# 2009–10 in Scottish football

The 2009–10 season was the 113th season of competitive football in Scotland.

## Overview

* St Johnstone are competing in the Scottish Premier League for the fifth time, after being promoted as First Division champions last season. St Johnstone's last season in the top-flight was the 2001–02 season.
* Raith Rovers are competing in the First Division after being promoted as Second Division champions.

## Notable events

* 5 August – Livingston are demoted from the First Division to the Third Division in response to the club being deemed in breach of league rules after going into administration and, briefly, liquidation. As a result, Airdrie United are reassigned to the First Division and Cowdenbeath to the Second Division.

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Livingston | John Murphy | Demoted to coach | 31 July | Gary Bollan | 31 July |
| Greenock Morton | Davie Irons | Sacked | 21 September | James Grady | 31 October |
| Clyde | John Brown | Sacked | 22 November | John McCormack | 30 November |
| Dundee United | Craig Levein | Resigned | 23 December | Peter Houston | 23 December |
| Motherwell | Jim Gannon | Sacked | 28 December | Craig Brown | 29 December |
| Kilmarnock | Jim Jefferies | Mutual consent | 10 January | Jimmy Calderwood | 14 January |
| Hearts | Csaba László | Sacked | 28 January | Jim Jefferies | 28 January |
| Falkirk | Eddie May | Resigned | 11 February | Steven Pressley | 11 February |
| Dundee | Jocky Scott | Sacked | 20 February | Gordon Chisholm | 21 February |
| Queen of the South | Gordon Chisholm | Resigned | 21 February | Kenny Brannigan | 21 February |
| Celtic | Tony Mowbray | Sacked | 25 March | Neil Lennon | 25 March |

## League Competitions
### Scottish Premier League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 38 | 26 | 9 | 3 | 82 | 28 | +54 | 87 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Celtic | 38 | 25 | 6 | 7 | 75 | 39 | +36 | 81 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 55 | 47 | +8 | 63 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | Hibernian | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 58 | 55 | +3 | 54 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Motherwell | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 52 | 54 | −2 | 53 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 6 | Heart of Midlothian | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 35 | 46 | −11 | 48 | |
| 7 | Hamilton Academical | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 39 | 46 | −7 | 49 | |
| 8 | St Johnstone | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 57 | 61 | −4 | 47 | |
| 9 | Aberdeen | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 36 | 52 | −16 | 41 | |
| 10 | St Mirren | 38 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 36 | 49 | −13 | 34 | |
| 11 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 29 | 51 | −22 | 33 | |
| 12 | Falkirk (R) | 38 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 31 | 57 | −26 | 31 | Relegation to the First Division |
* ↑ by winning the Scottish Cup.

### Scottish First Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle (C, P) | 36 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 72 | 32 | +40 | 73 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 2 | Dundee | 36 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 48 | 34 | +14 | 61 | |
| 3 | Dunfermline Athletic | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 54 | 44 | +10 | 58 | |
| 4 | Queen of the South | 36 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 53 | 40 | +13 | 56 | |
| 5 | Ross County | 36 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 56 | |
| 6 | Partick Thistle | 36 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 48 | |
| 7 | Raith Rovers | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 36 | 47 | −11 | 42 | |
| 8 | Greenock Morton | 36 | 11 | 4 | 21 | 40 | 65 | −25 | 37 | |
| 9 | Airdrie United (R) | 36 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 41 | 56 | −15 | 33 | Qualification to the First Division play-offs |
| 10 | Ayr United (R) | 36 | 7 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 60 | −31 | 31 | Relegation to the Second Division |

### Scottish Second Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Stirling Albion (C, P) | 36 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 68 | 48 | +20 | 65 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 2 | Alloa Athletic | 36 | 19 | 8 | 9 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 65 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 3 | Cowdenbeath (O, P) | 36 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 60 | 41 | +19 | 59 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 4 | Brechin City | 36 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 47 | 42 | +5 | 54 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 5 | Peterhead | 36 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 45 | 49 | −4 | 51 | |
| 6 | Dumbarton | 36 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 49 | 58 | −9 | 48 | |
| 7 | East Fife | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 46 | 53 | −7 | 41 | |
| 8 | Stenhousemuir | 36 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 40 | |
| 9 | Arbroath (R) | 36 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 41 | 55 | −14 | 40 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 10 | Clyde (R) | 36 | 8 | 7 | 21 | 37 | 57 | −20 | 31 | Relegation to the Third Division |
* ↑ The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams will be entered into a play-off with the First Division's 9th placed team. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2010–11 First Division.
* ↑ The 9th place team will be entered into a play-off with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places of the Third Division. The winner gets a place in the 2010-11 Second Division

