1998-99 IN SCOTTISH FOOTBALL

Season '1998-1999' was the 102nd season of Scottish league football.

Contents

Scottish Premier League

Overview

Table

Top Scorers

Scottish League Division One

Overview

Table

Top Scorers

Scottish League Division Two

Table

Top Scorers

Scottish League Division Three

Table

Top Scorers

Cup honours

Performance in Europe

Individual Honours

Scotland national team

References

Scottish Premier League

Overview

The 1998-99 SPL season was one that ended in success for Rangers.
After the failure to win 10 in a row the season before, Dutchman Dick Advocaat was brought in to replace Walter Smith and had a major clearout. He also brought many players in.
Rangers were comfortable for most of the season, being top for most of it. But the big dampener on the season was a 5-1 defeat at the hand of arch rivals Celtic at Parkhead.
After beating Aberdeen 3-1 at Ibrox on the 25th of April, Rangers had a chance to clinch the title at the ground of their arch rivals on the 2nd of May. Rangers had never won the league at Parkhead before, but Celtic had won the league at Ibrox many years ago.
On what was overall a scrappy and forgettable game, Rangers did what they wanted to do. 2 goals from Neil McCann and a Jorg Albertz penalty give Rangers their 100th league victory over Celtic. The 3-0 victory was overshadowed by the controversy during and after the game. 3 players were sent off and referee Hugh Dallas was hit by a coin thrown from the Celtic end.^[1][2]
Rangers were presented with the trophy the following week at home to Hearts. The match ended 0-0. Dunfermline Athletic were relegated to the Scottish First Division.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Rangers	36	23	8	5	78	31	47	77
2	Celtic	36	21	8	7	84	35	49	71
3	St Johnstone	36	15	12	9	39	38	1	57
4	Kilmarnock	36	14	14	8	47	29	18	56
5	Dundee	36	13	7	16	36	56	-20	46
6	Hearts	36	11	9	16	44	50	-6	42
7	Motherwell	36	10	11	15	35	54	-19	41
8	Aberdeen	36	10	7	19	43	71	-28	37
9	Dundee United	36	8	10	18	37	48	-9	34
10	Dunfermline Athletic	36	4	16	16	28	59	-31	28

'Champions:' Rangers

'Relegated:' Dunfermline Athletic

Top Scorers

Pos	Name	Goals
1	Henrik Larsson	'27'
2	Rod Wallace	'19'
3	Billy Dodds	'16'
4	Eion Jess	'14'
5	Robbie Winters	'12'
6	Jorg Albertz	'11'
7=	Stephane Adam	'9'
7=	Eddie Annand	'9'
7=	Craig Burley	'9'
10=	Mark Burchill	'8'
10=	Jonatan Johansson	'8'
10=	Gary McSwegan	'8'
10=	Andy Smith	'8'

Scottish League Division One

Overview

Hibernian bounced straight back up to the SPL after relegation the previous season and finished an amazing 23 points ahead of nearest challengers Falkirk. Hamilton Academical and Stranraer were relegated to the Scottish Second Division. In the case of Stranraer, they didn't manage to compete well enough in this division following on from their promotion a year earlier.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Hibernian	36	28	5	3	84	33	51	89
2	Falkirk	36	20	6	10	60	38	22	66
3	Ayr United	36	19	5	12	66	42	24	62
4	Airdrieonians	36	18	5	13	42	43	-1	59
5	St Mirren	36	14	10	12	42	43	-1	52
6	Morton	36	14	7	15	45	41	4	49
7	Clydebank	36	11	13	12	36	38	-2	46
8	Raith Rovers	36	8	11	17	37	57	-20	35
9	Hamilton Academical	36	6	10	20	30	62	-32	28
10	Stranraer	36	5	2	29	29	74	-45	17

'Promoted:' Hibernian

'Relegated:' Hamilton Academical, Stranraer

Top Scorers

Pos	Name	Goals
1		' '
2		' '
3		' '
4		' '
5		' '
6		' '
7		' '
8		' '
9		' '
10		' '

