2005-06 in Scottish football
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "2005-06_in_Scottish_football".

Competitive football has been played in Scotland since 1890

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

Notable events

2005

• June 1: Gordon Strachan officially takes charge of Celtic after the resignation of Martin O'Neill^[1]

• June 1: Former Celtic player Paul Lambert officially takes charge of Livingston following the resignation of Richard Gough.

• June 16: 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.

• June 30: George Burley is confirmed as the new manager of Hearts after days of discussions with Chief Executive Phil Anderton and major shareholder Vladimir Romanov.

• July 27: 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.^[2]

• August 2: Celtic crash out of Europe, despite beating Artmedia Bratislava 4-0 in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier.^[3]

• August 7: Hearts demonstrate their SPL title-challenge credentials as they claim a 4–0 home victory over local rivals Hibernian.^[4]

• October 22: 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.^[5]

• November 6: St. Mirren win the first trophy of the season beating Hamilton Academical 2–1 in the Challenge Cup final.^[6]

• November 8: Graham Rix is appointed as Hearts new Head Coach.^[7]

• November 14: Rangers Chairman David Murray gives his short-term backing to under-fire Manager Alex McLeish despite recent poor results.^[8]

• December 6: Rangers become first Scottish club to reach the Champions League knock-out stages after drawing 1-1 with Inter Milan at Ibrox.

2006

• January 10: Gordon Chisholm is sacked as Manager of Dundee United.^[9]

• January 13: Dundee United appoint Inverness Manager Craig Brewster at the helm after the sacking of Gordon Chisholm.^[10]

• January 19: 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.

• January 27: Inverness coach and former player Charlie Christie is appointed as the club's new manager.

• February 8: 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.

• February 9: 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.^[11]

• February 11: 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.^[12]

• February 15: Livingston appoint former player John Robertson as their new Manager.

• March 8: 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.^[13]

• March 11: 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.

• March 13: Former Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone dies at the age of 61 after a long battle with motor neurone disease.^[14]

• March 19: Celtic win the League Cup, beating Dunfermline 3–0 at Hampden Park.^[15]

• March 23: Hearts sack head coach Graham Rix after just 4 months in charge. Valdas Ivanauskas was appointed as head coach for the interim^[16]

• March 25: Gretna win the Second Division and are promoted to the First Division with their second successive promotion.^[17]

• April 5: Celtic win the SPL after beating 2nd placed Hearts 1–0 at Celtic Park.^[18]

• April 16: St. Mirren win promotion to the SPL after a 2–1 win over Dundee.^[19]

• April 29: Livingston are relegated from the SPL after a 1–0 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.^[20] Meanwhile, Cowdenbeath clinch the Third Division title after beating Elgin City 2-1.^[21]

• May 3: 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.

• May 13: Hearts win the Scottish Cup 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw with Second Division champions Gretna.^[22]

Major transfer deals

2005

• June 3, 2005 - Lee Miller from Bristol City to Dundee United, £225,000

• June 9, 2005 - Ian Murray from Hibernian to Rangers, Free

• June 13, 2005 - Jamie Smith from ADO Den Haag to Aberdeen, Free

• June 14, 2005 - Brahim Hemdani from Marseille to Rangers, Free

• June 14, 2005 - Jackie McNamara from Celtic to Wolves, Free

• June 16, 2005 - Paul Tierney from Manchester United to Livingston, Free

• June 21, 2005 - Mohammed Camara from Burnley to Celtic, Free

• June 30, 2005 - Michael Stewart from Manchester United to Hibernian, Free

• July 1, 2005 - Jérémie Aliadière from Arsenal to Celtic, Loan

• July 5, 2005 - Jose-Karl Pierre-Fanfan from Paris Saint Germain to Rangers, Free

• July 6, 2005 - Mark Burchill from Hearts to Dunfermline, Free

• July 7, 2005 - Maciej Żurawski from Wisła Kraków to Celtic, £2m

• July 7, 2005 - Derek Stillie from Dunfermline to Dundee United, Undisclosed fee

• July 7, 2005 - Barry Nicholson from Dunfermline to Aberdeen, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000)

• July 8, 2005 - Federico Nieto from Club Almagro to Rangers, Loan

• July 13, 2005 - Artur Boruc from Legia Warszawa to Celtic, Loan

• July 14, 2005 - Steve Lovell from Dundee to Aberdeen, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000)

• July 19, 2005 - Rudolf Skácel from Marseille to Hearts, Loan

• July 20, 2005 - Adam Virgo from Brighton to Celtic, £1.5m

• July 21, 2005 - Paul Telfer from Southampton to Celtic, Undisclosed fee

• July 25, 2005 - Edgaras Jankauskas from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan

• July 29, 2005 - Shunsuke Nakamura from Reggina to Celtic, £2.5m

• August 4, 2005 - Julien Rodriguez from Monaco to Rangers, £1m

• August 12, 2005 - David Fernández from Celtic to Dundee United, Free

• August 30, 2005 - Sotirios Kyrgiakos from Panathinaikos to Rangers, Free

• August 31, 2005 - Maurice Ross from Rangers to Sheffield Wednesday, season Loan

• August 31, 2005 - Zurab Khizanishvili from Rangers to Blackburn Rovers, season Loan

• August 31, 2005 - Francis Jeffers from Charlton Athletic to Rangers, six month Loan

• August 31, 2005 - Samuel Almeida Camazzola from Juventude to Hearts, season Loan

