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2006-07 in Scottish football 

Competitive football has been played in Scotland since 1890.
Competitive football has been played in Scotland since 1890.

The 2006–07 season was the 110th season of competitive football in Scotland. The season commenced in August 2006.

Contents

Notable events

2006

  • July 9: Rangers defender Fernando Ricksen is banned for the club's pre-season trip to South Africa, following an incident on the outbound flight. Manager Paul Le Guen cited "wholly inappropriate and unacceptable" behaviour as the reason for Ricksen's omission. Ricksen later admitted that he fears for his future at Rangers claiming that the club have other motives for wanting him out.[1] He was later loaned to Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg.
  • October 23: In the wake of their 2–0 home defeat to Kilmarnock, Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas is given a two-week leave of absence after discussions with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. Ivanauskas cited ill-health as the reason for his temporary departure. Sporting Director, and former coach of Belarus, Eduard Malofeev is appointed for the interim.[3]
  • October 27: Hearts' majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov states that he will sell players if the club fail to beat Dunfermline Athletic in their forthcoming fixture. Club captain Steven Pressley released a statement shortly after expressing the players' discontent at the current situation at the club.[4]
  • December 20: Dundee part company with striker Andy McLaren after he was given three red cards in a 2&7ndash;1 defeat to Clyde.[9]

2007

  • January 2: Paul Le Guen confirms that Gavin Rae will be the new Rangers captain. With regard to Barry Ferguson he stated "When you have someone you feel undermines you, it becomes harder and harder".[11] Asked whether Ferguson had been placed on the transfer list, Le Guen said "It remains to be seen. My own position, which is precarious, may have an influence on that."[12]
  • January 10: Walter Smith is confirmed as Rangers manager, having resigned from his position as Scotland manager.[16] The SFA release a statement stating that "No agreement has been reached with Mr Smith or Rangers Football Club on any compensation payment" and "In the absence of agreement, proceedings will require to be raised against Mr Smith for breach of contract and Rangers Football Club for inducement to breach the contract."[17]
  • January 11: The SFA agree a compensation package with Rangers over manager Walter Smith's switch to Ibrox.[18]
  • April 22: Celtic are crowned Scottish Premier League champions for the second successive season after defeating Kilmarnock 2–1.[24]
  • April 28: Gretna win promotion to the Premier League as First Division champions after beating Ross County 3–2 at Victoria Park, a result that relegated County to the Second Division.[25]
  • May 3: East Stirlingshire, having finished bottom of the Third Division for the fifth consecutive season, are told they will lose full member status if the club finish bottom again next season.[26]
  • May 12: Queen's Park gain promotion to the Second Division after defeating East Fife 7–2 on aggregate in the promotion play-off[28]. The Glasgow club swap places with Stranraer who lost to East Fife in the semi-final stage.
  • May 12: Stirling Albion gain promotion to the First Division, and swap places with Airdrie United, after defeating the North Lanarkshire club 5–4 on aggregate in the promotion/relegation play-off match[29]
The 2007 UEFA Cup Final was played at Hampden Park, Glasgow.
The 2007 UEFA Cup Final was played at Hampden Park, Glasgow.
  • May 12: Dunfermline Athletic are relegated to the First Division. A 2–1 defeat at Inverness[30], coupled with St. Mirren's 3–2 win at Motherwell[31], meant the Fife club exit the SPL after seven seasons in the top flight.
  • May 20: Aberdeen seal a UEFA Cup place for next season after defeating Rangers 2–0 at Pittodrie in the final game of the season.[33]

Major transfer deals

2006

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink moved from PSV Eindhoven to Celtic for £3.4m
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink moved from PSV Eindhoven to Celtic for £3.4m

Celtic made preparations for the Champions League with the high profile signings of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink from PSV Eindhoven, Jiri Jarosik from Chelsea and Thomas Gravesen from Real Madrid while Stilyan Petrov left to join former boss Martin O'Neill at Aston Villa. Celtic also signed former Rangers striker Kenny Miller on a free transfer from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Rangers, under new manager Paul Le Guen, brought in several players including Jérémy Clément from Paris Saint Germain and Filip Sebo from Austria Vienna while Peter Løvenkrands departed for Schalke 04. Hearts paid £200,000 for PAOK Salonika defender Hristos Karipidis and sold Rudi Skácel to Southampton after a dispute between the player and the club. Hibs brought in English League Two defenders Rob Jones and Shelton Martis but lost last season's top scorer Derek Riordan who joined Celtic.

