away the appeals and booked the striker for his protests. Scotland recovered from their opening defeat with a 2–1 victory away to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

in what was Burley's first win as manager. Kirk Broadfoot scored on his debut and James McFadden scored from a penalty, Iceland got back into the match after captain McManus handled in the box and

Eiður Guðjohnsen Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen (transliterated as Eidur Smari Gudjohnsen; born 15 September 1978) is an Icelandic professional football coach and former player who played as a forward. Eiður saw his greatest success in England and Spain with Chels ...

scored from the resulting penalty. Scotland held out for the win despite having to play the last 13 minutes down to ten men. Scotland drew 0–0 at home to

despite debutant striker Chris Iwelumo being presented with an open goal opportunity from just three yards, with the ball being crossed by

Gary Naysmith Gary Andrew Naysmith (born 16 November 1978) is a Scottish football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Scottish League Two side Stenhousemuir. Naysmith, who played as a left-back or left-winger, started his senior car ...

from the left to the right side of the goal where Iwelumo is standing, he connects with the ball but somehow manages to put the ball wide of the left post. The draw left Scotland top of Group Nine but with just four points from three games, with the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

having played just one. They next played a friendly against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

's first match as Argentina manager, Maxi Rodríguez scored the winning goal for the Argentines in a 1–0 win. The Netherlands beat Scotland comfortably with goals from

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Dirk Jan Klaas "Klaas-Jan" Huntelaar (; born 12 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker. Huntelaar played for PSV, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, Heerenveen, Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan, before joining ...

, Robin van Persie and Dirk Kuyt, depleted by injuries Burley was forced to field an inexperienced side Ross McCormack making his debut started along with Christophe Berra and Allan McGregor, who were making their first competitive starts. Scotland were denied a chance to get back into the match at 2–0 down when referee Massimo Busacca (who was suspended by his home federation) disallowed a seemingly perfectly good

goal, minutes later the Netherlands were awarded a penalty from which Kuyt scored. Ross McCormack and Steven Fletcher both scored their first international goals in a 2–1 win over Iceland, McCormack opened the scoring after 39 minutes firing high into the net from an Alan Hutton cross, Indridi Sigurdsson levelled for the visitors after Pálmi Rafn Pálmason hit the post, Scotland though regrouped and after 65 minutes were awarded a debatable corner which McCormack took, the ball was headed into the danger area by McManus and Fletcher headed into the net. Scotland had gained seven points from five matches and occupied second spot in Group nine, three points clear of Iceland, four matches between the other teams and Scotland retained second position having played less matches than all other teams in the group meaning they were in prime position for second place with Holland already guaranteed first, However, only the second placed teams from eight of the nine qualifying groups would go into the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Results

Deaths

* 17 July – George Niven, 79, Rangers and Partick Thistle goalkeeper. * 27 July – Bob Crampsey, 78, broadcaster and writer who contributed to sports programming on BBC Scotland, STV and Radio Clyde. * 28 August – Bobby Cummings, 72, Aberdeen player. * 31 August –

Jamie Dolan James Dolan (22 February 1969 in Salsburgh – 31 August 2008) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played for Motherwell, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Livingston, Forfar Athletic and Partick Thistle. After he retired from the ...

, 39, Motherwell, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Livingston, Forfar Athletic and Partick Thistle player. * 4 September – Tommy Johnston, 81, Kilmarnock player. * 25 September – Jimmy Sirrel, 86, Celtic player. * 2 October – John Sjoberg, 67, Leicester City player. * 15 October – Eddie Thompson, 67, Dundee United chairman. * 25 October – Ian McColl, 81, Rangers defender; Scotland manager. * 27 October – Andy Young, 83, Raith Rovers and Celtic player. * 3 November – Brooks Mileson, 60, Gretna owner. * 4 November –

Paddy Buckley Patrick McCabe Buckley (31 January 1925 – 4 November 2008) was a Scottish footballer, who played as a striker for Bo'ness United, St Johnstone, Aberdeen and the Scotland national team. Life and career Buckley, who was renowned for his spe ...

, 83, St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Scotland player. * 5 November – Ian Anderson, 54, Dundee and St Johnstone player. * 27 November – Gil Heron, 87, first black player to play for Celtic. * 6 December –

John Cumming John Cumming may refer to: *John Cumming (clergyman) (1807–1881), Scottish clergyman *John Cumming (Scottish footballer) (1930–2008), Scottish footballer who played for Heart of Midlothian and Scotland *John Cumming (Australian footballe ...

, 78, Hearts and Scotland player. * 26 December – George Miller, 69, Dunfermline, Hearts and Falkirk player; Hamilton and Dunfermline manager. * 28 December – Willie Clark, 90, Hibernian and St Johnstone defender. * 6 January – Charlie Thomson, 78, Clyde goalkeeper. * 7 January –

Alfie Conn, Sr. Alfred "Alfie" Conn (2 October 1926 – 7 January 2009) was a Scottish professional footballer, most commonly remembered as part of the ''Terrible Trio'' of the Heart of Midlothian side of the 1950s, along with Willie Bauld and Jimmy Wardhau ...

, 82, Hearts and Raith Rovers player; Gala Fairydean and Raith Rovers manager. Part of the ''Terrible Trio'' forward line. * 2 March – Andy Bowman, 74, Hearts, Hamilton Academical and Hawick Royal Albert player. * 28 March – Hughie Kelly, 85, Blackpool and Scotland player. * 22 April – Billy Smith, 78, Aberdeen defender. * 3 May – Bobby Campbell, 86, Falkirk and Scotland player; Dumbarton manager. * 25 May – Billy Baxter, 70, Scottish defender who mostly played for Ipswich Town. * 7 June –

Willie Kilmarnock William Kilmarnock (16 January 1922 – 7 June 2009) was a Scottish footballer who most notably captained Motherwell's 1952 Scottish Cup winning team.Gordon Lennon, 26, Stenhousemuir, Albion Rovers and Dumbarton player.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 In Scottish Football Seasons in Scottish football