1995–96 in Scottish football
Premier League champions
Rangers
Division One champions
Dunfermline Athletic
Division Two champions
Stirling Albion
Division Three champions
Livingston
Scottish Cup winners
Rangers
League Cup winners
Aberdeen
Challenge Cup winners
Stenhousemuir
Junior Cup winners
Tayport
Teams in Europe
Celtic, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers, Rangers
Scotland national team
UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying, UEFA Euro 1996
← 1994–95 1996–97 →

The 1995–96 season was the 99th season of competitive football in Scotland. [1]

Scottish Premier Division

Summary

Rangers won the Premier Division with a record 87 points, finishing four ahead of rivals Celtic. Aberdeen were third with 55 points (on goal difference).

Falkirk were relegated after finishing bottom. Partick Thistle were relegated via the play-offs, losing 3–2 on aggregate to Dundee United, who returned to the Premier Division at the first attempt.[2] This was the only occasion on which this short-lived play-off system relegated a team from the Premier Division.

Rangers qualified for the European Cup, with Celtic and Aberdeen making it into the UEFA Cup. All three clubs entered at the qualifying round stage.

Celtic's Pierre van Hooijdonk was the top scorer with 26 goals, ahead of the Rangers trio of Gordon Durie (17), Ally McCoist (16) and Paul Gascoigne (14).

Rangers recorded the biggest win of the campaign with a 7–0 home win over Hibernian, with Gordon Durie scoring four times. Incredibly, Hibs had won 1–0 at Ibrox just three months earlier, and Hearts won 3–0 there just three weeks after the 7–0 match.

Celtic went 31 games unbeaten, from 4 October to the end of the season. Motherwell had the best winning run with five consecutive successes, while Falkirk lost eight in a row.

Meadowbank Thistle, who had been relegated from the Second Division, were renamed Livingston to reflect their relocation from Edinburgh to Livingston for this season. The renamed club ended the season as Third Division champions.

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.

Champions: Rangers
Relegated: Partick Thistle, Falkirk

Scottish League Division One

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Dunfermline Athletic (C, P) 36 21 8 7 73 41 +32 71 Premier Division
2 Dundee United (P) 36 19 10 7 73 37 +36 67 Premier Division playoff
3 Greenock Morton 36 20 7 9 57 39 +18 67
4 St Johnstone 36 19 8 9 60 36 +24 65
5 Dundee 36 15 12 9 53 40 +13 57
6 St Mirren 36 13 8 15 46 51 −5 47
7 Clydebank 36 10 10 16 39 58 −19 40
8 Airdrieonians 36 9 11 16 43 54 −11 38
9 Hamilton Academical (R) 36 10 6 20 40 57 −17 36 Second Division
10 Dumbarton (R) 36 3 2 31 23 94 −71 11
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promoted: Dunfermline Athletic, Dundee United
Relegated: Hamilton Academical, Dumbarton

Scottish League Division Two

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Stirling Albion 36 24 9 3 83 30 +53 81 Promotion to the 1996–97 First Division
2 East Fife 36 19 10 7 50 29 +21 67
3 Berwick Rangers 36 18 6 12 64 47 +17 60
4 Stenhousemuir 36 14 7 15 51 49 +2 49
5 Clyde 36 11 12 13 47 45 +2 45
6 Ayr United 36 11 12 13 40 40 0 45
7 Queen of the South 36 11 10 15 54 67 −13 43
8 Stranraer 36 8 18 10 38 43 −5 42
9 Forfar Athletic 36 11 7 18 37 61 −24 40 Relegation to the 1996–97 Third Division
10 Montrose 36 5 5 26 33 86 −53 20
Source:

Promoted: Stirling Albion, East Fife
Relegated: Forfar Athletic, Montrose

Scottish League Division Three

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Livingston (C, P) 36 21 9 6 51 24 +27 72 Promotion to the 1996–97 Second Division
2 Brechin City (P) 36 18 9 9 41 21 +20 63
3 Caledonian Thistle 36 15 12 9 64 38 +26 57
4 Ross County 36 12 17 7 56 39 +17 53
5 Arbroath 36 13 13 10 41 41 0 52
6 Queen's Park 36 12 12 12 40 43 −3 48
7 East Stirlingshire 36 11 11 14 58 62 −4 44
8 Cowdenbeath 36 10 8 18 45 59 −14 38
9 Alloa Athletic 36 6 11 19 26 58 −32 29
10 Albion Rovers 36 7 8 21 37 74 −37 29
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Promoted: Livingston, Brechin City

Other honours

Cup honours

Rangers won the Scottish Cup, beating Hearts 5–1 in the final, with Gordon Durie scoring a second half hat-trick.

