1995–96 Scottish Premier Division

The 1995–96 Scottish Premier Division season was the second season involving a relegation playoff with the Scottish First Division. The season began on 26 August 1995.

Scottish Premier Division
Season1995–96
Dates26 August 1995 – 4 May 1996
ChampionsRangers
11th Premier Division title
46th Scottish title
RelegatedFalkirk
Partick Thistle
Champions LeagueRangers
UEFA CupCeltic
Aberdeen
Cup Winners' CupHeart of Midlothian
Goals scored477
Average goals/game2.65
Top goalscorerPierre van Hooijdonk (26)
Biggest home winRangers 7–0 Hibernian (30 Dec)
Biggest away winHeart of Midlothian 0–4 Celtic (23 Sep)
Partick Thistle 0–4 Rangers (14 Oct)
Hibernian 0–4 Celtic (9 Dec)
Falkirk 0–4 Rangers (6 Jan)
Highest attendance47,312, Rangers 1–1 Celtic (17 Mar)
Lowest attendance2,320, Partick Thistle 0–3 Raith Rovers (3 Mar)
Average attendance15,035

Overview

The 1995–96 Scottish Premier Division season ended in success for Rangers who won the title by four points from nearest rivals Celtic to clinch eight titles in a row, despite Celtic losing only one league match in the entire season. Falkirk were relegated to the First Division after finishing bottom with Partick Thistle also being relegated after losing the relegation playoff to Dundee United. As champions, Rangers qualified for the Champions League while Celtic were joined by third-placed Aberdeen in qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Fourth-placed Hearts qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as Scottish Cup runners-up.[1]

The season began on 26 August with the first goal of the season scored by Aberdeen's John Inglis as they won 3–2 away to Falkirk. The regular league season ended on 4 May with Hibernian's Darren Jackson netting a late winner in a 1–0 win at home to Partick Thistle to claim the final goal of the season.

Clubs

Promotion and relegation from 1994–95

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Relegated from Premier Division to First Division

Stadia and locations
Location of clubs in the 1995–96 Scottish Premier Division
Team Location Stadium
AberdeenAberdeenPittodrie Stadium
CelticParkhead, GlasgowCeltic Park
FalkirkFalkirkBrockville Park
Heart of MidlothianGorgie, EdinburghTynecastle Park
HibernianLeith, EdinburghEaster Road
KilmarnockKilmarnockRugby Park
MotherwellMotherwellFir Park
Partick ThistleMaryhill, GlasgowFirhill Stadium
Raith RoversKirkcaldyStark's Park
RangersIbrox, GlasgowIbrox Park

Managers
Team Manager
Aberdeen Scotland Roy Aitken
Celtic Scotland Tommy Burns
Falkirk Scotland Eamonn Bannon
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Jim Jefferies
Hibernian Scotland Alex Miller
Kilmarnock Scotland Alex Totten
Motherwell Scotland Alex McLeish
Partick Thistle Scotland Murdo MacLeod
Raith Rovers Scotland Jimmy Thomson
Rangers Scotland Walter Smith

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Incoming manager Date of appointment
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Tommy McLean 21 July 1995 Sacked Scotland Jim Jefferies 4 August 1995
Falkirk Scotland Jim Jefferies 4 August 1995 Signed by Heart of Midlothian Scotland John Lambie August 1995
Partick Thistle Scotland John Lambie August 1995 Signed by Falkirk Scotland Murdo MacLeod August 1995
Raith Rovers Northern Ireland Jimmy Nicholl February 1996 Signed by Millwall Scotland Jimmy Thomson February 1996
Falkirk Scotland John Lambie 16 March 1996 Resigned Scotland Eamonn Bannon May 1996

Events

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 36 27 6 3 85 25 +60 87 Qualification for the Champions League qualifying round
2 Celtic 36 24 11 1 74 25 +49 83 Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3 Aberdeen 36 16 7 13 52 45 +7 55
4 Heart of Midlothian 36 16 7 13 55 53 +2 55 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
5 Hibernian 36 11 10 15 43 57 −14 43
6 Raith Rovers 36 12 7 17 41 57 −16 43
7 Kilmarnock 36 11 8 17 39 54 −15 41
8 Motherwell 36 9 12 15 28 39 −11 39
9 Partick Thistle (R) 36 8 6 22 29 62 −33 30 Qualification for the Play-off
10 Falkirk (R) 36 6 6 24 31 60 −29 24 Relegation to the First Division
Source: Soccerbase
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Aberdeen qualified for the UEFA Cup by winning the League Cup.
  2. As Rangers, the winners of the Scottish Cup, qualified for the Champions League via their league position, the place in the Cup Winners' Cup was passed to the cup runner-up, Heart of Midlothian.

Results

Matches 1–18

During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL FAL HOM HIB KIL MOT PAR RAI RAN
Aberdeen 2–3 3–1 1–2 1–2 4–1 1–0 3–0 3–0 0–1
Celtic 2–0 1–0 3–1 2–2 4–2 1–1 2–1 0–0 0–2
Falkirk 2–3 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–2 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–2
Heart of Midlothian 1–2 0–4 4–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 3–0 4–2 0–2
Hibernian 1–1 0–4 2–1 2–2 2–0 4–2 3–0 1–2 1–4
Kilmarnock 1–2 0–0 4–0 3–1 0–3 1–1 2–1 5–1 0–2
Motherwell 2–1 0–2 1–1 0–0 0–2 3–0 1–1 0–2 0–0
Partick Thistle 1–0 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 0–4
Raith Rovers 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 3–1 2–2
Rangers 1–1 3–3 2–0 4–1 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 4–0
Source: Soccerbot
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36

During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team a further two times (home and away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL FAL HOM HIB KIL MOT PAR RAI RAN
Aberdeen 1–2 2–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 0–1
Celtic 5–0 4–0 4–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 4–0 4–1 0–0
Falkirk 1–1 0–0 0–2 1–1 4–2 0–1 1–2 2–3 0–4
Heart of Midlothian 1–3 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 4–0 2–5 2–0 2–0
Hibernian 1–2 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–2
Kilmarnock 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 3–2 0–1 2–1 2–0 0–3
Motherwell 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–3
Partick Thistle 1–1 2–4 0–3 0–1 0–0 0–1 0–2 0–3 1–2
Raith Rovers 2–2 1–3 1–0 1–3 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–4
Rangers 3–1 1–1 3–2 0–3 7–0 3–0 3–2 5–0 4–0
Source: Soccerbot
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-off

A two leg play-off took place between the 9th placed team in the Premier Division (Partick Thistle) and the runner-up of the First Division (Dundee United) for a place in the 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division.

The first leg at Firhill Stadium finished 1–1 and the second leg at Tannadice Park four days later also finished 1–1 after 90 minutes, meaning extra time was required to separate the teams. Owen Coyle scored for Dundee United during extra time, meaning Dundee United won 3–2 on aggregate, and returned to the Premier Division and Partick Thistle were relegated to the First Division.

Top scorers
PlayerGoalsTeam
Netherlands Pierre van Hooijdonk26Celtic
Scotland Gordon Durie17Rangers
Scotland Ally McCoist16Rangers
England Paul Gascoigne14Rangers
Scotland Paul Wright13Kilmarnock
Scotland John Collins11Celtic
Scotland John RobertsonHeart of Midlothian
Scotland Darren Jackson10Hibernian
Scotland Colin CameronRaith Rovers
Scotland Scott Booth9Aberdeen
Scotland Joe Miller
Scotland Keith WrightHibernian

Source: Soccerbot Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine

See also

References
  1. "Scottish Premier Division 1995/96". Soccerbot. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.

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