### Scottish Third Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| 1 | Livingston (C, P) | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 63 | 25 | +38 | 78 | Promotion to the Second Division |
| 2 | Forfar Athletic (P, O) | 36 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 59 | 44 | +15 | 63 | Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs |
| 3 | East Stirlingshire | 36 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 61 | Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs |
| 4 | Queen's Park | 36 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 51 | Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs |
| 5 | Albion Rovers | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 50 | |
| 6 | Berwick Rangers | 36 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 46 | 50 | −4 | 50 | |
| 7 | Stranraer | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 48 | 54 | −6 | 47 | |
| 8 | Annan Athletic | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 41 | 42 | −1 | 43 | |
| 9 | Elgin City | 36 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 46 | 59 | −13 | 34 | |
| 10 | Montrose | 36 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 30 | 63 | −33 | 24 | |
* ↑ The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams will be entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 9th placed team. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2010–11 Second Division.

### Scottish Premier Under-19 League

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 22 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 47 | 17 | +30 | 50 |
| 2 | Motherwell | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 58 | 36 | +22 | 39 |
| 3 | Rangers | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 38 | 22 | +16 | 38 |
| 4 | Dundee United | 22 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 37 |
| 5 | St Mirren | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 40 | 35 | +5 | 36 |
| 6 | Aberdeen | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 33 |
| 7 | Falkirk (R) | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 24 |
| 8 | Hamilton Academical | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 34 | 50 | −16 | 24 |
| 9 | St Johnstone | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 48 | −24 | 24 |
| 10 | Heart of Midlothian | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 28 | −2 | 23 |
| 11 | Kilmarnock | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 28 | 48 | −20 | 21 |
| 12 | Hibernian | 22 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 23 | 45 | −22 | 18 |
* ↑ Falkirk U19s will not compete in the 2010–11 competition due to their first team being relegated from the SPL – Inverness Caledonian Thistle will replace them in both leagues

## Honours
### Cup honours

| Competition | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Match report |
| 2009–10 Scottish Cup | Dundee United | 3 – 0 | Ross County | BBC Sport |
| 2009–10 League Cup | Rangers | 1 – 0 | St Mirren | BBC Sport |
| 2009–10 Challenge Cup | Dundee | 3 – 2 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | BBC Sport |
| 2009–10 Youth Cup | Celtic | 2 – 0 | Rangers | BBC Sport |
| 2009–10 Junior Cup | Linlithgow Rose | 1 - 0 | Largs Thistle | Daily Record |

### Non-league honours
#### Senior

| Competition | Winner |
| Highland League 2009–10 | Buckie Thistle |
| East of Scotland League | Spartans |
| South of Scotland League | Threave Rovers |

#### Junior

West Region
| Division | Winner |
| Premier League | Beith Juniors |
| Division One | Rutherglen Glencairn |
| Ayrshire League | Hurlford United |
| Central League Division One | Cumbernauld United |
| Central League Division Two | Johnstone Burgh |
East Region
| Division | Winner |
| Super League | Bo'ness United |
| Premier League | Tayport |
| North Division | Broughty Athletic |
| Central Division | Thornton Hibs |
| South Division | Broxburn Athletic |
North Region
| Division | Winner |
| Premier League | Sunnybank |
| Division One | Fraserburgh United |
| Division Two | Burghead Thistle |

### Individual honours
#### PFA Scotland awards

| Award | Winner | Team |
| Players' Player of the Year | Steven Davis | Rangers |
| Young Player of the Year | Danny Wilson | Rangers |
| Manager of the Year | Walter Smith | Rangers |

