1997–98 Scottish Premier Division

92nd season of top-tier football league in Scotland March 2026 Scottish Premier Division 1997–98 1 August 1997 – 9 May 1998 Celtic 7th Premier Division title 36th Scottish title St Johnstone Hibernian Champions League Celtic Cup Winners' Cup Heart of Midlothian UEFA Cup RangersKilmarnock Marco Negri (32) 497 (12px7) 2.8 Rangers 7–0 Dunfermline (18 Oct) 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) 50,500, Celtic v St Johnstone (9 May) 4,385, St Johnstone v Kilmarnock (13 Dec) 18,036 (12px842) 1996–97 1998–99 The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season was the last season of Scottish Football League Premier Division football before the change to the Scottish Premier League. It began on 1 August 1997. Overview The 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division season ended in success for Celtic who won by two points from nearest rivals Rangers, beating St Johnstone on the last day to clinch the title. Claiming the trophy would have given Rangers a record-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 the First Division after finishing bottom. As champions, Celtic qualified for the Champions League while Rangers were joined by Kilmarnock in qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Third-placed Heart of Midlothian qualified for the last Cup Winners' Cup as Scottish Cup winners.http://www.soccerbot.com/scot/results/sdprem98.htm 1997/98 Scottish Premier Division Soccerbot 2008-06-03 2008-10-07 https://web.archive.org/web/20081007064850/http://www.soccerbot.com/scot/results/sdprem98.htm dead Rangers were involved in some of the season's big transfers with Lorenzo Amoruso and Marco Negri arriving in multimillion-pound deals. Paul Gascoigne also left the club, heading for Middlesbrough in a £3.5m deal. Negri went on to become only the second player to score five goals in a Scottish Premier Division match, equalling Paul Sturrock's record by netting all five goals in a 5–1 win over Dundee United. The season began on 2 August with the first goal of the season scored by Dundee United's Kjell Olofsson as they drew 1–1 at newly promoted St Johnstone. The season ended on 9 May with Hibernian's Stevie Crawford netting a last-minute equaliser away to Kilmarnock to score the final goal of the season. Clubs Promotion and relegation from 1996–97 Promoted from First Division to Premier League St Johnstone Relegated from Premier Division to First Division Raith Rovers Stadia and locations Scotland Central Belt 400 right Location of clubs in the 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division Scotland Central Belt 6 57.159387 -2.088979 Aberdeen left Scotland Central Belt 6 55.849705 -4.205414 Celtic right Scotland Central Belt 6 56.474765 -2.968894 Dundee Utd right Scotland Central Belt 6 56.075308 -3.441906 Dunfermline Athletic left Scotland Central Belt 6 55.939167 -3.232222 Hearts left Scotland Central Belt 6 55.961667 -3.165556 Hibernian right Scotland Central Belt 6 55.604321 -4.508300 Kilmarnock left Scotland Central Belt 6 55.780279 -3.980205 Motherwell right Scotland Central Belt 6 55.853207 -4.309243 Rangers left Scotland Central Belt 6 56.389979 -3.476840 St. Johnstone left Team Location StadiumAberdeen Aberdeen Pittodrie StadiumCeltic Parkhead, Glasgow Celtic ParkDundee UnitedDundeeTannadice ParkDunfermline AthleticDunfermlineEast End ParkHeart of MidlothianGorgie, EdinburghTynecastle ParkHibernianLeith, EdinburghEaster RoadKilmarnockKilmarnockRugby ParkMotherwellMotherwellFir ParkRangersIbrox, GlasgowIbrox ParkSt JohnstonePerthMcDiarmid Park Managers Team ManagerAberdeenSCO Alex MillerCelticNED Wim JansenDundee UnitedSCO Tommy McLeanDunfermline AthleticSCO Bert PatonHeart of MidlothianSCO Jim JefferiesHibernianSCO Alex McLeishKilmarnockSCO Bobby WilliamsonMotherwellFIN Harri KampmanRangersSCO Walter SmithSt JohnstoneSCO Paul Sturrock Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Incoming manager Date of appointmentCelticSCO Billy Stark 11 May 1997Caretaker spell endedNED Wim Jansen4 July 1997AberdeenSCO Roy Aitken10 November 1997http://www.afcheritage.org/Team/Manager/index.cfm?manager_id=16 AFC Heritage 17 February 2018 Roy AitkenSackedSCO Alex Miller21 November 1997https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/football-miller-takes-aberdeen-call-1295582.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/football-miller-takes-aberdeen-call-1295582.html 2022-05-01 subscription The Independent 22 November 1997 17 February 2018 Miller takes Aberdeen callHibernianSCO Jim Duffy2 February 1998https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-duffy-is-sacked-by-hibernian-1142704.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-duffy-is-sacked-by-hibernian-1142704.html 2022-05-01 subscription The Independent 3 February 1998 17 February 2018 Duffy is sacked by HibernianSackedSCO Alex McLeish11 February 1998MotherwellSCO Alex McLeish11 February 1998Signed by HibernianFIN Harri Kampman25 February 1998 Events 23 August: Marco Negri equals Paul Sturrock's record with five goals in one match in the 5–1 win over Dundee United September: Darren Jackson undergoes surgery for hydrocephalus,http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/848867.stm BBC Sport website Winners against the odds 2000-07-20 returning to action within three monthshttp://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_80000/newsid_84200/84229.stm The Scotland Squad 1998-05-03 BBC News & Sport website 2008-06-03 9 May: Celtic win the title after a 2–0 home win over St Johnstone F.C League table main WDL complete 5 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation CEL RAN HOM KIL STJ ABE DNU DNF MOT HIB CL UC CWC UC REL 9 12 15 39 53 22 8 6 64 24 8 13 15 43 51 8 13 15 43 68 19 10 7 70 46 6 12 18 38 59 13 11 12 40 52 9 7 20 46 64 21 9 6 76 38 13 9 14 38 42 Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers St Johnstone C R 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored QR green1 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round blue1 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round yellow1 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round red1 Relegation to the First Division Results Matches 1–18 During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away). main FBR grey 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 complete Soccerbot Matches 19–36 During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team a further two times (home and away). main FBR grey 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 2–1 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 complete Soccerbot Top scorers Player Goals Team Italy Marco Negri 32 Rangers SWE Kjell Olofsson 18 Dundee United Sweden Henrik Larsson 16 Celtic Scotland Andy Smith Dunfermline AthleticIreland Tommy Coyne 14 MotherwellScotland Jim Hamilton Heart of Midlothian Ireland Owen Coyle 11 MotherwellGermany Jörg Albertz 10 RangersScotland Craig Burley CelticScotland Billy Dodds AberdeenSCO Simon Donnelly CelticScotland Neil McCann Heart of MidlothianNIR George O'Boyle St JohnstoneScotland Paul Wright Kilmarnock Source: Soccerbot https://web.archive.org/web/20081007064850/http://www.soccerbot.com/scot/results/sdprem98.htm 2008-10-07 Awards Player awards AwardWinnerClubPFA Players' Player of the YearSCO Jackie McNamaraCelticPFA Young Player of the YearSCO Gary NaysmithHeart of MidlothianSFWA Footballer of the YearSCO Craig BurleyCeltic Manager awards AwardWinnerClubSFWA Manager of the YearNED Wim JansenCeltic References Category:Scottish Premier Division seasons Scot Category:1997–98 Scottish Football League