Domestic

In

Out

2007

Shaun Maloney moved from Celtic to Aston Villa for £1m
Shaun Maloney moved from Celtic to Aston Villa for £1m

Celtic further strengthened their squad with the signings of Paul Hartley from Hearts and Mark Brown from Inverness, while Steven Pressley was also signed after being released by Hearts. Shaun Maloney joined Aston Villa after contract negotiations broke down. New Rangers manager Walter Smith brought in defenders David Weir, Andy Webster and Ugo Ehiogu and spent £2m on Hibs' highly rated midfielder Kevin Thomson. Hearts looked to boost their European qualification hopes with the signing of a further four players on loan from FBK Kaunas as well as Laryea Kingston from Terek Grozny. New Dunfermline boss Stephen Kenny brought in loan signings James O'Brien from Celtic, Adam Hammill from Liverpool and Stephen Glass from Hibs with the club bottom of the SPL.

Domestic

In

Out

Managerial changes

Main article: List of managers in the Scottish football league system by date of appointment
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment
Motherwell Flag of England Terry Butcher Resigned 17 May 2006[35] Flag of Scotland Maurice Malpas 4 August 2006[35]
Dundee Flag of Ireland Alan Kernaghan Sacked 20 April 2006[36] Flag of Scotland Alex Rae 24 May 2006[37]
Raith Rovers Flag of Scotland Gordon Dalziel Mutual consent 1 September 2006 Flag of Scotland Craig Levein 5 September 2006[38]
Hibernian Flag of England Tony Mowbray Resigned 13 October 2006[39] Flag of Scotland John Collins 31 October 2006[40]
Cowdenbeath Flag of Finland Mixu Paatelainen Resigned 21 October 2006[41] Flag of Scotland Brian Welsh 30 October 2006[42]
Dunfermline Athletic Flag of Scotland Jim Leishman Resigned 26 October 2006[43] Flag of Ireland Stephen Kenny 18 November 2006[44]
Dundee United Flag of Scotland Craig Brewster Sacked 29 October 2006[45] Flag of Scotland Craig Levein 30 October 2006[46]
Raith Rovers Flag of Scotland Craig Levein Resigned 30 October 2006[46] Flag of Scotland John McGlynn 20 November 2006[47]
Stenhousemuir Flag of Scotland Des McKeown Resigned 1 November 2006[48] Flag of Scotland Campbell Money 10 November 2006[49]
Airdrie United Flag of Scotland} Sandy Stewart Sacked 13 November 2006[50] Flag of Scotland Kenny Black 17 November 2006[51]
Rangers Flag of France Paul Le Guen Mutual consent 4 January 2007[52] Flag of Scotland Walter Smith 10 January 2007[53]
Scotland Flag of Scotland Walter Smith Resigned 10 January 2007[53] Flag of Scotland Alex McLeish 29 January 2007[54]
Montrose Flag of Scotland David Robertson Resigned 17 January 2007[55] Flag of Scotland Jim Weir 8 February 2007[56]
Ayr United Flag of Scotland Robert Connor Sacked 26 February 2007[57] Flag of Scotland Neil Watt 22 March 2007[58]
Hearts Flag of Lithuania Valdas Ivanauskas Mutual consent 20 March 2007[59] Flag of Ukraine Anatoly Korobochka 30 July 2007[60]
Partick Thistle Flag of Scotland Dick Campbell Sacked 27 March 2007[61] Flag of Scotland Ian McCall 25 May 2007[62]
Livingston Flag of Scotland John Robertson Sacked 15 April 2007[63] Flag of England Mark Proctor 23 May 2007 [64]
Queen of the South Flag of Scotland Ian McCall Resigned 28 April 2007[65] Flag of Scotland Gordon Chisholm 7 May 2007[66]
Ross County Flag of Scotland Scott Leitch Resigned 30 April 2007[67] Flag of Scotland Dick Campbell 17 May 2007[68]
Albion Rovers Flag of Scotland Jim Chapman Sacked 7 May 2007[69] Flag of Scotland John McCormack 31 May 2007[70]

