2007–08 Scottish Premier League

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.[1] It was the first season under the sponsorship of the Clydesdale Bank.

Scottish Premier League

Season	2007–08
Dates	4 August 2007 – 22 May 2008
Champions	Celtic
Relegated	Gretna
Champions League	Celtic Rangers
UEFA Cup	Motherwell
Intertoto Cup	Hibernian
Matches played	228
Goals scored	610 (2.68 per match)
Top goalscorer	Scott McDonald (25)
Biggest home win	Rangers 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 win	Aberdeen 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 attendance	60,000, Celtic 0–0 Kilmarnock (5 August)
Lowest attendance	431, Gretna 1–2 Inverness CT (5 April)
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

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 points (86 apiece). 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 win or draw their final match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie and hope that Celtic at least drew or lost respectively, or if both teams won, then Rangers would need need to better Celtic's goal difference by 4 or more. As it turned out, Celtic achieved a 1–0 victory 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

• Gretna

Relegated from Premier League to First Division

• Dunfermline Athletic

Stadia and locations

Aberdeen	Celtic	Dundee United	Falkirk
Pittodrie Stadium	Celtic Park	Tannadice Park	Falkirk Stadium
Capacity: 20,866[2]	Capacity: 60,411[3]	Capacity: 14,223[4]	Capacity: 7,937[5]
Gretna	Aberdeen Dundee United Falkirk Gretna Hearts Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Rangers St Mirren Celtic Motherwell Location of teams in 2007–08 Scottish Premier League		Heart of Midlothian
Fir Park, Motherwell[6]			Tynecastle Park
Capacity: 13,677[7]			Capacity: 17,420[8]
Hibernian			Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Easter Road			Caledonian Stadium
Capacity: 16,531[9]			Capacity: 7,500[10]
Kilmarnock	Motherwell	Rangers	St Mirren
Rugby Park	Fir Park	Ibrox Stadium	Love Street
Capacity: 17,889[11]	Capacity: 13,677[12]	Capacity: 50,817[13]	Capacity: 10,800[14]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Kit sponsor
Aberdeen	Jimmy Calderwood	Nike	Apex Tubulars
Celtic	Gordon Strachan	Nike	Carling
Dundee United	Craig Levein	hummel	Anglian Windows
Falkirk	John Hughes	Lotto	Central Demolition
Gretna	Mick Wadsworth (caretaker)	Crest Teamwear	Subway
Heart of Midlothian	Stephen Frail (caretaker)	Umbro	Ukio Bankas
Hibernian	Mixu Paatelainen	Le Coq Sportif	Whyte and Mackay
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Craig Brewster	Erreà	Flybe
Kilmarnock	Jim Jefferies	Lotto	www.smallworldmedia.com
Motherwell	Mark McGhee	Bukta	Anglian Home Improvements
Rangers	Walter Smith	Umbro	Carling
St Mirren	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	Maurice Malpas	1 June 2007[15]	Sacked	Pre-season	Mark McGhee	18 June 2007[16]
Gretna	Rowan Alexander	14 June 2007[17]	Sacked		Davie Irons	18 July 2007[18]
Inverness	Charlie Christie	20 August 2007[19]	Resigned	12th	Craig Brewster	27 August 2007[20]
Hibernian	John Collins	20 December 2007[21]	Resigned	5th	Mixu Paatelainen	10 January 2008[22]
Hearts	Anatoliy Korobochka	1 January 2008[23]	Sacked	10th	Stephen Frail (caretaker)	1 January 2008
Gretna	Davie Irons	19 February 2008[24]	Signed by Greenock Morton	12th	Mick Wadsworth (caretaker)	19 February 2008[24]

Notable events

• 29 December: Thirty-five-year-old Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell collapsed on the pitch at Fir Park during a match against Dundee United, and died later that evening.[25]
• 29 March: Gretna were relegated after losing 2–0 to St Mirren at Love Street.[26]
• 19 April: Hamilton Academical won promotion to the Scottish Premier League as First Division champions following a 2–0 over Clyde.[27]
• 22 May: Celtic won their third successive SPL title after defeating Dundee United 1–0.[28]
• 29 May: Gretna were demoted to the Third Division after administrator David Elliot could not guarantee the Football League that the club would fulfil its fixtures next season.[29]
• 2 June: Gretna resigned from the Scottish Football League because the administrator concluded that the club could not continue to run as a business.[30]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1	Celtic	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	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
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.

Top six Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN HIB MOT RAN Aberdeen 2–1 2–1 2–0 Celtic 1–0 2–0 3–2 Dundee United 0–1 1–1 Hibernian 0–2 0–0 Motherwell 2–1 1–2 2–2 Rangers 3–1 1–0 Updated to match(es) played on 7 May. Source: BBC Sport Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom six Home \ Away FAL GRT HOM INV KIL STM Falkirk 0–0 2–1 2–1 Gretna 1–0 Heart of Midlothian 1–0 0–2 3–2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 6–1 3–0 0–0 Kilmarnock 2–1 1–1 St Mirren 1–0 0–0 1–0 Source: BBC Sport Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Goals

Top scorers

Celtic's Scott McDonald was the top goalscorer during season 2007–08.