#### SFWA awards

| Award | Winner | Team |
| Footballer of the Year | David Weir | Rangers |
| Young Player of the Year | Danny Wilson | Rangers |
| Manager of the Year | Walter Smith | Rangers |
| International Player of the Year | Craig Gordon | Sunderland |

## Scottish clubs in Europe
### Summary

| Club | Competition(s) | Final round | Coef. |
| Rangers | UEFA Champions League | Group stage | 6.0 |
| Celtic | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League | Play-off round Group stage | 6.0 |
| Heart of Midlothian | UEFA Europa League | Play-off round | 1.0 |
| Aberdeen | UEFA Europa League | Third qualifying round | 0.0 |
| Falkirk | UEFA Europa League | Second qualifying round | 1.0 |
| Motherwell | UEFA Europa League | Third qualifying round | 2.0 |
| Total | Total | Total | 16.0 |
| Average | Average | Average | 2.66 |
* All teams are eliminated.
* Current UEFA coefficients: Teams and Country

### Rangers

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Rangers scorer(s) | Report |
| Champions League group stage ||||||
| 16 September 2009 | Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart (A) | Stuttgart | 1–1 | Madjid Bougherra | BBC Sport |
| 29 September 2009 | Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) | Sevilla | 1–4 | Nacho Novo | BBC Sport |
| 20 October 2009 | Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) | Unirea Urziceni | 1–4 | Vilana (o.g.) | BBC Sport |
| 4 November 2009 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest (A) | Unirea Urziceni | 1–1 | Lee McCulloch | BBC Sport |
| 24 November 2009 | Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) | Stuttgart | 0–2 | | BBC Sport |
| 9 December 2009 | Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville (A) | Sevilla | 0–1 | | BBC Sport |

### Celtic

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Celtic scorer(s) | Report |
| Champions League third qualifying round ||||||
| 29 July 2009 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | Dinamo Moscow | 0–1 | | BBC Sport |
| 4 August 2009 | Arena Khimki, Khimki (A) | Dinamo Moscow | 2–0 | Scott McDonald, Georgios Samaras | BBC Sport |
| Champions League play-off round ||||||
| 19 August 2009 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | Arsenal | 0–2 | | BBC Sport |
| 26 August 2009 | Emirates Stadium, London (A) | Arsenal | 1–3 | Massimo Donati | BBC Sport |
| UEFA Europa League Group Stage ||||||
| 17 September 2009 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv (A) | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 1–2 | Georgios Samaras | BBC Sport |
| 1 October 2009 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | Rapid Vienna | 1–1 | Scott McDonald | BBC Sport |
| 22 October 2009 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | Hamburg | 0–1 | | BBC Sport |
| 5 November 2009 | HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg (A) | Hamburg | 0–0 | | BBC Sport |
| 3 December 2009 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 2–0 | Georgios Samaras, Barry Robson | BBC Sport |
| 17 December 2009 | Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna (A) | Rapid Vienna | 3–3 | Marc-Antoine Fortune (2), Paul McGowan | BBC Sport |

### Heart of Midlothian

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Heart of Midlothian scorer(s) | Report |
| UEFA Europa League play-off round ||||||
| 20 August 2009 | Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb (A) | Dinamo Zagreb | 0–4 | | BBC Sport |
| 27 August 2009 | Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh (H) | Dinamo Zagreb | 2–0 | Michael Stewart, Marius Zaliukas | BBC Sport |

### Aberdeen

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Aberdeen scorer(s) | Report |
| UEFA Europa League third qualifying round ||||||
| 30 July 2009 | Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen (H) | Sigma Olomouc | 1–5 | Charlie Mulgrew | BBC Sport |
| 6 August 2009 | Andrův stadion, Olomouc (A) | Sigma Olomouc | 0–3 | | BBC Sport |

### Falkirk

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Falkirk scorer(s) | Report |
| UEFA Europa League second qualifying round ||||||
| 16 July 2009 | Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk (H) | Vaduz | 1–0 | Ryan Flynn | BBC Sport |
| 23 July 2009 | Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz (A) | Vaduz | 0–2 | | BBC Sport |

