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

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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

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Promotion and relegation from 1994–95

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Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Relegated from Premier Division to First Division

Stadia and locations

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Location of clubs in the 1995–96 Scottish Premier Division
Team Location Stadium
Aberdeen Aberdeen Pittodrie Stadium
Celtic Parkhead, Glasgow Celtic Park
Falkirk Falkirk Brockville Park
Heart of Midlothian Gorgie, Edinburgh Tynecastle Park
Hibernian Leith, Edinburgh Easter Road
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock Rugby Park
Motherwell Motherwell Fir Park
Partick Thistle Maryhill, Glasgow Firhill Stadium
Raith Rovers Kirkcaldy Stark's Park
Rangers Ibrox, Glasgow Ibrox Park

Managers

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

Managerial changes

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

Events

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League table

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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[a]
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[b]
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

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Matches 1–18

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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

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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

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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

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Player Goals Team
  Pierre van Hooijdonk 26 Celtic
  Gordon Durie 17 Rangers
  Ally McCoist 16 Rangers
  Paul Gascoigne 14 Rangers
  Paul Wright 13 Kilmarnock
  John Collins 11 Celtic
  John Robertson Heart of Midlothian
  Darren Jackson 10 Hibernian
  Colin Cameron Raith Rovers
  Scott Booth 9 Aberdeen
  Joe Miller
  Keith Wright Hibernian

Source: Soccerbot Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine

See also

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References

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