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2005–06 in Scottish football

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Football in Scotland
Season2005–06
← 2004–05 Scotland 2006–07 →
2005–06 in Scottish football
Premier League champions
Celtic
First Division champions
St Mirren
Second Division champions
Gretna
Third Division champions
Cowdenbeath
Scottish Cup winners
Heart of Midlothian
League Cup winners
Celtic
Challenge Cup winners
St Mirren
Junior Cup winners
Auchinleck Talbot
Teams in Europe
Celtic, Dundee United, Hibernian, Rangers
Scotland national team
2006 World Cup qualification, Kirin Cup

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

Notable events

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2005

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  • 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

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  • 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

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2005

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2006

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League competitions

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Scottish Premier League

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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.

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
1 Celtic (C) 38 28 7 3 93 37 +56 91 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Heart of Midlothian 38 22 8 8 71 31 +40 74 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3 Rangers 38 21 10 7 67 37 +30 73 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Hibernian 38 17 5 16 61 56 +5 56 Qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round[b]
5 Kilmarnock 38 15 10 13 63 64 −1 55
6 Aberdeen 38 13 15 10 46 40 +6 54
7 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 38 15 13 10 51 38 +13 58
8 Motherwell 38 13 10 15 55 61 −6 49
9 Dundee United 38 7 12 19 41 66 −25 33
10 Falkirk 38 8 9 21 35 64 −29 33
11 Dunfermline Athletic 38 8 9 21 33 68 −35 33
12 Livingston (R) 38 4 6 28 25 79 −54 18 Relegation to the Scottish First Division
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

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Main article: 2005–06 Scottish First Division
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 St Mirren (C, P) 36 23 7 6 52 28 +24 76 Promotion to the Premier League
2 St Johnstone 36 18 12 6 59 34 +25 66
3 Hamilton Academical 36 15 14 7 53 39 +14 59
4 Ross County 36 14 14 8 47 40 +7 56
5 Clyde 36 15 10 11 54 42 +12 55
6 Airdrie United 36 11 12 13 57 43 +14 45
7 Dundee 36 9 16 11 43 50 −7 43
8 Queen of the South 36 7 12 17 31 54 −23 33
9 Stranraer (R) 36 5 14 17 33 53 −20 29 Qualification for the First Division Play-offs
10 Brechin City (R) 36 2 11 23 28 74 −46 17 Relegation to the Second Division
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

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Main article: 2005–06 Scottish Second Division
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Gretna (C, P) 36 28 4 4 97 30 +67 88 Promotion to the 2006–07 First Division and
qualification for UEFA Cup second qualifying round[a]
2 Greenock Morton 36 21 7 8 58 33 +25 70 Qualification for the First Division Play-offs[b]
3 Peterhead 36 17 6 13 53 47 +6 57
4 Partick Thistle (P) 36 16 9 11 57 56 +1 57
5 Stirling Albion 36 15 6 15 54 63 −9 51
6 Ayr United 36 10 12 14 56 61 −5 42
7 Raith Rovers 36 11 9 16 44 54 −10 42
8 Forfar Athletic 36 12 4 20 44 55 −11 40
9 Alloa Athletic 36 8 8 20 36 77 −41 32 Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs[c]
10 Dumbarton (R) 36 7 5 24 40 63 −23 26 Relegation to the 2006–07 Third Division
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

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Main article: 2005–06 Scottish Third Division
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Cowdenbeath (C, P) 36 24 4 8 81 34 +47 76 Promotion to the Second Division
2 Berwick Rangers 36 23 7 6 54 27 +27 76 Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs[a]
3 Stenhousemuir 36 23 4 9 78 38 +40 73
4 Arbroath 36 16 7 13 57 47 +10 55
5 Elgin City 36 15 7 14 55 58 −3 52
6 Queen's Park 36 13 12 11 47 42 +5 51
7 East Fife 36 13 4 19 48 64 −16 43
8 Albion Rovers 36 7 8 21 39 60 −21 29
9 Montrose 36 6 10 20 31 59 −28 28
10 East Stirlingshire 36 6 5 25 28 89 −61 23
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

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Cup honours

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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.

