| Season | 2005–06 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 29 July 2005 – 7 May 2006 |
| Champions | Celtic 4th Premier League title 40thScottish title |
| Relegated | Livingston |
| Champions League | Celtic Hearts |
| UEFA Cup | Rangers Gretna |
| Intertoto Cup | Hibernian |
| Matches | 228 |
| Goals | 644 (2.82 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Kris Boyd (32) |
| Biggest home win | Hibernian 7–0Livingston |
| Biggest away win | Dunfermline 1–8Celtic |
2006–07 → | |
The2005–06 Scottish Premier League was won byCeltic, with a 17-point margin over their nearest challengers Hearts in the first season under the management ofGordon Strachan. Rangers, who finished third, failed to finish a Scottish top flight campaign as champions or runners-up for the first time since 1988.
As leaguechampions, Celtic qualified for the UEFA Champions League, withrunners-upHearts also qualifying. This marked the first time since1995 that a club outside theOld Firm of Celtic andRangers finished in the top two. Third-placed Rangers qualified for theUEFA Cup, as didScottish Second Division championsGretna, who took theScottish Cup place despite losing the final to Hearts.
Livingston were relegated, andScottish First Division winnersSt Mirren were promoted.
Kris Boyd was the top scorer with 32 goals (17 for Rangers after 15 for Kilmarnock).
Promoted fromFirst Division toPremier League
Relegated fromPremier League toFirst Division
| Aberdeen | Celtic | Dundee United | Falkirk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittodrie Stadium | Celtic Park | Tannadice Park | Falkirk Stadium |
| Capacity:20,866[1] | Capacity:60,411[2] | Capacity:14,223[3] | Capacity:7,937[4] |
 |  |  |  |
| Dunfermline Athletic |   Location of teams in 2005–06 Scottish Premier League | Heart of Midlothian | |
| East End Park | Tynecastle Park | ||
| Capacity:12,509[5] | Capacity:17,420[6] | ||
 |  | ||
| Hibernian | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | ||
| Easter Road | Caledonian Stadium | ||
| Capacity:16,531[7] | Capacity:7,500[8] | ||
 |  | ||
| Kilmarnock | Livingston | Motherwell | Rangers |
| Rugby Park | Almondvale Stadium | Fir Park | Ibrox Stadium |
| Capacity:17,889[9] | Capacity:10,016[10] | Capacity:13,677[11] | Capacity:50,817[12] |
 |  |  |  |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Livingston |  Richard Gough | 22 May 2005 | Resigned | Pre-season | Paul Lambert | 1 June 2005 |
| Celtic |  Martin O'Neill | 25 May 2005 | Resigned | Gordon Strachan | 1 June 2005 | |
| Heart of Midlothian | Steven PressleyJohn McGlynn | 29 June 2005 | End of caretaker spell | George Burley | 30 June 2005 | |
| Heart of Midlothian | George Burley | 21 October 2005 | Mutual consent | 1st |  Graham Rix | 8 November 2005 |
| Dundee United | Gordon Chisholm | 10 January 2006 | Sacked | 9th | Craig Brewster | 13 January 2006 |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Craig Brewster | 13 January 2006 | Signed byDundee United | 7th | Charlie Christie | 28 January 2006 |
| Livingston | Paul Lambert | 11 February 2006 | Resigned | 12th | John Robertson | 15 February 2005 |
| Heart of Midlothian | Graham Rix | 22 March 2006 | Sacked | 2nd |  Valdas Ivanauskas | 22 March 2006 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic(C) | 38 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 93 | 37 | +56 | 91 | Qualification for theChampions League group stage |
| 2 | Heart of Midlothian | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 71 | 31 | +40 | 74 | Qualification for theChampions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Rangers | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 67 | 37 | +30 | 73 | Qualification for theUEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Hibernian | 38 | 17 | 5 | 16 | 61 | 56 | +5 | 56 | Qualification for theUEFA Intertoto Cup second round[b] |
| 5 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 63 | 64 | −1 | 55 | |
| 6 | Aberdeen | 38 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 46 | 40 | +6 | 54 | |
| 7 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 51 | 38 | +13 | 58 | |
| 8 | Motherwell | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 55 | 61 | −6 | 49 | |
| 9 | Dundee United | 38 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 41 | 66 | −25 | 33 | |
| 10 | Falkirk | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 35 | 64 | −29 | 33 | |
| 11 | Dunfermline Athletic | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 33 | 68 | −35 | 33 | |
| 12 | Livingston(R) | 38 | 4 | 6 | 28 | 25 | 79 | −54 | 18 | Relegation to theScottish First Division |
During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).
| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | DUN | DNF | FAL | HOM | HIB | INV | KIL | LIV | MOT | RAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | |
| Celtic | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 | |
| Dundee United | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 0–2 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 3–3 | |
| Falkirk | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | |
| Heart of Midlothian | 2–0 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| Hibernian | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | |
| Kilmarnock | 4–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–3 | |
| Livingston | 0–0 | 0–5 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | |
| Motherwell | 3–1 | 4–4 | 4–5 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | |
| Rangers | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away).
| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | DUN | DNF | FAL | HOM | HIB | INV | KIL | LIV | MOT | RAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | ||||||
| Celtic | 3–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | |||||||
| Dundee United | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–4 | ||||||
| Dunfermline Athletic | 1–0 | 1–8 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | ||||||
| Falkirk | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 1–2 | |||||||
| Heart of Midlothian | 1–2 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | |||||||
| Hibernian | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 7–0 | ||||||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 2–3 | |||||||
| Kilmarnock | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | ||||||
| Livingston | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | |||||||
| Motherwell | 1–3 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | |||||||
| Rangers | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 |
During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once.
Top six[edit]
Source:[citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. | Bottom six[edit]
Source:[citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
|
Source: SPL official website
The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 2005/06 season are shown below:
| Team | Average |
|---|---|
| Celtic | 58,149 |
| Rangers | 49,245 |
| Hearts | 16,767 |
| Hibernian | 13,816 |
| Aberdeen | 12,727 |
| Dundee United | 8,197 |
| Kilmarnock | 7,070 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 6,260 |
| Motherwell | 6,250 |
| Falkirk | 5,515 |
| Inverness CT | 5,061 |
| Livingston | 4,938 |
Source:SPL official website
| Month | Manager | Player | Young Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | George Burley (Hearts) |  Rudolf Skácel (Hearts) | Steven Naismith (Kilmarnock) |
| September | George Burley (Hearts) | Andy Webster (Hearts) | Kevin Thomson (Hibernian) |
| October | Gordon Strachan (Celtic) |  Stilian Petrov (Celtic) | Darryl Duffy (Falkirk) |
| November | Tony Mowbray (Hibernian) | Kris Boyd (Kilmarnock) |  Aiden McGeady (Celtic) |
| December | Craig Brewster (Inverness CT) |  Peter Løvenkrands (Rangers) | Calum Elliot (Hearts) |
| January | Alex McLeish (Rangers) | Kris Boyd (Rangers) | Steven Naismith (Kilmarnock) |
| February | Jimmy Calderwood (Aberdeen) |  Maciej Żurawski (Celtic) | Charlie Mulgrew (Dundee United) |
| March | Terry Butcher (Motherwell) | Steven Naismith (Kilmarnock) | Brian McLean (Motherwell) |
| April | Jimmy Calderwood (Aberdeen) | Paul Hartley (Hearts) | Steven Smith (Rangers) |
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