2007–08_in_Scottish_football

2007–08 in Scottish football

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The 2007–08 season was the 111th season of competitive football in Scotland. ^[1]

Quick Facts Season ...

Football in Scotland

Season

2007–08

← 2006–07

2008–09 →

Quick Facts Premier League champions, First Division champions ...

2007–08 in Scottish football

Premier League champions
Celtic
First Division champions
Hamilton Academical
Second Division champions
Ross County
Third Division champions
East Fife
Scottish Cup winners
Rangers
League Cup winners
Rangers
Challenge Cup winners
St Johnstone
Junior Cup winners
Bathgate Thistle
Teams in Europe
Aberdeen, Celtic, Dunfermline Athletic, Rangers
Scotland national team
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Overview

Gretna were competing in the Scottish Premier League for the first time, their first ever season in the top-flight, after being promoted as First Division champions the previous season.^[2]
Dunfermline Athletic competed in the First Division after being relegated from the Scottish Premier League.^[2]
Greenock Morton and Stirling Albion played in the First Division after being promoted as Second Division champions and First Division play-off winners, respectively.^[2]
Ross County were competing in the Second Division after being relegated as the First Division's bottom team and Airdrie United were relegated through the Second Division play-offs.^[2]
Berwick Rangers and Queen's Park were competing in the Second Division after being promoted from the Third Division as champions and Second Division play-offs winners, respectively.^[2]
Forfar Athletic and Stranraer played Third Division football after being relegated as the Second Division's bottom team and Second Division play-off losers, respectively.^[2]
East Stirlingshire had a suspended reduction to associate members hanging over them from the previous season. Finishing bottom of the Third Division would mean an automatic and instant reduction to associate members (and with it a potential expulsion from the league two years later at the end of the 2009–10 season), while finishing 9th or higher would annul any punishment.

Notable events

2007

1 June – The Scottish Football Association appoint former Rangers and Kilmarnock striker Gordon Smith as the new Chief Executive following the departure of David Taylor who was appointed General Secretary of UEFA.^[3]
20 July – Irn-Bru became the new sponsor of the Scottish Football League, signing a three-year deal.^[4]
11 October – Celtic are fined £25,000 by UEFA for "lack of organisation and improper conduct by supporters" during their UEFA Champions League match with A.C. Milan at Celtic Park.^[5]^[6]
17 November – The Scotland national team fail to qualify for Euro 2008 after a 2–1 defeat by Italy at Hampden Park eliminated them at the qualifying stage.
25 November – St Johnstone beat Dunfermline 3–2 to win the Challenge Cup for the first time.^[7]
29 December – Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, 35, collapsed on the pitch at Fir Park during a match against Dundee United, and died later that evening.^[8]

2008

15 March – East Fife confirm their promotion to the Second Division as Third Division champions with a 3–0 victory over East Stirlingshire, becoming the first team in Britain to win a league trophy in the 2007–08 season.^[9]
16 March – Rangers win the Scottish League Cup by beating Dundee United 3–2 in a penalty shootout after a 2–2 draw in the final at Hampden Park.
22 March – Scotland's Under-17s qualify for the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship after finishing top of their Elite qualifying group.
29 March – Gretna are relegated from the SPL after losing 2–0 to St Mirren at Love Street.^[10]
29 March – Berwick Rangers are relegated from the Second Division after a 2–2 draw with Peterhead.^[11]
5 April – Ross County win promotion to the First Division as Second Division champions after defeating already-relegated Berwick Rangers 4–0 and second place Airdrie United losing 2–1 to Brechin City.^[12]
8 April – Stirling Albion are relegated from the First Division after a 1–0 defeat to Partick Thistle.^[13]
12 April – First Division Queen of the South beat SPL Aberdeen 4–3 at Hampden Park to qualify for their first Scottish Cup final, in the highest scoring semi-final ever.^[14]
19 April – Hamilton Academical win promotion to the Scottish Premier League as First Division champions following a 2–0 over Clyde.^[15]
10 May – Clyde retain their First Division status after defeating Airdrie United 3–0 on aggregate in the First Division play-off final.^[16]
10 May – Arbroath are promoted to the Second Division after a 2–1 aggregate win over Stranraer in the Second Division play-off final.^[17] Cowdenbeath, who were beaten by Arbroath in the semi-finals, are relegated to the Third Division.
14 May – Rangers lose 2–0 to Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Cup Final.^[18]
22 May – Celtic win their third successive SPL title after defeating Dundee United 1–0.^[19]
24 May – Rangers win the Scottish Cup for the 32nd time after defeating Queen of the South 3–2 in the Final. This was the Dumfries club's first ever Scottish Cup Final appearance in their history.^[20]
29 May – Gretna are demoted to the Third Division after administrator David Elliot could not guarantee the Football League that the club would fulfil its fixtures next season. Consequently, First Division play-off runners-up Airdrie United are promoted to the First Division and Second Division play-off runners-up Stranraer are promoted to the Second Division.^[21]

Transfer deals

Main article: List of Scottish football transfers 2007–08

Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Clyde	Joe Miller	Mutual Consent	25 May^[22]	Colin Hendry	11 June^[23]
Motherwell	Maurice Malpas	Resigned	1 June^[24]	Mark McGhee	18 June^[25]
Gretna	Rowan Alexander	Sacked	18 July^[26]	David Irons	18 July^[26]
Inverness CT	Charlie Christie	Resigned	20 August^[27]	Craig Brewster	27 August^[28]
Stenhousemuir	Campbell Money	Resigned	29 September^[29]	John Coughlin	12 October^[30]
Ross County	Dick Campbell	Mutual consent	2 October^[31]	Derek Adams	21 November^[32]
Berwick Rangers	John Coughlin	Resigned	7 October^[33]	Michael Renwick	24 October^[34]
Ayr United	Neil Watt	Resigned	23 October^[35]	Brian Reid	24 October^[36]
Dumbarton	Gerry McCabe	Sacked	11 November^[37]	Jim Chapman	31 December^[38]
St Johnstone	Owen Coyle	Mutual consent	22 November^[39]	Derek McInnes	27 November^[40]
Dunfermline Athletic	Stephen Kenny	Sacked	4 December^[41]	Jim McIntyre	3 January^[42]
Hibernian	John Collins	Resigned	20 December^[43]	Mixu Paatelainen	10 January^[44]
Queen's Park	Billy Stark	Resigned	9 January^[45]	Gardner Speirs	25 January^[46]
Clyde	Colin Hendry	Resigned	18 January^[47]	John Brown	26 January^[48]
Greenock Morton	Jim McInally	Resigned	12 February^[49]	David Irons	19 February^[50]
Gretna	David Irons	Resigned	19 February^[50]	Mick Wadsworth	19 February
East Stirlingshire	Gordon Wylde	Resigned	28 February^[51]	Jim McInally	13 March^[52]
Forfar Athletic	Jim Moffat	Mutual consent	21 April^[53]	Dick Campbell	8 May^[54]
Berwick Rangers	Michael Renwick	Sacked	28 February^[55]	Allan McGonigal	13 May^[56]
Heart of Midlothian	Stephen Frail	Mutual Consent	27 May 2008^[57]	Csaba László	11 July^[58]
Livingston	Mark Proctor	Sacked	3 June^[59]	Roberto Landi	11 June^[60]

League competitions

Scottish Premier League

Main article: 2007–08 Scottish Premier League

Celtic won their third consecutive title, having been off the pace for much of the season before a run of seven consecutive victories in the closing stages lifted them to the top of the table. Their title win was dedicated to the memory of assistant manager Tommy Burns, who died from cancer a week before the season ended. Rangers lost out on the title thanks to indifferent form in the final weeks of the campaign, though the fact that they came so close and recorded victories in both domestic cups nonetheless meant the season was a considerable improvement on the two previous seasons, which both ended up trophyless and without a serious challenge for the title. Motherwell finished third and took the UEFA Cup berth, as former player Mark McGhee's return as manager brought a major turnaround in form.

At the other end of the table, Gretna's meteoric rise up the Scottish football pyramid came to a juddering halt; they went bottom of the table following a 4-0 thrashing in their first match, and never left it. The withdrawal of millionaire owner Brooks Mileson plunged them into a financial crisis that forced the club into administration, resulting in them becoming the first top-flight club to earn a ten-point deduction for doing so. This helped cause them to set a new record for the lowest top-flight points total since the adoption of 3 points for a win, and their financial troubles would ultimately prove terminal, resulting in the club folding and being reformed as Gretna F.C. 2008 in the Lowland League for the following year.

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation^{[lower-alpha 1]}
1	Celtic (C)	38	28	5	5	84	26	+58	89	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Rangers	38	27	5	6	84	33	+51	86	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Motherwell	38	18	6	14	50	46	+4	60	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Aberdeen	38	15	8	15	50	58	−8	53
5	Dundee United	38	14	10	14	53	47	+6	52
6	Hibernian	38	14	10	14	49	45	+4	52	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup second round^{[lower-alpha 2]}

7	Falkirk	38	13	10	15	45	49	−4	49
8	Heart of Midlothian	38	13	9	16	47	55	−8	48
9	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	38	13	4	21	51	62	−11	43
10	St Mirren	38	10	11	17	26	54	−28	41
11	Kilmarnock	38	10	10	18	39	52	−13	40
12	Gretna (R)	38	5	8	25	32	83	−51	13^{[lower-alpha 3]}	Resigned from the Scottish Football League and liquidated^{[lower-alpha 4]}

Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
Hibernian qualified for the Intertoto Cup as the highest ranked club to apply for a place in the competition.
Gretna were deducted 10 points for entering administration.
At the end of the season, Gretna were relegated to the Third Division due to their financial struggles. However, as no buyer was found for the club, they resigned from the Scottish Football League and were subsequently liquidated.

Scottish First Division

Main article: 2007–08 Scottish First Division

Hamilton Academical won the title, and with it, their third promotion in seven years, bringing them back into the top-flight for the first time since 1989.

Stirling Albion finished well adrift in bottom place, and suffered automatic relegation as a result. Clyde were sent into the play-offs, and retained their place in the First Division by beating Airdrie United in the final.