Competition Winner Score Runner-up Report
Scottish Cup 2005–06 Heart of Midlothian 1 – 1
(4 – 2 pen.) 		Gretna Wikipedia article
League Cup 2005–06 Celtic 3–0 Dunfermline Athletic Wikipedia article
Challenge Cup 2005–06 St Mirren 2–1 Hamilton Academical Wikipedia article
Youth Cup Celtic 3–1 Heart of Midlothian
Junior Cup Auchinleck Talbot 2–1 Bathgate Thistle BBC Sport

Non-league honours

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Senior honours

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Competition Winner
Highland League 2005–06 Deveronvale
East of Scotland League Edinburgh City
South of Scotland League Threave Rovers

Junior honours

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Competition Winner
West Region Auchinleck Talbot
East Region Tayport
North Region Culter

Individual honours

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SPFA awards

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Award Winner Club
Players' Player of the Year Scotland Shaun Maloney Celtic
Young Player of the Year Scotland Shaun Maloney Celtic

SFWA awards

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Award Winner Club
Footballer of the Year Scotland Craig Gordon Heart of Midlothian
Young player of the Year Scotland Steven Naismith Kilmarnock
Manager of the Year Scotland Gordon Strachan Celtic

Scottish clubs in Europe

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Summary

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Club Competition Final round Coef.
Rangers UEFA Champions League Round of 16 14.00
Celtic UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round 1.00
Hibernian UEFA Cup First round 1.00
Dundee United UEFA Cup Second qualifying round 1.00

Average coefficient – 4.250

Rangers

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Date Venue Opponents Score[a] Rangers scorer(s) Reports
Champions League Third qualifying round
9 August GSP, Nicosia (A) Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta 2–1 Nacho Novo, Fernando Ricksen BBC Sport, UEFA.com
24 August Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta 2–0 Thomas Buffel, Dado Pršo BBC Sport, UEFA.com
Champions League Group stage
13 September Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) Portugal FC Porto 3–2 Peter Løvenkrands, Dado Pršo, Sotirios Kyrgiakos BBC Sport, UEFA.com
28 September San Siro, Milan (A) Italy Internazionale 0–1 BBC Sport, UEFA.com
19 October Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) Slovakia Artmedia Bratislava 0–0 BBC Sport, UEFA.com
1 November Tehelné pole, Bratislava (A) Slovakia Artmedia Bratislava 2–2 Dado Pršo, Steven Thompson BBC Sport, UEFA.com
23 November Estádio do Dragão, Porto (A) Portugal FC Porto 1–1 Ross McCormack BBC Sport, UEFA.com
6 December Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) Italy Internazionale 1–1 Peter Løvenkrands BBC Sport, UEFA.com
Champions League Round of 16
22 February Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (H) Spain Villarreal 2–2 Peter Løvenkrands, Peña (o.g.) BBC Sport, UEFA.com
7 March El Madrigal, Vila-real (A) Spain Villarreal 1–1 Peter Løvenkrands BBC Sport, UEFA.com

Celtic

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Date Venue Opponents Score[a] Celtic scorer(s) Reports
Champions League Second qualifying round
27 July Tehelné pole, Bratislava (A) Slovakia Artmedia Bratislava 0–5 BBC Sport, UEFA.com
2 August Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) Slovakia Artmedia Bratislava 4–0 Alan Thompson (pen.), John Hartson, Stephen McManus,
Craig Beattie 		BBC Sport, UEFA.com

Hibernian

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Date Venue Opponents Score[a] Hibernian scorer(s) Report
UEFA Cup First round
15 September Easter Road, Edinburgh (H) Ukraine Dnipro 0–0 BBC Sport
29 September Meteor Stadium, Dnipropetrovsk (A) Ukraine Dnipro 1–5 Derek Riordan BBC Sport

Dundee United

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Date Venue Opponents Score[a] Dundee United scorer(s) Report
UEFA Cup Second qualifying round
11 August Saviniemi, Anjalankoski (A) Finland MyPa 0–0 BBC Sport
25 August Tannadice Park, Dundee (H) Finland MyPa 2–2 Mark Kerr, Collin Samuel BBC Sport

Scotland national team

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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.

Date Venue Opponents Score[b] Competition Scotland scorer(s) Report
17 August Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadion, Graz (A)  Austria 2–2 Friendly Kenny Miller, Garry O'Connor BBC Sport
3 September Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Italy 1–1 WCQ5 Kenny Miller BBC Sport
7 September Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo (A)  Norway 2–1 WCQ5 Kenny Miller (2) BBC Sport
8 October Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Belarus 0–1 WCQ5 BBC Sport
12 October Arena Petrol, Celje (A)  Slovenia 3–0 WCQ5 Darren Fletcher, James McFadden, Paul Hartley BBC Sport
12 November Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  United States 1–1 Friendly Andy Webster BBC Sport
1 March Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)   Switzerland 1–3 Friendly Kenny Miller BBC Sport
11 May Kobe Wing Stadium, Kobe (N)  Bulgaria 5–1 Kirin Cup Kris Boyd (2), Chris Burke (2), James McFadden BBC Sport
13 May Saitama Stadium, Tokyo (A)  Japan 0–0 Kirin Cup BBC Sport
Key
  • (A) = Away match
  • (H) = Home match
  • WCQ5 = World Cup Qualifying – Group 5

Deaths

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d The score of the Scottish team is shown first.
  2. ^ Scotland's score is shown first.

References

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