Scottish League Division Two

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Livingston	36	22	11	3	64	35	29	77
2	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	36	21	9	6	80	48	32	72
3	Clyde	36	15	8	13	46	42	2	53
4	Queen of the South	36	13	9	14	50	45	5	48
5	Alloa Athletic	36	13	7	16	65	56	9	46
6	Stirling Albion	36	12	8	16	50	63	-13	44
7	Arbroath	36	12	8	16	37	52	-15	44
8	Partick Thistle	36	12	7	17	36	45	-9	43
9	East Fife	36	12	6	18	42	64	-24	42
10	Forfar Athletic	36	8	7	21	48	68	-20	31

'Promoted:' Livingston, Inverness Caledonian Thistle

'Relegated:' East Fife, Forfar Athletic

Top Scorers

Pos	Name	Goals
1		' '
2		' '
3		' '
4		' '
5		' '
6		' '
7		' '
8		' '
9		' '
10		' '

Scottish League Division Three

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Ross County	36	24	5	7	87	42	45	77
2	Stenhousemuir	36	19	7	10	62	42	20	64
3	Brechin City	36	17	7	12	47	44	3	58
4	Dumbarton	36	16	9	11	53	40	13	57
5	Berwick Rangers	36	12	14	10	53	49	4	50
6	Queen's Park	36	11	11	14	41	46	-5	44
7	Albion Rovers	36	12	8	16	43	63	-20	44
8	East Stirlingshire	36	9	13	14	50	48	2	40
9	Cowdenbeath	36	9	6	21	35	65	-30	33
10	Montrose	36	8	6	22	42	74	-32	30

'Promoted:' Ross County, Stenhousemuir

Top Scorers

Pos	Name	Goals
1		' '
2		' '
3		' '
4		' '
5		' '
6		' '
7		' '
8		' '
9		' '
10		' '

Cup honours

Both Cup Honours went to Rangers in 1998-99.
The CIS Insurance Cup began in August and ended in November. Eventual winners Rangers defeated Alloa Athletic, Ayr United and Airdrieoneans en route to the final. The final was held at Parkhead. Rangers defeated SPL side St. Johnstone 2-1 to give Dick Advocaat his first trophy as Rangers manager.
The Tennents Scottish Cup began in January and ended in May. Eventual winners Rangers defeated Stenhousemuir, Hamilton, Falkirk and St. Johnstone on route the final. At the new Hampden Park, Rangers met arch rivals Celtic. A Rod Wallace goal clinched a treble for Rangers in Dick Advocaat's first season in charge.

Competition	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Details
Scottish Cup	Rangers	1-0	Celtic	Scottish Cup 1998-99
Scottish League Cup	Rangers	2-1	St Johnstone
Scottish League Challenge Cup	''No competition''
Junior Cup	Kilwinning Rangers	1-0	Kelty Hearts

Performance in Europe

Club	Competition(s)	Progress	Coef.
Celtic	UEFA Champions League UEFA Cup	Second qualifying round Second round	7.50
Hearts	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	First round	3.00
Rangers	UEFA Cup	Third round	10.50
Kilmarnock	UEFA Cup	Second qualifying round	1.50

Average coefficient - 5.625

Individual Honours

Award	Player	Club
Footballer of the Year	Henrik Larsson	Celtic
Players' Player of the Year	Henrik Larsson	Celtic
Young Player of the Year	Barry Ferguson	Rangers

Scotland national team

'Note that scores are written Scotland first'

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Competition	Scotland scorers
September 5 1998	Zalgirio Stadionas, Vilnius (A)	Lithuania	0-0	ECQ
October 10 1998	Tyencastle Park, Edinburgh (A)	Estonia	3-2	ECQ	Billy Dodds (2), own goal
October 14 1998	Pittodrie, Aberdeen (H)	Faroe Islands	2-1	ECQ	Billy Dodds, Craig Burley
March 31 1999	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Czech Republic	1-2	ECQ	Eoin Jess
April 28 1999	Weserstadion, Bremen (A)	Germany	1-0	F	Don Hutchison
June 5 1999	Svangaskard, Toftir (A)	Faroe Islands	1-1	ECQ	Allan Johnston
June 9 1999	Sparta Stadion, Prague (A)	Czech Republic	2-3	ECQ	Paul Ritchie, Allan Johnston

References

1. Rangers make history out of chaos
2. Referee struck in Old Firm game