2005–06_in_Scottish_football

2005–06 in Scottish football

2005–06 in Scottish football

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The 2005–06 season was the 109th season of competitive football in Scotland. [1]

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

Notable events

2005

  • 1 June: Gordon Strachan officially takes charge of Celtic after the resignation of Martin O'Neill[2]
  • 1 June: Former Celtic player Paul Lambert officially takes charge of Livingston following the resignation of Richard Gough.
  • 16 June: The SPL fine Livingston £15,000 for breaching transfer regulations after it emerged that amateur signing from last season, Hassan Kachloul, was paid money during his time at the club.
  • 30 June: George Burley is confirmed as the new manager of Hearts after days of discussions with Chief Executive Phil Anderton and major shareholder Vladimir Romanov.
  • 27 July: Celtic manager Gordon Strachan is under pressure after his first match in charge as Celtic are beaten 5–0 away to Artmedia Bratislava in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round match, all but ending their European hopes for the season.[3]
  • 2 August: Celtic crash out of Europe, despite beating Artmedia Bratislava 4–0 in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier.[4]
  • 7 August: Hearts demonstrate their SPL title-challenge credentials as they claim a 4–0 home victory over local rivals Hibernian.[5]
  • 22 October: Despite their unbeaten start to the SPL season, Hearts Manager George Burley departs from his position just hours before their league match with Dunfermline. A club statement after the game declared that the departure of Burley had been mutually agreed and that there were "irreconcilable differences" between him and the Hearts board. Throughout his short spell in charge rumours persisted about an uneasy relationship between Burley and major shareholder Vladimir Romanov with Romanov having bought players without the consent of the Manager.[6]
  • 6 November: St Mirren win the first trophy of the season beating Hamilton Academical 2–1 in the Challenge Cup final.[7]
  • 8 November: Graham Rix is appointed as Hearts new head coach.[8]
  • 14 November: Rangers Chairman David Murray gives his short-term backing to under-fire Manager Alex McLeish despite recent poor results.[9]
  • 6 December: Rangers become first Scottish club to reach the Champions League knock-out stages after drawing 1–1 with Inter Milan at Ibrox.

2006

  • 10 January: Gordon Chisholm is sacked as Manager of Dundee United.[10]
  • 13 January: Dundee United appoint Inverness Manager Craig Brewster at the helm after the sacking of Gordon Chisholm.[11]
  • 19 January: Wolves and Scotland striker Kenny Miller signs a pre-contract agreement to play for Celtic from next season. The former Rangers player will become only the third man to play for both Old Firm clubs since the Second World War.
  • 27 January: Inverness coach and former player Charlie Christie is appointed as the club's new manager.
  • 8 February: Hearts principal shareholder Vladimir Romanov agrees to a meeting requested by the Hearts players, following speculation that Romanov had selected the team in the previous two matches, Manager Graham Rix meanwhile, refused to confirm or deny the speculation.
  • 9 February: Rangers Chairman David Murray confirms that manager Alex McLeish will leave the club at the end of the current season. He also stated that an announcement regarding a new manager and significant levels of investment into the club will be made in March.[12]
  • 11 February: Livingston Manager Paul Lambert resigns after defeat at home to Dunfermline left them six points adrift at the bottom of the table having taken just 12 points from 26 games.[13]
  • 15 February: Livingston appoint former player John Robertson as their new Manager.
  • 8 March: Rangers Chairman David Murray's announces a 10-year licence agreement with sports retailer JJB Sports. Rangers will net an initial £18m and a minimum of £3m each year on royalty fees for the duration of the licence.[14]
  • 11 March: Rangers confirm that former Olympique Lyonnais manager Paul Le Guen will succeed Alex McLeish at the start of the 2006–07 season, signing a three-year contract.
  • 13 March: Former Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone dies at the age of 61 after a long battle with motor neurone disease.[15]
  • 19 March: Celtic win the League Cup, beating Dunfermline 3–0 at Hampden Park.[16]
  • 23 March: Hearts sack head coach Graham Rix after just 4 months in charge. Valdas Ivanauskas was appointed as head coach for the interim[17]
  • 25 March: Gretna win the Second Division and are promoted to the First Division with their second successive promotion.[18]
  • 5 April: Celtic win the SPL after beating 2nd placed Hearts 1–0 at Celtic Park.[19]
  • 16 April: St Mirren win promotion to the SPL after a 2–1 win over Dundee.[20]
  • 29 April: Livingston are relegated from the SPL after a 1–0 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.[21] Meanwhile, Cowdenbeath clinch the Third Division title after beating Elgin City 2–1.[22]
  • 3 May: Hearts clinch second place and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers with a 1–0 home win over Aberdeen. This marks the first time since the 1994–95 season that the Old Firm clubs have failed to finish in the top two places in the SPL. Hearts' win also ensures that Gretna will play European football next season in the UEFA Cup.
  • 13 May: Hearts win the Scottish Cup 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw with Second Division champions Gretna.[23]

Major transfer deals

2005

2006

League competitions

Scottish Premier League

Main article: 2005–06 Scottish Premier League

The Scottish Premier League 2005–06 season finished in May 2006 with Celtic as champions. Livingston were relegated to the First Division and First Division winners St Mirren were promoted. For the first time in 11 years, when Celtic finished fourth behind Rangers, Motherwell and Hibernian, the Old Firm were separated with Rangers finishing third behind Hearts. Kris Boyd was the top scorer with 32 goals (15 for Kilmarnock and 17 for Rangers). Attendances went up to 3.7 million, the highest figure in top-flight Scottish football since the 1960s.

