2007–08 Scottish Premier League

Scottish Premier League
Season2007–08
Dates4 August 2007 – 22 May 2008
ChampionsCeltic
6th Premier League title
42nd Scottish title
RelegatedGretna
Champions LeagueCeltic
Rangers
UEFA CupMotherwell
Intertoto CupHibernian
Matches played228
Goals scored610 (2.68 per match)
Top goalscorerScott McDonald (25)
Biggest home winRangers 7–2 Falkirk (18 August)
Inverness CT 6–1 Gretna (3 May)
Celtic 5–0 Hearts (25 August)
Celtic 5–0 Inverness CT (15 September)
Biggest away winAberdeen 1–5 Celtic (10 February)
St Mirren 1–5 Celtic (2 September)
St Mirren 1–5 Falkirk (1 December)
Gretna 0–4 Falkirk (4 August)
Gretna 0–4 Inverness CT (27 October)
Hearts 0–4 Rangers (27 February)
Highest attendance60,000, Celtic 0–0 Kilmarnock (5 August)
Lowest attendance431, Gretna 1–2 Inverness CT (5 April)

The 2007–08 Scottish Premier League season was the tenth season of the Scottish Premier League. It began on 4 August 2007 and was originally due to end on 18 May 2008. Due to the death of Phil O'Donnell and extremely poor weather causing the postponement of fixtures during the winter, as well as a backlog of Rangers fixtures and their progression to the UEFA Cup Final, the SPL decided to move the final round of fixtures back four days to 22 May 2008. It was the first season under the sponsorship of the Clydesdale Bank.

Gretna were promoted from the First Division the previous season and played in the SPL for the first time, replacing Dunfermline Athletic. Gretna did not play at their home stadium Raydale Park as it did not meet the SPL stadia criteria of 6,000 and instead used Motherwell's Fir Park for all but one of their games; that match was at Livingston's Almondvale Stadium.

Champions Celtic qualified directly for the Champions League, while second-placed Rangers qualified for the Second qualifying round. Third-placed Motherwell qualified for the UEFA Cup and Hibernian qualified for the Intertoto Cup. First Division side Queen of the South also qualified for the UEFA Cup after reaching the Scottish Cup Final. Gretna were relegated after just one season in the SPL and were replaced by First Division champions Hamilton Academical for the following season.

The championship was determined on the final day of the season with Celtic and Rangers even on 86 points. Celtic travelled to Tannadice to play Dundee United knowing that a win would likely secure the title due to their superior goal difference (+57 to +53). Meanwhile, Rangers needed to better Celtic's result in their match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie (a Ranger win and Celtic draw or a Ranger draw coupled with a Celtic loss). If both teams won or lost, then Rangers must better better Celtic's goal difference by 4 or more. As it turned out, Celtic won 1–0 following Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink's second-half header, while Aberdeen F.C. beat Rangers 2–0 thanks to goals from Lee Miller and Steve Lovell.

Clubs

Promotion and Relegation from 2006–07

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Relegated from Premier League to First Division

Stadia and locations

Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Falkirk
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Tannadice Park Falkirk Stadium
Capacity: 20,866 Capacity: 60,411 Capacity: 14,223 Capacity: 7,937
Gretna Heart of Midlothian
Fir Park, Motherwell Tynecastle Park
Capacity: 13,677 Capacity: 17,420
Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Easter Road Caledonian Stadium
Capacity: 16,531 Capacity: 7,500
Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers St Mirren
Rugby Park Fir Park Ibrox Stadium Love Street
Capacity: 17,889 Capacity: 13,677 Capacity: 50,817 Capacity: 10,800

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Kit manufacturer Kit sponsor
Aberdeen Scotland Jimmy Calderwood Nike Apex Tubulars
Celtic Scotland Gordon Strachan Nike Carling
Dundee United Scotland Craig Levein hummel Anglian Windows
Falkirk Scotland John Hughes Lotto Central Demolition
Gretna Scotland Mick Wadsworth (caretaker) Crest Teamwear Subway
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Stephen Frail (caretaker) Umbro Ukio Bankas
Hibernian Finland Mixu Paatelainen Le Coq Sportif Whyte and Mackay
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Scotland Craig Brewster Erreà Flybe
Kilmarnock Scotland Jim Jefferies Lotto www.smallworldmedia.com
Motherwell Scotland Mark McGhee Bukta Anglian Home Improvements
Rangers Scotland Walter Smith Umbro Carling
St Mirren Scotland Gus MacPherson hummel Braehead Shopping Centre

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Motherwell Scotland Maurice Malpas 1 June 2007 Sacked Pre-season Scotland Mark McGhee 18 June 2007
Gretna Scotland Rowan Alexander 14 June 2007 Sacked Scotland Davie Irons 18 July 2007
Inverness Scotland Charlie Christie 20 August 2007 Resigned 12th Scotland Craig Brewster 27 August 2007
Hibernian Scotland John Collins 20 December 2007 Resigned 5th Finland Mixu Paatelainen 10 January 2008
Hearts Ukraine Anatoliy Korobochka 1 January 2008 Sacked 10th Scotland Stephen Frail (caretaker) 1 January 2008
Gretna Scotland Davie Irons 19 February 2008 Signed by Greenock Morton 12th Scotland Mick Wadsworth (caretaker) 19 February 2008

Notable events

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
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
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 (D, R) 38 5 8 25 32 83 −51 13 Resigned from the Scottish Football League and liquidated
Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Hibernian qualified for the Intertoto Cup as the highest ranked club to apply for a place in the competition.
  3. ^ Gretna were deducted 10 points for entering administration.
  4. ^ 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.