League Competitions

Scottish Premier League

Main article: Scottish Premier League 2006-07
P
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic 38 26 6 6 65 34 +31 84 UEFA Champions League 2007-08
Third qualifying round
2 Rangers 38 21 9 8 61 32 +29 72 UEFA Champions League 2007-08
Second qualifying round
3 Aberdeen 38 19 8 11 56 37 +19 65 UEFA Cup 2007-08 First round
4 Hearts 38 17 10 11 47 35 +12 61
5 Kilmarnock 38 16 7 15 47 54 −7 55
6 Hibernian 38 13 10 15 56 46 +10 49
7 Falkirk 38 15 5 18 49 47 +2 50
8 Inverness CT 38 11 13 14 42 48 −6 46
9 Dundee United 38 10 12 16 40 59 −19 42
10 Motherwell 38 10 8 20 44 57 −13 38
11 St. Mirren 38 8 12 18 31 51 −20 36
12 Dunfermline Athletic 38 8 8 22 26 55 −29 32 Relegation to
First Division

Source:citation needed
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.

  • Dunfermline gained UEFA Cup place as fellow Scottish Cup finalists Celtic had already qualified for Europe via Champions League
  • No Scottish side competed in the Intertoto Cup in the 2007-08 season after Inverness CT withdrew their application
  • After 33 games (at which point each team had played each other three times) the table split into a top six and bottom six, and teams played one further game against each side in their half. Teams stayed in their half of the league regardless of their points total.
    P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; (C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted.

Scottish First Division

Main article: Scottish First Division 2006-07
P Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Gretna 36 19 9 8 70 40 30 66 Promoted to Scottish Premier League 2007-08
2 St. Johnstone 36 19 8 9 65 42 23 65
3 Dundee 36 16 5 15 48 42 6 53
4 Hamilton Academical 36 14 11 11 46 47 -1 53
5 Clyde 36 11 14 10 46 35 11 47
6 Livingston 36 11 12 13 41 46 -5 45
7 Partick Thistle 36 12 9 15 47 63 -16 45
8 Queen of the South 36 10 11 15 34 54 -20 41
9 Airdrie United 36 11 7 18 39 50 -11 40
Relegated to Second Division 2007-08
10 Ross County 36 9 10 17 40 57 -17 37

Scottish Second Division

Main article: Scottish Second Division 2006-07
P Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Greenock Morton 36 24 5 7 76 32 44 77
Promoted To First Division 2007-08
2 Stirling Albion 36 21 6 9 67 39 28 69
3 Raith Rovers 36 18 8 10 50 33 17 62 Lost in Play-offs
4 Brechin City 36 18 6 12 61 45 16 60
5 Ayr United 36 14 8 14 46 47 -1 50
6 Cowdenbeath 36 13 6 17 59 56 3 45
7 Alloa Athletic 36 11 9 16 47 70 -23 42
8 Peterhead 36 11 8 17 60 62 -2 41
9 Stranraer 36 10 9 17 45 74 -29 39
Relegated to Third Division2007-08
10 Forfar Athletic 36 4 7 25 37 90 -53 19

Scottish Third Division

Main article: Scottish Third Division 2006-07
P Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Berwick Rangers 36 24 3 9 51 29 22 75 Promoted to Second Division 2007-08
2 Arbroath 36 22 4 10 61 33 28 70 Lost in Play-offs
3 Queen's Park 36 21 5 10 57 28 29 68 Promoted to Second Division 2007-08
4 East Fife 36 20 7 9 59 37 22 67 Lost in Play-offs
5 Dumbarton 36 18 5 13 52 37 15 59
6 Albion Rovers 36 14 6 16 56 61 -5 48
7 Stenhousemuir 36 13 5 18 53 63 -10 44
8 Montrose 36 11 4 21 42 62 -20 37
9 Elgin City 36 9 2 25 39 69 -30 29
10 East Stirlingshire 36 6 3 27 27 78 -51 21

Cup honours

Competition Winner Score Runner-up Report
Scottish Cup 2006–07 Celtic 1 – 0 Dunfermline Athletic Wikipedia article
League Cup 2006–07 Hibernian 5 – 1 Kilmarnock Wikipedia article
Challenge Cup 2006–07 Ross County 1 – 1 (a.e.t.)
(5 – 4 pen.)		 Clyde Wikipedia article
Youth Cup Rangers 5 – 0 Celtic
Junior Cup 2006–07 Linlithgow Rose 2 – 1 (a.e.t.) Kelty Hearts The Herald

Non-league honours

Senior honours

Competition Winner
Highland League Keith
East of Scotland League