2007-08_in_Scottish

2007-08 in Scottish football

Competitive football has been played in Scotland since 1872.

The 2007-08 season is the 111th season of competitive football in Scotland. The season commenced in August 2007.

Notable events

2007

June 1: 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.^[1]

July 20: Irn-Bru becomes the new sponsor of the Scottish Football League, signing a three year deal.^[2]

October 11: Celtic are fined £25,000 by UEFA for "lack of organisation and improper conduct by supporters" during their UEFA Champions League match with AC Milan at Celtic Park.^[3]^[4]

November 17: 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.

November 25: St. Johnstone beat Dunfermline 3–2 to win the Challenge Cup for the first time.^[5]

December 29: Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, 35, collapsed on the pitch at Fir Park during a match against Dundee United, and died later that evening.^[6]

2008

March 15: 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.^[7]

March 16: 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.

March 22: Scotland's Under-17s qualify for the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship after finishing top of their Elite qualifying group.

March 29: Gretna are relegated from the SPL after losing 2–0 to St. Mirren at St. Mirren Park. ^[8]

March 29: Berwick Rangers are relegated from the Second Division after a 2–2 draw with Peterhead.^[9]

April 5: 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.^[10]

April 8: Stirling Albion are relegated from the First Division after a 1–0 defeat to Partick Thistle.^[11]

April 12: 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.^[12]

April 19: Hamilton Academical win promotion to the Scottish Premier League as First Division champions following a 2–0 over Clyde.^[13]

May 10: Clyde retain their First Division status after defeating Airdrie United 3–0 on aggregate in the First Division play-off final.^[14]

May 10: Arbroath are promoted to the Second Division after a 2–1 aggregate win over Stranraer in the Second Division play-off final.^[15] Cowdenbeath, who were beaten by Arbroath in the semi-finals, are relegated to the Third Division.

May 14: Rangers lose 2–0 to Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Cup Final.^[16]

May 22: Celtic win their third successive SPL title after defeating Dundee United 1–0. ^[17]

May 24: Rangers win the Scottish Cup for the 32nd time after defeating Queen of the South 3–2 in the Final.^[18]

May 29: Gretna are demoted to the Third Division after administrator David Elliot could not guareentee 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.^[19]

Transfer deals

Main article: List of Scottish football transfers 2007-08

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

League competitions

Scottish Premier League

Main article: Scottish Premier League 2007-08

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic (C)	38	28	5	5	84	26	+58	89	UEFA Champions League 2008-09 Group stage
2	Rangers	38	27	5	6	84	33	+51	86	UEFA Champions League 2008-09 Second qualifying round
3	Motherwell	38	18	6	14	50	46	+4	60	UEFA Cup 2008-09 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	UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008 Second round
7	Falkirk	38	13	10	15	45	49	−4	49
8	Hearts	38	13	9	16	47	55	−8	48
9	Inverness CT	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	Relegation to First Division

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd goal difference; 3^rd goals scored.
Gretna: 10 points were deducted from Gretna for going into administration.^[59]
Intertoto Cup: The highest-placed team who applied for the Intertoto Cup and not in an automatic UEFA Cup spot was awarded a place in that competition, Falkirk and Hibernian were the applicants for the Intertoto Cup.
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 2007-08

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hamilton Academical (C) (P)	36	23	7	6	62	27	+35	76	Scottish 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	UEFA Cup 2008-09 Second Qualifying Round
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	First Division Play-offs
10	Stirling Albion (R)	36	4	12	20	41	71	−30	24	Second Division

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd goal difference; 3^rd goals scored.
First Division Play-offs: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.
UEFA Cup: Queen of the South qualified for the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round as Scottish Cup runners-up
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 Second Division

