# 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division

The 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division season was the penultimate season of Scottish Premier Division football before the change to the Scottish Premier League. It began on 10 August 1996.

## Overview

The 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division season ended in success for Rangers who won the title by five points from nearest rivals Celtic to clinch nine titles in a row, equalling Celtic's record from the 1973–74 season. Raith Rovers were relegated to the First Division after finishing bottom. As champions, Rangers qualified for the Champions League while Celtic were joined by third-placed Dundee United in qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Seventh-placed Kilmarnock qualified for the penultimate Cup Winners' Cup as Scottish Cup winners.
The season began on 10 August with the first goal of the season scored by Dundee United's Gary McSwegan as they drew 1–1 at home to Motherwell. The season ended on 10 May with Celtic's Tommy Johnson netting a late goal to cap a 3–0 win at home to Dundee United to claim the final goal of the season.

## Clubs
### Promotion and relegation from 1995–96

Promoted from First Division to Premier League
* Dunfermline Athletic
* Dundee United (via play-off)
Relegated from Premier Division to First Division
* Partick Thistle (via play-off)
* Falkirk

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium |
| Aberdeen | Aberdeen | Pittodrie Stadium |
| Celtic | Parkhead, Glasgow | Celtic Park |
| Dundee United | Dundee | Tannadice Park |
| Dunfermline Athletic | Dunfermline | East End Park |
| Heart of Midlothian | Gorgie, Edinburgh | Tynecastle Park |
| Hibernian | Leith, Edinburgh | Easter Road |
| Kilmarnock | Kilmarnock | Rugby Park |
| Motherwell | Motherwell | Fir Park |
| Raith Rovers | Kirkcaldy | Stark's Park |
| Rangers | Ibrox, Glasgow | Ibrox Park |

### Managers

| Team | Manager |
| Aberdeen | Roy Aitken |
| Celtic | Billy Stark (caretaker) |
| Dundee United | Tommy McLean |
| Dunfermline Athletic | Bert Paton |
| Heart of Midlothian | Jim Jefferies |
| Hibernian | Jim Duffy |
| Kilmarnock | Bobby Williamson |
| Motherwell | Alex McLeish |
| Raith Rovers | Steve Kirk Miodrag Krivokapić (joint caretakers) |
| Rangers | Walter Smith |

#### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Raith Rovers | Jimmy Thomson | 24 August 1996 | Resigned | Tommy McLean | 2 September 1996 |
| Hibernian | Alex Miller | 30 September 1996 | Sacked | Jocky Scott (interim) Jim Duffy (permanent) | 30 September 1996 30 December 1996 |
| Dundee United | Billy Kirkwood | 10 September 1996 | Sacked | Tommy McLean | 10 September 1996 |
| Raith Rovers | Tommy McLean | 10 September 1996 | Signed by Dundee United | Iain Munro | 20 September 1996 |
| Kilmarnock | Alex Totten | 4 December 1996 | Sacked | Bobby Williamson | 4 December 1996 |
| Raith Rovers | Iain Munro | 14 April 1997 | Sacked | Steve Kirk Miodrag Krivokapić (joint caretakers) | 16 April 1997 |
| Celtic | Tommy Burns | 2 May 1997 | Resigned | Billy Stark (caretaker) | 2 May 1997 |

## Events

* 17 August: Ally McCoist hits the first hat-trick of the season in a 5–2 win at Dunfermline.
* 7 May: Rangers win the title with a 1–0 win at Dundee United

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 36 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 85 | 33 | +52 | 80 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Celtic | 36 | 23 | 6 | 7 | 78 | 32 | +46 | 75 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 46 | 33 | +13 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 4 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 46 | 43 | +3 | 52 | |
| 5 | Dunfermline Athletic | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 52 | 65 | −13 | 45 | |
| 6 | Aberdeen | 36 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 45 | 54 | −9 | 44 | |
| 7 | Kilmarnock | 36 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 41 | 61 | −20 | 39 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 8 | Motherwell | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 38 | |
| 9 | Hibernian (O) | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 38 | 55 | −17 | 38 | Qualification for the Play-off |
| 10 | Raith Rovers (R) | 36 | 6 | 7 | 23 | 29 | 73 | −44 | 25 | Relegation to the First Division |
* ↑ As the League Cup winners Rangers had qualified for European competition via their league position, the place in the UEFA Cup was passed to the next highest placed team in the league, Dundee United.
* ↑ Kilmarnock qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as the winners of the Scottish Cup.

## Results
### Matches 1–18

During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).
| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | DUN | DNF | HOM | HIB | KIL | MOT | RAI | RAN |
| Aberdeen | | 2–2 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| Celtic | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| Dundee United | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–5 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–4 |
| Hibernian | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Kilmarnock | 3–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–2 | | 2–4 | 2–1 | 1–4 |
| Motherwell | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Raith Rovers | 1–4 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | | 2–2 |
| Rangers | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | |

### Matches 19–36

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 | RAI | RAN |
| Aberdeen | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Celtic | 3–0 | | 3–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Dundee United | 4–0 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Hibernian | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Kilmarnock | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Motherwell | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 5–0 | 1–3 |
| Raith Rovers | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–5 | | 0–6 |
| Rangers | 4–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–0 | |

## Play-off

A two leg play-off took place between the 9th placed team in the Premier Division (Hibernian) and the runner-up of the First Division (Airdrieonians) for a place in the 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division.
Hibernian won the first leg 1–0 at Easter Road, and went on to win the second leg by 4 goals to 2 at Broadwood Stadium. Therefore, Hibernian maintained their Premier Division status for another season, 5–2 on aggregate.

## Top scorers

| Player | Goals | Team |
| Jorge Cadete | 25 | Celtic |
| Brian Laudrup | 16 | Rangers |
| Paul Wright | 15 | Kilmarnock |
| Billy Dodds | 14 | Aberdeen |
| John Robertson | 14 | Hearts |
| Pierre van Hooijdonk | 14 | Celtic |
| Gerry Britton | 13 | Dunfermline Athletic |
| Paul Gascoigne | 13 | Rangers |
| Paolo Di Canio | 12 | Celtic |
| Kjell Olofsson | 12 | Dundee United |
| Tommy Coyne | 11 | Motherwell |
| Darren Jackson | 11 | Hibernian |
| Jörg Albertz | 10 | Rangers |
| Ally McCoist | 10 | Rangers |
| Andy Smith | 10 | Dunfermline Athletic |
| Dean Windass | 10 | Aberdeen |
Source: Soccerbot Archived 2013-05-17 at the Wayback Machine

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | Rangers FC | 18 | 48,122 |
| 2 | Celtic FC | 18 | 47,691 |
| 3 | Aberdeen FC | 18 | 12,603 |
| 4 | Heart of Midlothian | 18 | 12,349 |
| 5 | Hibernian FC | 18 | 10,631 |
| 6 | Dundee United | 18 | 9,320 |
| 7 | Kilmarnock FC | 18 | 9,121 |
| 8 | Dunfermline Athletic | 18 | 8,753 |
| 9 | Motherwell FC | 18 | 7,256 |
| 10 | Raith Rovers | 18 | 5,907 |