Sportseason of a football competition
The 1997–98 season was the 101st season of competitive football in Scotland. Celtic won the Premier Division championship, preventing rivals Rangers from winning a record 10th successive championship.[1]
Scottish Premier Division
Source: Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Top scorers
Source: Soccerbot
Scottish League Division One
Table
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Top scorers
Scottish League Division Two
Table
Source: "1997-1998 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL (in Malay). Retrieved 29 April 2021.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Top scorers
Scottish League Division Three
Table
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Top scorers
Other honours
Cup honours
Individual honours
SPFA awards
SFWA awards
Scottish clubs in Europe
Average coefficient – 3.125
Scotland national team
Key:
- (H) = Home match
- (A) = Away match
- WCQG4 = World Cup qualifying – Group 4
- WCGA = World Cup – Group A
Notable events
- After the end of the season, the 10 Premier Division clubs formed a breakaway Scottish Premier League similar to the one formed in England six years earlier.
- Celtic won the Premier Division title after nine successive title wins by Rangers.
- Walter Smith resigned as manager of Rangers after seven years to be succeeded by Dutchman Dick Advocaat.
- Rangers lost the Scottish Cup final 2–1 to Hearts, leaving them without a major trophy for the first time since 1986.
- Paul Gascoigne left Rangers in March to return to England in a £3.4million move to Middlesbrough.
- Ally McCoist left Rangers after 15 years and more than 300 goals to sign for Kilmarnock on a free transfer.
- Goalkeeper Andy Goram left Rangers after seven years, having just walked out of the Scotland squad for the World Cup in France.
- Also leaving Rangers after seven years was Stuart McCall, who moved to England and signed for Bradford City.
- After signing from Perugia in a £3.5million deal at the start of the season, Italian striker Marco Negri had a dream start to his career at Rangers – scoring 23 goals in his first 10 league games. However, after playing 27 league games and scoring 32 goals, his season was ended by a serious eye injury off the field in March.
- Brian Laudrup ended his four-year spell with Rangers and signed for Chelsea at the end of the season.
Notes and references
- ^ "1997/98 - The Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
- ^ Scotland's score is shown first.