• August 31, 2005 - Du Wei from Shanghai Shenhua to Celtic, Loan

• August 31, 2005 - Michael Ball from Rangers to PSV Eindhoven, Free

• August 31, 2005 - Filippo Maniero from Torino to Rangers, Free

• September 1, 2005 - Olivier Bernard from Southampton to Rangers, Free

2006

• January 1, 2006 - Kris Boyd from Kilmarnock to Rangers, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £400,000)

• January 1, 2006 - Roy Keane from Manchester United to Celtic, Free

• January 3, 2006 - Wes Hoolahan from Shelbourne to Livingston, £100,000

• January 5, 2006 - Chris Sutton from Celtic to Birmingham City, Free

• January 10, 2006 - Steven Thompson from Rangers to Cardiff City, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000)

• January 10, 2006 - Darryl Duffy from Falkirk to Hull City, Undisclosed fee

• January 11, 2006 - Steven Hislop from Gillingham to Livingston, Undisclosed fee (reportedly Nominal)

• January 11, 2006 - Lee Johnson from Yeovil Town to Hearts, Nominal fee

• January 13, 2006 - Nerijus Barasa from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, six month Loan

• January 16, 2006 - Mark Wilson from Dundee United to Celtic, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £500,000)

• January 17, 2006 - Neil McCann from Southampton to Hearts, Free

• January 24, 2006 - Chris Hackett from Oxford United to Hearts, £20,000

• January 26, 2006 - Chris Killen from Oldham Athletic to Hibernian, Free

• January 26, 2006 - Neil MacFarlane from Hearts to Aberdeen, Free

• January 27, 2006 - Scott Muirhead from Aberdeen to Dunfermline, Free

• January 27, 2006 - Andy Campbell from Cardiff City to Dunfermline, Free

• January 27, 2006 - Stephen Simmons from Hearts to Dunfermline, Free

• January 30, 2006 - Dion Dublin from Leicester City to Celtic, Free

• January 31, 2006 - José Gonçalves from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan

• January 31, 2006 - Juho Mäkelä from HJK Helsinki to Hearts, Free

• January 31, 2006 - Bruno Aguiar from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan

• January 31, 2006 - Mirsad Bešlija from Racing Genk to Hearts, £850,000

• January 31, 2006 - Lindsay Wilson from PSV Eindhoven to Kilmarnock, Loan

• January 31, 2006 - Paul Dalglish from Livingston to Hibernian, Nominal fee

• January 31, 2006 - Luděk Stracený from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan

• January 31, 2006 - Martin Petráš from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan

• January 31, 2006 - Ferne Snoyl from Feyenoord to Aberdeen, Loan

• March 8, 2006 - Garry O'Connor from Hibernian to Lokomotiv Moscow, £1.6m

League Competitions

Scottish Premier League

Main article: Scottish Premier League 2005-06

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-flite Scottish football since the 1960s.

Scottish First Division

Main article: Scottish First Division 2005-06

Scottish Second Division

Main article: Scottish Second Division 2005-06

Scottish Third Division

Main article: Scottish Third Division 2005-06

Other honours

Cup honours

Hearts became the first non-Old Firm club to win the Scotish 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.

Non-league honours

Senior honours

Junior honours

Individual honours

SPFA awards

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

SFWA awards

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

Scottish clubs in Europe

Summary

Average coefficient - 4.250

Rangers

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

Celtic

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score[23]	Celtic scorer(s)	Reports
Champions League Second qualifying round
July 27	Tehelné pole, Bratislava (A)	Artmedia Bratislava	0–5		BBC, UEFA.com
August 2	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Artmedia Bratislava	4–0	Alan Thompson (pen.), John Hartson, Stephen McManus, Craig Beattie	BBC, UEFA.com

Hibernian

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score[23]	Hibernian scorer(s)	Report
UEFA Cup First round
September 15	Easter Road, Edinburgh (H)	Dnipro	0–0		BBC
September 29	Meteor Stadium, Dnipropetrovsk (A)	Dnipro	1–5	Derek Riordan	BBC

Dundee United

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score[23]	Dundee United scorer(s)	Report
UEFA Cup Second qualifying round
August 11	Saviniemi, Anjalankoski (A)	MyPa	0–0		BBC
August 25	Tannadice Park, Dundee (H)	MyPa	2–2	Mark Kerr, Collin Samuel	BBC

Scotland national team

Main article: Scotland national football team results and fixtures

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[24]	Competition	Scotland scorer(s)	Report
August 17	Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadion, Graz (A)	Austria	2–2	F	Kenny Miller, Garry O'Connor	BBC
September 3	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Italy	1–1	WCQ5	Kenny Miller	BBC
September 7	Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo (A)	Norway	2–1	WCQ5	Kenny Miller (2)	BBC
October 8	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Belarus	0–1	WCQ5		BBC
October 12	Petrol Arena Stadium, Celje (A)	Slovenia	3–0	WCQ5	Darren Fletcher, James McFadden, Paul Hartley	BBC
November 12	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	USA	1–1	F	Andy Webster	BBC
March 1	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Switzerland	1–3	F	Kenny Miller	BBC
May 11	Kobe Wing Stadium, Kobe (N)	Bulgaria	5–1	Kirin Cup	Kris Boyd (2), Chris Burke (2), James McFadden	BBC
May 13	Saitama Stadium, Tokyo (A)	Japan	0–0	Kirin Cup		BBC

Key

• (A) = Away match
• (H) = Home match
• F = Friendly
• WCQ5 = World Cup Qualifying - Group 5

Deaths

• Jimmy Johnstone, 61, former Celtic player and part of the Lisbon Lions.

Notes and references