Results

Matches 1–22

During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN FAL GRT HOM HIB INV KIL MOT RAN STM
Aberdeen 1–3 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 1–1 4–0
Celtic 3–0 3–0 4–0 3–0 5–0 1–1 5–0 0–0 3–0 2–1 1–1
Dundee United 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–2 4–1 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–0
Falkirk 0–0 1–4 3–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–3 0–1
Gretna 1–1 1–2 3–2 0–4 1–1 0–1 0–4 1–2 1–2 1–2 0–0
Heart of Midlothian 4–1 1–1 1–3 4–2 1–1 0–1 2–3 1–1 1–2 4–2 0–1
Hibernian 3–3 3–2 2–2 1–1 4–2 1–1 1–0 4–1 1–0 1–2 0–1
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1–2 3–2 0–3 4–2 3–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 0–3 0–3 1–0
Kilmarnock 0–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 3–3 3–1 2–1 2–2 0–1 1–2 0–0
Motherwell 3–0 1–4 5–3 0–3 3–0 0–2 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–1
Rangers 3–0 3–0 2–0 7–2 4–0 2–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 2–0
St Mirren 0–1 1–5 0–3 1–5 1–0 1–3 2–1 2–1 0–0 0–1 0–3
Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN FAL GRT HOM HIB INV KIL MOT RAN STM
Aberdeen 1–5 2–1 3–0 0–1 1–1 1–1
Celtic 0–0 3–0 2–1 1–0 0–1
Dundee United 3–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 3–3 1–1
Falkirk 0–1 0–2 0–0 0–0 4–0
Gretna 0–3 0–3 2–0 1–2 4–2 1–3
Heart of Midlothian 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–0 0–4
Hibernian 3–1 0–2 4–2 2–0 2–0 2–0
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3–4 1–1 0–1 0–3 0–1
Kilmarnock 3–1 1–2 0–0 4–1 0–2 1–0
Motherwell 0–1 1–0 3–1 1–0 1–1
Rangers 3–1 1–0 2–0 4–2 2–1 4–0
St Mirren 0–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–1
Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once.

Goals

Top scorers

Celtic's Scott McDonald was the top goalscorer during season 2007–08.
Player Goals Club
Australia Scott McDonald 25 Celtic
Netherlands Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 15 Celtic
Scotland Kris Boyd 14 Rangers
England Chris Porter Motherwell
Scotland Steven Fletcher 13 Hibernian
Republic of Ireland Noel Hunt Dundee United
Scotland Barry Robson Dundee United/Celtic
Scotland David Clarkson 12 Motherwell
French Guiana Jean-Claude Darcheville Rangers
Scotland Lee Miller Aberdeen
Scotland Colin Nish 11 Kilmarnock/Hibernian
Gabon Daniel Cousin 10 Rangers
Spain Nacho Novo Rangers
Scotland Don Cowie 9 Inverness CT
England Michael Higdon 8 Falkirk

Hat-tricks

Scorer For Against Date
Australia Scott McDonald Celtic Dundee United 29 September 2007
England Clayton Donaldson Hibernian Kilmarnock 29 September 2007
Australia Scott McDonald Celtic Motherwell 27 October 2007
Republic of Ireland Aiden McGeady Celtic Falkirk 11 December 2007
Scotland Barry Robson Dundee United Heart of Midlothian 2 January 2008
Scotland Steven Fletcher Hibernian Gretna 13 February 2008

Kits and shirt sponsors

Team Kitmaker Shirt sponsor Notes
Aberdeen Nike Apex Tubulars New home and third kits
Celtic Nike Carling New home kit and new away kit to celebrate 40 years since being the first British team to win the European Cup.
Dundee United hummel Anglian Windows New home and away kit
Falkirk Lotto Central Demolition Lotto take over from previous manufacturer, TFG. Home kit is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the club's Scottish Cup victory in 1957.
Gretna Crest Teamwear Subway Subway take over as new sponsor
Heart of Midlothian Umbro Ukio Bankas Umbro take over from previous manufacturer, Hummel
Hibernian Le Coq Sportif Whyte and Mackay New away kit and new home kit
Inverness CT Erreà Flybe Flybe take over as new sponsor
Kilmarnock Lotto www.smallworldmedia.com Lotto take over from previous manufacturer, TFG.
Motherwell Bukta Anglian Home Improvements Bukta take over from previous manufacturer, Xara
Rangers Umbro Carling New home, away and third kits
St Mirren hummel Braehead Shopping Centre Hummel take over from previous manufacturer, Xara

For the first time in the SPL, certain teams also carried secondary sponsors on the back of their jerseys, above the players' names.