Player	Goals	Club
Scott McDonald	25	Celtic
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink	15	Celtic
Kris Boyd	14	Rangers
Chris Porter		Motherwell
Steven Fletcher	13	Hibernian
Noel Hunt		Dundee United
Barry Robson		Dundee United/Celtic
David Clarkson	12	Motherwell
Jean-Claude Darcheville		Rangers
Lee Miller		Aberdeen
Colin Nish	11	Kilmarnock/Hibernian
Daniel Cousin	10	Rangers
Nacho Novo		Rangers
Don Cowie	9	Inverness CT
Michael Higdon	8	Falkirk

Hat-tricks

Scorer	For	Against	Date
Scott McDonald	Celtic	Dundee United	29 September 2007
Clayton Donaldson	Hibernian	Kilmarnock	29 September 2007
Scott McDonald	Celtic	Motherwell	27 October 2007
Aiden McGeady	Celtic	Falkirk	11 December 2007
Barry Robson	Dundee United	Heart of Midlothian	2 January 2008
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
Motherwell^1	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
Gretna^1	Fir Park	13,742	431	6,137	2,283

As of 22 May 2008[31]

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.[32]

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Motherwell	Maurice Malpas	Sacked	18 June 2007	Mark McGhee	1 June 2007
Gretna	Andy Smith	Health	4 August 2007	Davie Irons	18 July 2007
Heart of Midlothian	Valdas Ivanauskas	Mutual consent		Stephen Frail & Anatoly Korobochka	30 July 2007
Inverness CT	Charlie Christie	Resigned	August 2007	Craig Brewster	27 August 2007
Hibernian	John Collins	Resigned	20 December 2007	Mixu Paatelainen	10 January 2008
Gretna	Davie Irons	Resigned	19 February 2008	Mick Wadsworth	19 February
Heart of Midlothian	Stephen Frail[33]	Mutual Consent	27 May 2008	Csaba László	11 July[34]

Awards

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Monthly awards

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

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards

Award	Recipient
Player of the Season	Carlos Cuéllar (Rangers)
Manager of the Season	Walter Smith (Rangers)
Young Player of the Season	Aiden McGeady (Celtic)
Goal of the Season	Willo Flood (Dundee United v St Mirren)
Under-19 League Player of the Season	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)

[35]

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.

Transfer deals

External links

• Scottish Premier League 2007–08 on BBC Sport: News - Recent results - Upcoming fixtures - Live Scores - Current standings
• Official Premier League site
• Scottish Premier League Kits

References

1. SPL prepares for season extension
2. "Aberdeen Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
3. "Celtic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
4. "Dundee United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
5. "Falkirk Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
6. Gretna played their home matches at Motherwell's Fir Park as their home ground, Raydale Park, did not meet the league's minimum standards. They also played one match against Celtic at Livingston's Almondvale Stadium as the pitch at Fir Park was considered unplayable.
7. "Motherwell Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
8. "Heart of Midlothian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
9. "Hibernian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
10. "Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
11. "Kilmarnock Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
12. "Motherwell Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
13. "Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 4 November 2015. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
14. "St Mirren Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 4 November 2015. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
15. "Malpas leaves post at Motherwell". BBC Sport. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
16. "McGhee named new Motherwell boss". BBC Sport. 18 June 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
17. "No return for Alexander at Gretna". BBC Sport. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
18. "Irons will lead Gretna into SPL". BBC Sport. 18 July 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
19. "Christie quits as Inverness boss". BBC Sport. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
20. "Craig Brewster returns to Inverness". The Daily Telegraph. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
21. "Collins stuns Hibernian with shock resignation". The Guardian. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
22. "Hibs appoint Paatelainen". World Soccer. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
23. "Hearts to search for new manager". BBC Sport. 1 January 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
24. "Davie Irons resigns as Gretna manager and heads to Morton". The Scotsman. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
25. Motherwell captain O'Donnell dies BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 December 2007
26. "St Mirren 2-0 Gretna". BBC Sport. 29 March 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
27. "Hamilton Accies 2-0 Clyde". BBC Sport. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2008.
28. "Dundee United 0-1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 22 May 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
29. "Gretna demoted to Division Three". BBC Sport. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
30. "Gretna resign from Scottish Football League". The Times. London. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7328019.stm
32. "Gretna return 'home' to Fir Park". BBC Sport. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
33. "Hearts confirm Frail's departure". BBC Sport. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
34. "Hearts appoint Laszlo as manager". BBC Sport. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
35. "Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards Season 2007/08". Archived from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2010.