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (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 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup by being the highest place applicant for the competition.

Scottish First Division

Main article: 2005–06 Scottish First Division
More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: "2005-2006 First Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Scottish Second Division

Main article: 2005–06 Scottish Second Division
More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: "2005-2006 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. As Heart of Midlothian, the Scottish Cup winners, qualified for the Champions League via their league position, the place in the UEFA Cup was passed to Gretna, the cup runner-up.
  2. 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 2006–07 First Division, Stranraer were relegated and Partick Thistle were promoted.
  3. 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 2006–07 Second Division, Alloa Athletic won the play-off to stay in the division.

Scottish Third Division

Main article: 2005–06 Scottish Third Division
More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams will be entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 9th placed team. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2006–07 Second Division, Alloa Athletic won the play-off to stay in the division.

Other honours

Cup honours

Hearts became the first non-Old Firm club to win the Scottish Cup since they themselves lifted the trophy in 1998. Second Division side Gretna became the first club in history from the third-tier of Scottish football to reach the final. Celtic meanwhile lifted the League Cup in what was manager Gordon Strachan's first trophy as manager. St Mirren were winners of the Challenge Cup in a season that would eventually see them promoted to the SPL. Auchinleck Talbot lifted the Junior Cup.

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Non-league honours

Senior honours

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Junior honours

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Individual honours

SPFA awards

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SFWA awards

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Scottish clubs in Europe

Summary

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Average coefficient – 4.250

Rangers

More information Date, Venue ...

Celtic

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Hibernian

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Dundee United

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Scotland national team

Main article: Scotland national football team 2000–19 results

Scotland failed in their attempt to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, eventually finishing third in their group. However, significant improvement was shown in results with just two defeats from nine matches, compared with four defeats from nine during the previous season. Wins against Moldova and Norway and a draw at home to Italy had raised hopes that Scotland could gain second place behind Italy and therefore enter the play-offs. However a 1–0 defeat at home to Belarus ended their hopes of qualification. They finished the season strongly, however, with a victory over Slovenia and also lifted the Kirin Cup — beating Bulgaria and drawing with hosts Japan.

More information Date, Venue ...
Key
  • (A) = Away match
  • (H) = Home match
  • WCQ5 = World Cup Qualifying – Group 5

Deaths

Notes

  1. The score of the Scottish team is shown first.
  2. Scotland's score is shown first.

References

  1. [1]
    "2005/06 - The Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  2. [2]
    "Strachan in for O'Neill at Celtic". BBC Sport website. 25 May 2005.
  3. [3]
    "Artmedia 5–0 Celtic". BBC Sport website. 27 July 2005.
  4. [4]
    "Celtic 4–0 Artmedia Bratislava". BBC Sport website. 2 August 2005.
  5. [5]
    "Hearts 4–0 Hibernian". BBC Sport website. 7 August 2005.
  6. [6]
    "Burley in shock exit from Hearts". BBC Sport website. 22 October 2005.
  7. [7]
    "St Mirren 2–1 Hamilton Accies". BBC Sport website. 6 November 2005.
  8. [8]
    "Hearts unveil Rix as head coach". BBC Sport website. 8 November 2005.
  9. [9]
    "McLeish given short-term backing". BBC Sport website. 14 November 2005.
  10. [10]
    "Dundee United sack boss Chisholm". BBC Sport website. 10 January 2006.
  11. [11]
    "Brewster takes over at Tannadice". BBC Sport website. 13 January 2006.
  12. [12]
    "McLeish to leave Rangers in May". BBC Sport website. 9 February 2006.
  13. [13]
    "Lambert stands down as Livi boss". BBC Sport website. 11 February 2006.
  14. [14]
    "Rangers reveal £48m retail deal". BBC Sport website. 8 March 2006.
  15. [15]
    "Celtic great Johnstone dies at 61". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 March 2006. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  16. [16]
    "Dunfermline 0–3 Celtic". BBC Sport website. 19 March 2006.
  17. [17]
    "Rix sacked as Hearts head coach". BBC Sport website. 22 March 2006.
  18. [18]
    "Gretna 2–1 Alloa Athletic". BBC Sport website. 25 March 2006.
  19. [19]
    "Celtic 1–0 Hearts". BBC Sport website. 5 April 2006.
  20. [20]
    "St Mirren 2–1 Dundee". BBC Sport website. 15 April 2006.
  21. [21]
    "Livingston 0–1 Inverness CT". BBC Sport website. 29 April 2006.
  22. [22]
    "Cowdenbeath 2–1 Elgin City". BBC Sport website. 29 April 2006.
  23. [23]
    "Hearts 1–1 Gretna (4–2 on pens". BBC Sport website. 13 May 2006.
  24. [24]
    "The original 'Broon from Troon'". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  25. [25]
    "Football legend George Best dies". BBC News. BBC. 25 November 2005. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  26. [26]
    "Hearts mourn the death of Mercer". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 January 2006. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  27. [27]
    "Ex-Scotland manager Prentice dies". BBC Sport. 10 February 2006. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
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