The Coca-Cola Cup went to Aberdeen, who beat Dundee 2–0 to win the trophy for the sixth time.[3]

The Challenge Cup was won by Stenhousemuir, who beat Dundee United on penalties after a 0–0 draw. United never conceded a goal in the competition.

Competition Winner Score Runner-up Report
Scottish Cup 1995–96 Rangers 5 – 1 Heart of Midlothian Wikipedia article
League Cup 1995–96 Aberdeen 2 – 0 Dundee Wikipedia article
Challenge Cup 1995–96 Stenhousemuir 0 – 0 (a.e.t.)
(5 – 4 pen.)		 Dundee United Wikipedia article
Youth Cup Celtic 4 – 1 Dundee
Junior Cup Tayport 2 – 0 (a.e.t.) Camelon

Individual honours

SPFA awards

Award Winner Club
Players' Player of the YearEngland Paul GascoigneRangers
Young Player of the YearScotland Jackie McNamaraCeltic

SFWA awards

Award Winner Club
Footballer of the YearEngland Paul GascoigneRangers
Manager of the YearScotland Walter SmithRangers

Scottish clubs in Europe

Club Competition(s) Final round Coef.
Rangers UEFA Champions League Group stage 5.50
Celtic UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Second round 4.00
Raith Rovers UEFA Cup Second round 3.50
Motherwell UEFA Cup Preliminary round 1.00

Average coefficient - 3.500

Scotland national team

Scotland recorded home wins over Greece, Finland and San Marino between August and November in the European Championship qualifiers to secure qualification, keeping a clean sheet in each match. The final three friendly matches before Euro 96 were lost, including two just two weeks before the first match.

In the competition, Scotland battled to a 0–0 draw in the opener against the Netherlands at Villa Park. They were then beaten 2–0 at Wembley by hosts England in the second group match. During this match Gary McAllister had a penalty kick saved by David Seaman when the score was 1–0 to England. Moments later, Paul Gascoigne scored one of the great Wembley goals to make the score 2–0 and effectively win the match.

Going into the final match at Villa Park, Scotland had to beat Switzerland and hope that England beat the Netherlands, while also needing a five-goal swing in their favour. A goal by Ally McCoist put Scotland on their way to a 1–0 victory and with England leading 4–0 against the Dutch, Scotland were going through. But Patrick Kluivert scored a 78th-minute goal against England, which was enough to send Craig Brown's squad out of the tournament on goals scored (goal difference was tied).

Date Venue Opponents Score[4] Competition Scotland scorer(s)
16 August 1995 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) Greece Greece 1–0 ECQG8 Ally McCoist
6 September 1995 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) Finland Finland 1–0 ECQG8 Scott Booth
11 October 1995 Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm (A) Sweden Sweden 0–2 Friendly
15 November 1995 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) San Marino San Marino 5–0 ECQG8 Eoin Jess, Scott Booth, Ally McCoist, Pat Nevin, own goal
27 March 1996 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) Australia Australia 1–0 Friendly Ally McCoist
24 April 1996 Parken Stadium, Copenhagen (A) Denmark Denmark 0–2 Friendly
26 May 1996 Veteran's Stadium, New Britain, Connecticut (A) United States USA 1–2 Friendly Gordon Durie
29 May 1996 Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida (A) Colombia Colombia 0–1 Friendly
10 June 1996 Villa Park, Birmingham (N) Netherlands Netherlands 0–0 ECGA
15 June 1996 Wembley Stadium, London (N) England England 0–2 ECGA
18 June 1996 Villa Park, Birmingham (N) Switzerland Switzerland 1–0 ECGA Ally McCoist

Key:

  • (H) = Home match
  • (A) = Away match
  • ECQ8 = European Championship qualifying - Group 8
  • ECGA = European Championship - Group A

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "1995/96 - the Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  2. ↑ "Report: Dundee Utd 2-1 Partick Thistle". www.dufcarchive.co.uk. Dundee United Statistial Archive. Archived from the original on 2017-08-16. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  3. ↑ The 1945–46 competition was not competed for by all clubs, owing to wartime restrictions, and does not usually count towards official records, often being referred to as the 'Southern League Cup'. However, Aberdeen include it on their honour roll.
  4. ↑ Scotland's score is shown first.
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