1999–2000 Scottish Premier League


The 1999–2000 Scottish Premier League was the second season of the Scottish Premier League, the top level of football in Scotland. It began in on 31 July 1999 and concluded on 21 May 2000.
Rangers, the defending champions, retained their title on 22 April 2000, after their nearest challengers Celtic drew 1–1 with Hibernian.

Teams

A total of 10 teams competed in the league, the top 9 sides from the 1998–99 Scottish Premier League and the champions of the 1998–99 Scottish First Division.
Hibernian were promoted to the league after winning the 1998–99 First Division by a 23 point margin. They replaced Dunfermline Athletic who were relegated after a three-season stint in the top flight, finishing bottom of the league the previous season.

Stadia and locations

AberdeenCelticDundee
Pittodrie StadiumCeltic ParkDens Park
Capacity: 20,866Capacity: 60,411Capacity: 11,506
Dundee UnitedHeart of MidlothianHibernian
Tannadice ParkTynecastle ParkEaster Road
Capacity: 14,223Capacity: 17,420Capacity: 16,531
KilmarnockMotherwell-
Rugby ParkFir Park-
Capacity: 17,889Capacity: 13,677-
-
RangersSt Johnstone-
Ibrox StadiumMcDiarmid Park-
Capacity: 50,817Capacity: 10,696-
-

Personnel and kits

TeamManagerKit manufacturerKit sponsor
Aberdeen Ebbe SkovdahlPumaAtlantic Telecom
Celtic Kenny Dalglish Umbrontl:
Dundee Jocky ScottXaraCeramic Tile Warehouse
Dundee United Paul SturrockOlympic SportsTelewest
Heart of Midlothian Jim JefferiesOlympic SportsStrongbow
Hibernian Alex McLeishLe Coq SportifCarlsberg
Kilmarnock Bobby WilliamsonPumaJJB Sports
Motherwell Billy DaviesXaraMotorola
Rangers Dick AdvocaatNikentl:
St Johnstone Sandy ClarkXaraScottish Hydro Electric

Managerial changes

Overview

The 1999–2000 Scottish Premier League was won by Rangers for the second successive year, finishing 21 points ahead of nearest rivals Celtic. As champions, Rangers qualified for the Champions League while Celtic and third-placed Hearts qualified for the UEFA Cup.
As the SPL was being expanded to 12 teams, the bottom finishing side were to face the second and third finishing sides from the First Division, in a three team play-off. However, due to Falkirk's stadium having fewer than the SPL minimum required 10,000 seats, the playoff did not take place. Therefore, bottom-placed Aberdeen were spared relegation and Dunfermline were promoted automatically as the First Division runner-up. Aberdeen appeared in both the League Cup and Scottish Cup final, but lost both to Celtic and Rangers, respectively. However, as Scottish Cup runners-up, they also qualified for the following season's UEFA Cup.
Celtic entered the season under new management with former Liverpool player John Barnes taking charge in June 1999. It proved to be a brief and unsuccessful reign, however, after being sacked in February 2000, ten points behind Rangers in the league, and in the wake of a Scottish Cup defeat to First Division Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
On 20 October 1999, Aberdeen and Motherwell played out a match which finished in a 6–5 victory for Aberdeen at Fir Park. This was the record for the highest-scoring match in Scottish Premier League history, until Motherwell and Hibernian played out a 6–6 draw in May 2010, also at Fir Park.
Rangers secured the league title on 22 April 2000, after Celtic drew 1–1 with Hibernian at Celtic Park, leaving Celtic with a 17-point deficit with only 5 matches left to play.

League table

Results

Matches 1–18

During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice.

Matches 19–36

During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team a further two times.

Top scorers

PlayerClubGoals
Mark VidukaCeltic25
Jörg AlbertzRangers17
Rod WallaceRangers16
Gary McSweganHearts13
Willie FalconerDundee12
Mark BurchillCeltic11
Kenny MillerHibernian11
John SpencerMotherwell11
Billy DoddsRangers10
Nathan LowndesSt Johnstone10
Michael MolsRangers9
Tommy JohnsonCeltic9

Source:

Attendances

The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 1999/00 season are shown below:
TeamAverage
Celtic54,440
Rangers48,116
Hearts14,246
Aberdeen12,813
Hibernian11,870
Kilmarnock9,419
Dundee United8,186
Motherwell7,297
Dundee6,938
St Johnstone6,117

Source: