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

Season	1995–96
Dates	26 August 1995 – 4 May 1996
Champions	Rangers 11th Premier Division title 46th Scottish title
Relegated	Falkirk Partick Thistle
Champions League	Rangers
UEFA Cup	Celtic Aberdeen
Cup Winners' Cup	Heart of Midlothian
Goals	477
Average goals/game	2.65
Top goalscorer	Pierre van Hooijdonk (26)
Biggest home win	Rangers 7–0 Hibernian (30 Dec)
Biggest away win	Heart 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 attendance	47,312, Rangers 1–1 Celtic (17 Mar)
Lowest attendance	2,320, Partick Thistle 0–3 Raith Rovers (3 Mar)
Average attendance	15,035
← 1994–95 1996–97 →

Overview

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.

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

Promotion and relegation from 1994–95

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

• Raith Rovers

Relegated from Premier Division to First Division

• Dundee United

Stadia and locations

Aberdeen

Celtic

Falkirk

Hearts

Hibernian

Kilmarnock

Motherwell

Partick Thistle

Raith Rovers

Rangers

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

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

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

• 14 October: Gordon Durie hits the first hat-trick of the season in a 4–0 win at Partick Thistle.
• 28 April: Rangers win the title at Ibrox as a Paul Gascoigne hat-trick helps them to a 3–1 win over Aberdeen.

League 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
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
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:

Results

Matches 1–18

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

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

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

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

Awards

• Player awards

Award	Winner	Club
PFA Players' Player of the Year	Paul Gascoigne	Rangers
PFA Young Player of the Year	Jackie McNamara	Celtic
SFWA Footballer of the Year	Paul Gascoigne	Rangers

• Manager awards

Award	Winner	Club
SFWA Manager of the Year	Walter Smith	Rangers

Attendances

#	Football club	Home games	Average attendance
1	Rangers FC	18	44,661
2	Celtic FC	18	34,342
3	Aberdeen FC	18	12,764
4	Heart of Midlothian	18	12,077
5	Hibernian FC	18	9,842
6	Kilmarnock FC	18	8,719
7	Motherwell FC	18	7,222
8	Partick Thistle	18	6,458
9	Falkirk FC	18	5,885
10	Raith Rovers	18	5,784

See also

• Nine in a row