### Motherwell

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Motherwell scorer(s) | Report |
| UEFA Europa League first qualifying round ||||||
| 2 July 2009 | Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie (H) | Llanelli | 0–1 | | BBC Sport |
| 9 July 2009 | Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli (A) | Llanelli | 3–0 | John Sutton (2), Jamie Murphy | BBC Sport |
| UEFA Europa League second qualifying round ||||||
| 16 July 2009 | Stadiumi Flamurtari, Vlorë (A) | Flamurtari Vlorë | 0–1 | | BBC Sport |
| 23 July 2009 | Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie (H) | Flamurtari Vlorë | 8–1 | Jamie Murphy (3), Paul Slane, Ross Forbes (2), Shaun Hutchinson, Robert McHugh | BBC Sport |
| UEFA Europa League third qualifying round ||||||
| 30 July 2009 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest (A) | Steaua București | 0–3 | | BBC Sport |
| 6 August 2009 | Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie (H) | Steaua București | 1–3 | Ross Forbes | BBC Sport |

## National teams
### Scotland national team

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Competition | Scotland scorer(s) | Report |
| 12 August 2009 | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | Norway | 0–4 | WCQ(9) | | BBC Sport |
| 5 September 2009 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | North Macedonia | 2–0 | WCQ(9) | Scott Brown, James McFadden | BBC Sport |
| 9 September 2009 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Netherlands | 0–1 | WCQ(9) | | BBC Sport |
| 10 October 2009 | Nissan Stadium, Yokohama | Japan | 0–2 | Friendly | | BBC Sport |
| 14 November 2009 | Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff | Wales | 0–3 | Friendly | | BBC Sport |
| 3 March 2010 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Czech Republic | 1–0 | Friendly | Scott Brown | |

## Deaths

* 26 July – Graham Potter, 30, Hamilton goalkeeper.
* 29 July – Paul McGrillen, 37, Motherwell, Falkirk, Partick Thistle and Airdrieonians striker.
* 13 August – Brian McLaughlin, 54, Celtic, Ayr United, Motherwell, Hamilton Academical and Falkirk winger.
* 1 September – John Buchanan, 74, Hibs and Raith Rovers forward.
* 19 September – Stevie Gray, 42, Aberdeen and Airdrie winger.
* 25 September – David Will, 72, Brechin City chairman, Scottish Football Association president and FIFA vice-president.
* 8 October – Alex McCrae, 89, Hearts and Falkirk forward; Stirling Albion and Falkirk manager.
* 3 November – Archie Baird, 90, Aberdeen, St Johnstone and Scotland forward.
* 19 November – Frank Beattie, 76, Kilmarnock player; Albion Rovers and Stirling Albion manager.
* 1 December – Neil Dougall, 88, Birmingham City, Plymouth Argyle and Scotland player.
* 3 January – Gus Alexander, 75, Southport, Workington and York City wing half.
* 7 January – Alex Parker, 74, Falkirk and Scotland defender.
* 13 January – Tommy Sloan, 84, Hearts and Motherwell winger
* 1 February – Bobby Kirk, 82, Dunfermline, Raith Rovers and Hearts defender.
* 7 February – Bobby Dougan, 83, Hearts, Kilmarnock and Scotland defender.
* 12 February – Willie Polland, 75, Raith Rovers and Hearts defender.
* 18 February – Alan Gordon, 65, Hearts, Dundee United, Hibs and Dundee striker.
* 20 February – Bobby Cox, 76, Dundee defender.
* 22 February – Bobby Smith, 56, Hibs and Dunfermline player.
* 23 February – Gerry Neef, 63, Rangers goalkeeper.
* 28 February – Adam Blacklaw, 72, Burnley, Blackburn Rovers and Scotland goalkeeper.
* 11 March – Willie MacFarlane, 79, Hibs, Raith Rovers and Morton defender; Stirling Albion, Hibs and Meadowbank manager.
* 12 March – Hugh Robertson, 70, Dundee, Dunfermline, Arbroath and Scotland winger.
* 11 April – Billy Fulton, 72, Ayr United, Falkirk and St Mirren wing half.
* 21 April – Sammy Baird, 79, Clyde, Rangers, Hibs, Third Lanark, Stirling Albion and Scotland player; Stirling Albion manager.
* 1 June – John Hagart, 72, Berwick Rangers wing half; Hearts and Falkirk manager.