Main article: Scottish Second Division 2007-08

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ross County (C) (P)	36	22	7	7	78	44	+34	73	First Division
2	Airdrie United (P)	36	20	6	10	64	36	+28	66	First Division Play-offs
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	43	+20	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	Second Division Play-offs
10	Berwick Rangers (R)	36	3	7	26	40	101	−61	16	Third Division

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd goal difference; 3^rd goals scored.
Second Division Play-offs: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.
First Division Play-offs: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.
UEFA Cup: Queen of the South qualified for the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round as Scottish Cup runners-up.
Airdrie United: won promotion to the First Division after Gretna were relegated to the Third Division.
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 Third Division

Main article: Scottish Third Division 2007-08

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	East Fife (C) (P)	36	28	4	4	77	24	+53	88	Second Division
2	Stranraer (P)	36	19	8	9	65	43	+22	65	Second Division Play-offs
3	Montrose	36	17	8	11	57	35	+22	59
4	Arbroath (P)	36	14	10	12	54	47	+7	52
5	Stenhousemuir	36	13	9	14	49	57	−8	48
6	Elgin City	36	13	8	15	56	69	−13	47
7	Albion Rovers	36	9	10	17	52	69	−17	37
8	Dumbarton	36	9	10	17	31	48	−17	37
9	East Stirlingshire	36	10	4	22	48	71	−23	34
10	Forfar Athletic	36	8	9	19	35	62	−27	33

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd goal difference; 3^rd goals scored.
Second Division Play-offs: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.
Relegation: Had East Stirlingshire finished bottom of the table for what would have been a fifth consecutive time, they would have lost their Scottish Football League status, they finished second bottom.
Stranraer: won promotion to Second Division after Gretna were relegated to the Third Division.
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.

Other honours

Main cup honours

Competition	Winner	score	Runner-up	Report
Scottish Cup 2007–08	Rangers	3 – 2	Queen of the South	Wikipedia article
League Cup 2007–08	Rangers	2 – 2 (a.e.t.) (3 – 2 pen.)	Dundee United	Wikipedia article
Challenge Cup 2007–08	St. Johnstone	3 – 2	Dunfermline Athletic	Wikipedia article
Youth Cup	Rangers	3 – 1 (a.e.t)	Celtic	The Herald
Junior Cup	Bathgate Thistle	2 – 1	Cumnock Juniors	The Scotsman

Non-league honours

Senior

Competition	Winner
Highland League	Cove Rangers
Highland League Cup	Inverurie Loco Works
East of Scotland Premier Division	Whitehill Welfare
East of Scotland First Division	Heriot-Watt University
East of Scotland King Cup
East of Scotland League Cup	Spartans
South of Scotland League	Crichton
South of Scotland League Cup	St. Cuthbert Wanderers
SFA North Challenge Cup	Huntly
SFA South Challenge Cup	Annan Athletic

Junior

West Region

Competition	Winner
Premier League	Pollok
Division One	Kirkintilloch Rob Roy
Ayrshire League	Hurlford United
Central League Division One	Port Glasgow
Central League Division Two	Vale of Leven

Competition	Winner
Evening Times Cup	Pollok
West of Scotland Cup	Kilbirnie Ladeside
Central League Cup	Arthurlie
Central Sectional League Cup	Rutherglen Glencairn
Ayrshire League Cup	Cumnock Juniors
Ayrshire Sectional League Cup	Auchinleck Talbot
North Ayrshire Cup	Ardrossan Winton Rovers
South Ayrshire Cup	Maybole

East Region

Competition	Winner
Super League	Lochee United
Premier League	Bo'ness United
North Division	Blairgowrie
Central Division	Ballingry Rovers
South Division	Fauldhouse United

North Region

Competition	Winner
Premier League	Banks O'Dee
Division One	Banchory St. Ternan
Division Two	Lossiemouth United

Individual honours

PFA Scotland awards

Award	Winner	Team
Players' Player of the Year	Aiden McGeady	Celtic
Young Player of the Year	Aiden McGeady	Celtic
Manager of the Year	Billy Reid	Hamilton Academical