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Hamilton Academical (C, P)	36	23	7	6	62	27	+35	76	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Dundee	36	20	9	7	58	30	+28	69
3	St Johnstone	36	15	13	8	60	45	+15	58
4	Queen of the South	36	14	10	12	47	43	+4	52	Qualification for the UEFA Cup second qualifying round^{[lower-alpha 1]}
5	Dunfermline Athletic	36	13	12	11	36	41	−5	51
6	Partick Thistle	36	11	12	13	40	39	+1	45
7	Livingston	36	10	9	17	55	66	−11	39
8	Greenock Morton	36	9	10	17	40	58	−18	37
9	Clyde	36	9	10	17	40	59	−19	37	Qualification for the First Division Play-offs^{[lower-alpha 2]}
10	Stirling Albion (R)	36	4	12	20	41	71	−30	24	Relegation to the Second Division

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Queen of the South qualified for the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round as Scottish Cup runners-up
The 9th placed team were entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams. The winning team were awarded a place in the 2008–09 First Division, Clyde won the play-off to stay in the division.

Scottish Second Division

Main article: 2007–08 Scottish Second Division

Ross County won immediate promotion back to the First Division, vindicating their shock decision to sack manager Dick Campbell early in the campaign with the club top of the table, as rookie manager Derek Adams managed to further improve the club's form, resulting in them comfortably winning the title. Airdrie United initially lost out on promotion after failing to beat Clyde in the play-offs, but Gretna's demise meant Airdrie ended up being promoted anyway.

Berwick Rangers were relegated in bottom place after a dismal campaign, and Cowdenbeath joined them after losing in the play-offs.

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Ross County (C, P)	36	22	7	7	78	44	+34	73	Promotion to the First Division
2	Airdrie United (P)	36	20	6	10	64	34	+30	66	Qualification for the First Division Play-offs^{[lower-alpha 1]}
3	Raith Rovers	36	19	3	14	60	50	+10	60
4	Alloa Athletic	36	16	8	12	57	56	+1	56
5	Peterhead	36	16	7	13	65	54	+11	55
6	Brechin City	36	13	13	10	63	48	+15	52
7	Ayr United	36	13	7	16	51	62	−11	46
8	Queen's Park	36	13	5	18	48	51	−3	44
9	Cowdenbeath (R)	36	10	7	19	47	73	−26	37	Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs^{[lower-alpha 2]}
10	Berwick Rangers (R)	36	3	7	26	40	101	−61	16	Relegation to the Third Division

Source: SPFL Archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

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 were awarded a place in the 2008–09 First Division, Clyde won the play-off to stay in the division. However, with Gretna being relegated to the Third Division, Airdrie were promoted to Division One. Airdrie United won promotion to the First Division after Gretna were relegated to the Third Division.
The 9th placed team were entered into a play-off with the Third Division's 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams. The winning team were awarded a place in the 2008–09 Second Division, Cowdenbeath were relegated and Arbroath were promoted. Due to Gretna's relegation, Stranraer were also promoted.

Scottish Third Division

Main article: 2007–08 Scottish Third Division

East Fife won the division by a wide margin after their play-off heartbreak the previous season. Arbroath, who had likewise lost out on promotion in the previous season's play-offs, were victorious in this year's campaign. Stranraer, who lost to Arbroath in the play-off final, still ended up earning an immediate return to Division Two, thanks to Gretna's demise.

East Stirlingshire, who had been given a suspended reduction to associate members in the previous campaign (meaning they would have faced an expulsion vote had they finished bottom in both this and the next seasons), managed to avoid this fate by pulling above Forfar Athletic on the final day of the season. It was the first time since 2002 that any other team had finished bottom of the SFL pyramid.

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or qualification
1	East Fife (C, P)	36	28	4	4	77	24	+53	88	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Stranraer^{[lower-alpha 1]} (P)	36	19	8	9	65	43	+22	65	Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs^{[lower-alpha 2]}
3	Montrose	36	17	8	11	59	36	+23	59
4	Arbroath (P, O)	36	14	10	12	54	47	+7	52
5	Stenhousemuir	36	13	9	14	50	59	−9	48
6	Elgin City	36	13	8	15	56	68	−12	47
7	Albion Rovers	36	9	10	17	51	68	−17	37
8	Dumbarton	36	9	10	17	31	48	−17	37
9	East Stirlingshire^{[lower-alpha 3]}	36	10	4	22	48	71	−23	34
10	Forfar Athletic	36	8	9	19	35	62	−27	33

Source: SPFL archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:

Stranraer won promotion to Second Division after Gretna were relegated to the Third Division.
The 9th placed Second Division team were entered into a play-off with the Third Division's 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams. The winning team were awarded a place in the 2008–09 Second Division, Cowdenbeath were relegated and Arbroath were promoted. With Gretna being relegated to the Third Division, Stranraer were also promoted.
Had East Stirlingshire finished bottom of the table for what would have been a sixth consecutive time, they would have lost their Scottish Football League status, they finished second bottom.