| Season | 1997–98 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1 August 1997 – 9 May 1998 |
| Champions | Celtic 7th Premier Division title 36thScottish title |
| Promoted | St Johnstone |
| Relegated | Hibernian |
| Champions League | Celtic |
| Cup Winners' Cup | Heart of Midlothian |
| UEFA Cup | Rangers Kilmarnock |
| Goals | 497 ( 7) |
| Average goals/game | 2.8 |
| Top goalscorer | Marco Negri (32) |
| Biggest home win | Rangers 7–0Dunfermline (18 Oct) |
| Biggest away win | Kilmarnock 0–3 Rangers (24 Sep) Kilmarnock 0–3 Heart of Midlothian (27 Sep) Motherwell 1–4 Heart of Midlothian (4 Oct) Aberdeen 1–4 Heart of Midlothian (1 Nov) Heart of Midlothian 2–5 Rangers (20 Dec) Heart of Midlothian 0–3 Rangers (25 Apr) |
| Highest attendance | 50,500, Celtic vSt Johnstone (9 May) |
| Lowest attendance | 4,385, St Johnstone v Kilmarnock (13 Dec) |
| Average attendance | 18,036 ( 842) |
1998–99 → | |
The1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season was the last season ofScottish Football League Premier Division football before the change to theScottish Premier League. It began on 1 August 1997.
The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season ended in success forCeltic who won by two points from nearest rivalsRangers, beatingSt Johnstone on the last day to clinch the title. Claiming the trophy would have given Rangers arecord-breaking 10 Scottish League Championships in a row (having matched Celtic's record the previous season).Heart of Midlothian ran Celtic and Rangers very close to winning the title, and led for large spells of the season before falling away towards the end of the season.Hibernian were relegated to theFirst Division after finishing bottom. As champions, Celtic qualified for theChampions League while Rangers were joined byKilmarnock in qualifying for theUEFA Cup. Third-placedHeart of Midlothian qualified for the lastCup Winners' Cup asScottish Cup winners.[1]
Rangers were involved in some of the season's big transfers withLorenzo Amoruso andMarco Negri arriving in multimillion-pound deals.Paul Gascoigne also left the club, heading forMiddlesbrough in a £3.5m deal. Negri went on to become only the second player to score five goals in a Scottish Premier Division match, equallingPaul Sturrock's record by netting all five goals in a 5–1 win overDundee United.
The season began on 2 August with the first goal of the season scored byDundee United'sKjell Olofsson as they drew 1–1 at newly promotedSt Johnstone. The season ended on 9 May withHibernian'sStevie Crawford netting a last-minute equaliser away toKilmarnock to score the final goal of the season.
Promoted fromFirst Division toPremier League
Relegated fromPremier Division toFirst Division
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic |  Billy Stark | 11 May 1997 | Caretaker spell ended |  Wim Jansen | 4 July 1997 |
| Aberdeen | Roy Aitken | 10 November 1997[2] | Sacked | Alex Miller | 21 November 1997[3] |
| Hibernian | Jim Duffy | 2 February 1998[4] | Sacked | Alex McLeish | 11 February 1998 |
| Motherwell | Alex McLeish | 11 February 1998 | Signed byHibernian |  Harri Kampman | 25 February 1998 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic(C) | 36 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 64 | 24 | +40 | 74 | Qualification for theChampions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Rangers | 36 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 76 | 38 | +38 | 72 | Qualification for theUEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 70 | 46 | +24 | 67 | Qualification for theCup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Kilmarnock | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 50 | Qualification for theUEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 5 | St Johnstone | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 48 | |
| 6 | Aberdeen | 36 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 39 | 53 | −14 | 39 | |
| 7 | Dundee United | 36 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 43 | 51 | −8 | 37 | |
| 8 | Dunfermline Athletic | 36 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 43 | 68 | −25 | 37 | |
| 9 | Motherwell | 36 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 46 | 64 | −18 | 34 | |
| 10 | Hibernian(R) | 36 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 38 | 59 | −21 | 30 | Relegation to theFirst Division |
During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).
| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | DUN | DNF | HOM | HIB | KIL | MOT | RAN | STJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Celtic | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | |
| Dundee United | 5–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | |
| Heart of Midlothian | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 5–3 | 2–0 | 2–5 | 2–1 | |
| Hibernian | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 1–1 | |
| Kilmarnock | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | |
| Motherwell | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | |
| Rangers | 3–3 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 7–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | |
| St Johnstone | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 0–2 |
During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team a further two times (home and away).
| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | DUN | DNF | HOM | HIB | KIL | MOT | RAN | STJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | |
| Celtic | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | |
| Dundee United | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | |
| Heart of Midlothian | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | |
| Hibernian | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | |
| Kilmarnock | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | |
| Motherwell | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 6–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | |
| Rangers | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | |
| St Johnstone | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| Player | Goals | Team |
|---|---|---|
 Marco Negri | 32 | Rangers |
 Kjell Olofsson | 18 | Dundee United |
| Henrik Larsson | 16 | Celtic |
| Andy Smith | Dunfermline Athletic | |
 Tommy Coyne | 14 | Motherwell |
| Jim Hamilton | Heart of Midlothian | |
| Owen Coyle | 11 | Motherwell |
 Jörg Albertz | 10 | Rangers |
| Craig Burley | Celtic | |
| Billy Dodds | Aberdeen | |
| Simon Donnelly | Celtic | |
| Neil McCann | Heart of Midlothian | |
 George O'Boyle | St Johnstone | |
| Paul Wright | Kilmarnock |
Source:Soccerbot