SFWA awards

Award	Winner	Team
Footballer of the Year	Carlos Cuellar	Rangers
Young Player of the Year	Steven Fletcher	Hibernian
Manager of the Year	Walter Smith	Rangers

Monthly awards

Main articles: Scottish Premier League monthly awards and Scottish Football League monthly awards

Month	SPL				SFA
Month	Manager	Player	Young player	Rising star	Div 1 manager	Div 2 manager	Div 3 manager	Player	Young player
August	Walter Smith (Rangers)	Carlos Cuéllar (Rangers)	Steven Fletcher (Hibernian)	Mark Staunton (Falkirk)	Billy Reid (Hamilton Academical)	Billy Stark (Queen's Park)	Gordon Wylde (East Stirlingshire)	Richard Offiong (Hamilton Academical)	Kevin McDonald (Dundee)
September	John Collins (Hibernian)	Scott McDonald (Celtic)	Andrew Driver (Hearts)	Scott Anson (Kilmarnock)	Owen Coyle (St. Johnstone)	Steve Paterson (Peterhead)	John McGlashan (Arbroath)	Ryan Stevenson (Ayr United)	James McArthur (Hamilton Academical)
October	Craig Levein (Dundee United)	Lee Wilkie (Dundee United)	Ross McCormack (Motherwell)	Jack Wilson (Hibernian)	Billy Reid (Hamilton Academical)	Alan Maitland (Alloa Athletic)	David Baikie (East Fife)	Bryn Halliwell (Hamilton Academical)	James McCarthy (Hamilton Academical)
November	Mark McGhee (Motherwell)	Aiden McGeady (Celtic)	Ross McCormack (Motherwell)	Liam Cusack (Gretna)	Alex Rae (Dundee)	Derek Adams (Ross County)	David Baikie (East Fife)	Kenny Deuchar (St. Johnstone)	Scott Fox (East Fife)
December	Craig Brewster (Inverness CT)	Marius Niculae (Inverness CT)	Scott Arfield (Falkirk)	—	Jim McIntyre (Dunfermline Athletic)	Michael O'Neill (Brechin City)	Gerry Britton (Stranraer)	Allan Russell (Airdrie United)	Kevin McDonald (Dundee)
January	Walter Smith (Rangers)	Barry Robson (Dundee United)	Danny Grainger (Dundee United)	—	Gordon Chisholm (Queen of the South)	Derek Adams (Ross County)	David Baikie (East Fife)	Andrew Barrowman (Ross County)	Andy Jackson (St. Johnstone)
February	Mixu Paatelainen (Hibernian)	Aiden McGeady (Celtic)	Steven Fletcher (Hibernian)	Ryan Strachan (Aberdeen)	Gordon Chisholm (Queen of the South)	Neale Cooper (Peterhead)	Derek Ferguson (Stranraer)	Mickaël Antoine-Curier (Dundee)	Graham Dorrans (Livingston)
March	Walter Smith (Rangers)	Darren Barr (Falkirk)	Garry Kenneth (Dundee United)	Ryan Crighton (St. Mirren)	Ian McCall (Partick Thistle)	Brian Reid (Ayr United)	Robbie Williamson (Elgin City)	Jonathan Tuffey (Partick Thistle)	Leigh Griffiths (Livingston)
April	Gordon Strachan (Celtic)	Barry Robson (Celtic)	Gary Glen (Hearts)	—	Gordon Chisholm (Queen of the South)	Alan Maitland (Alloa Athletic)	Derek Ferguson (Stranraer)	Mark McLaughlin (Hamilton Academical)	Brian Easton (Hamilton Academical)

Scottish clubs in Europe

Summary

Club	Competition(s)	Final round	Coef.
Celtic	UEFA Champions League	Round of 16	11.00
Rangers	UEFA Champions League UEFA Cup	Group stage Runner

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