Attendances

Team Stadium Capacity Lowest Highest Average
Celtic Celtic Park 60,832 45,000 60,000 56,676
Rangers Ibrox Stadium 51,082 47,419 50,440 48,090
Heart of Midlothian Tynecastle Stadium 17,420 10,512 17,131 15,930
Hibernian Easter Road 17,500 7,650 17,015 13,840
Aberdeen Pittodrie 22,199 8,240 17,798 11,993
Dundee United Tannadice Park 14,209 5,845 13,613 8,530
Kilmarnock Rugby Park 18,128 4,456 11,544 6,181
Motherwell1 Fir Park 13,742 4,086 10,445 6,598
Falkirk Falkirk Stadium 6,935 4,490 6,803 5,657
Inverness CT Caledonian Stadium 7,500 3,420 7,753 4,752
St Mirren Love Street 10,800 3,163 7,840 4,547
Gretna1 Fir Park 13,742 431 6,137 2,283

As of 22 May 2008

1 Gretna were sharing Motherwell's stadium whilst Raydale Park was being upgraded. However, in March the Fir Park pitch was considered unplayable so the game between Gretna and Celtic was played instead at Almondvale, the home of First Division club Livingston.

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment
Motherwell Scotland Maurice Malpas Sacked 18 June 2007 Scotland Mark McGhee 1 June 2007
Gretna Scotland Andy Smith Health 4 August 2007 Scotland Davie Irons 18 July 2007
Heart of Midlothian Lithuania Valdas Ivanauskas Mutual consent Scotland Stephen Frail & Ukraine Anatoly Korobochka 30 July 2007
Inverness CT Scotland Charlie Christie Resigned August 2007 Scotland Craig Brewster 27 August 2007
Hibernian Scotland John Collins Resigned 20 December 2007 Finland Mixu Paatelainen 10 January 2008
Gretna Scotland Davie Irons Resigned 19 February 2008 England Mick Wadsworth 19 February
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Stephen Frail Mutual Consent 27 May 2008 Hungary Csaba László 11 July

Awards

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Monthly awards

Month Manager Player Young player Rising star
August Scotland Walter Smith (Rangers) Spain Carlos Cuéllar (Rangers) Scotland Steven Fletcher (Hibernian) Scotland Mark Staunton (Falkirk)
September Scotland John Collins (Hibernian) Australia Scott McDonald (Celtic) England Andrew Driver (Heart of Midlothian) Scotland Scott Anson (Kilmarnock)
October Scotland Craig Levein (Dundee United) Scotland Lee Wilkie (Dundee United) Scotland Ross McCormack (Motherwell) Scotland Jack Wilson (Hibernian)
November Scotland Mark McGhee (Motherwell) Republic of Ireland Aiden McGeady (Celtic) Scotland Ross McCormack (Motherwell) Scotland Liam Cusack (Gretna)
December Scotland Craig Brewster (Inverness CT) Romania Marius Niculae (Inverness CT) Scotland Scott Arfield (Falkirk)
January Scotland Walter Smith (Rangers) Scotland Barry Robson (Dundee United) England Danny Grainger (Dundee United)
February Finland Mixu Paatelainen (Hibernian) Republic of Ireland Aiden McGeady (Celtic) Scotland Steven Fletcher (Hibernian) Scotland Ryan Strachan (Aberdeen)
March Scotland Walter Smith (Rangers) Scotland Darren Barr (Falkirk) Scotland Garry Kenneth (Dundee United) Scotland Ryan Crighton (St Mirren)
April Scotland Gordon Strachan (Celtic) Scotland Barry Robson (Celtic) Scotland Gary Glen (Heart of Midlothian)

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards

Award Recipient
Player of the Season Spain Carlos Cuéllar (Rangers)
Manager of the Season Scotland Walter Smith (Rangers)
Young Player of the Season Republic of Ireland Aiden McGeady (Celtic)
Goal of the Season Republic of Ireland Willo Flood (Dundee United v St Mirren)
Under-19 League Player of the Season Scotland Scott Anson (Kilmarnock)
Best Club Media Relations Kilmarnock
Best Fan Initiative Heart of Midlothian
Best Matchday Hospitality Package Rangers
Best Community Initiative Falkirk
Best Away Ground Tynecastle (Heart of Midlothian)

Broadcasting rights

Setanta Sports provided domestic TV live coverage and highlights as in previous seasons, with STV and BBC Scotland also broadcasting free-to-air highlights. BBC Radio Scotland continued to provide domestic radio coverage, with many games also available internationally, and all domestically, through their website. The BBC held rights to show highlights online and do so through the BBC Sport website. Internationally, the Premier League's overseas television broadcasting partner was TWI, with coverage of the SPL available in over 100 territories worldwide.Overseas Broadcasting | Scottish Premier League | Broadcasting | Overseas

Transfer deals

External links


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