The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top-level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when the SPL and SFL merged to form the new Scottish Professional Football League, with its top division being known as the Scottish Premiership. A total of 19 clubs competed in the SPL, but only the Old Firm clubs of Glasgow—Celtic and Rangers— won the league championship.
Background
For most of its history, the Scottish Football League had a two divisional structure (Divisions One and Two) between which clubs were promoted and relegated at the end of each season. However, by the mid-1970s, this organisation was perceived to be stagnant, and it was decided to split into a three divisional structure: Premier Division (formerly Division One), First Division (formerly Division Two) and a newly added Second Division. This system came into force for the 1975–76 season. This setup continued until the 1994–95 season, when – in response to an attempt by the biggest clubs to form a breakaway 'Super League' in 1992 – a four divisional structure was introduced. This involved the creation of a Third Division, with all four divisions consisting of ten clubs.
On 8 September 1997, the clubs in the Premier Division decided to split from the Scottish Football League and form a Scottish Premier League. This followed an earlier example in England, which came into force during the 1992–93 season. If a club did not finish in the half where it was predicted to finish, it faced the possibility of playing an unequal number of home and away matches. For example, one club would sometimes play another three times at home and once away.
Promotion and relegation
The bottom placed SPL club at the end of the season was relegated, and swapped places with the winner of the Scottish First Division, provided that the winner satisfied the SPL entry criteria. These promotion criteria sometimes caused controversy. In 2003, the chairmen of the member clubs voted against Falkirk's proposed ground share with Airdrie United and stopped the club from having the 10,000 capacity stadium it required, therefore saving Motherwell from relegation.
The same situation nearly materialised in 2004. After several votes and discussion, including threats of court cases from Partick Thistle, the team threatened with relegation, Inverness Caledonian Thistle were promoted on the basis that they would ground share with Aberdeen at Pittodrie. In 2005, the stadium size criterion for entry to the SPL was reduced to 6,000, thereby allowing Inverness Caledonian Thistle to return to their home stadium during the 2005–06 season. While other European leagues were dominated by a few clubs in the 2000s, the Old Firm dominance in Scotland dated back to the beginning of Scottish league football, with a few exceptional periods. The average home attendances of both clubs is significantly higher than the other Scottish clubs, which resulted in the Old Firm having far greater revenues and therefore more money to spend on players. Both clubs also received significant revenues from participation in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.
Despite having more resources than other Scottish clubs, the Old Firm experienced difficulty in competing with big clubs from other leagues in terms of transfer fees and player wages due to the SPL's relatively low television revenue. A recurring theme during the existence of the SPL was the prospect of the two clubs leaving the Scottish football set-up to join the English football league system, an Atlantic League with clubs from countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal, or forming a new European Super League. others, such as Craig Levein, believed it would benefit Scottish football due to increased competition among the remaining clubs for the SPL title. World football's governing body FIFA ruled out the prospect of any Old Firm move to the English set-up. The duopoly was effectively broken when Rangers entered administration in 2012 and was liquidated after it failed to reach an agreement with creditors. Rangers was relaunched by a new company and were voted into the Scottish Football League Third Division.
In March 2013, Rangers chief executive Charles Green suggested that Rangers could join the Football Conference and that EU competition law banning restraints of trade could be used to overcome any legal barriers to such a plan. Green also suggested that Rangers and Celtic would not be playing in the Scottish league system in ten years time.
Winter break
The SPL instituted a "winter break" during the January of each season, beginning with the 1998–99 season. However, this practice was removed beginning in the 2000–01 season, forcing clubs to play throughout January and sometimes resulting in postponement of matches and significant damage to clubs' pitches. Managers Martin O'Neill, Jim Duffy Alex McLeish accused the SPL of taking Scottish football "back to the Dark Ages" after its decision to scrap the mid-season hiatus. they reached a high of 10th at the end of the 2007–08 season. The SPL ranking thereafter declined, the league falling back to the 24th position at the end of 2012–13.
In 2003, Celtic became the first Scottish club since Dundee United in 1987 to reach a European final, eventually losing 3–2 to Porto after extra time in the UEFA Cup final. In 2003–04, two Scottish clubs, Celtic and Rangers, qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time. In 2005–06, Rangers became the first Scottish club to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League, a feat repeated by Celtic the following two seasons. In the 2007–08 season, three Scottish clubs were competing in Europe after Christmas for the first time since 1970, while in the same season, Rangers reached the 2008 UEFA Cup final, but lost 2–0 to Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg. During the season, Scotland's European representatives collected the most coefficient points since the 1982–83 season. John Collins approved of the ruling, claiming it is healthy for Scottish football and encouraged the development of young players.
Finances
Attendance
Due to its relatively low income from television and commercial partners, Scottish clubs were highly dependent on revenues from fans attending matches. More people in Scotland per head of population watched their domestic top-level league than any other European nation. All ten of the clubs that played in the 1998–99 Scottish Premier League also participated in the 2011–12 Scottish Premier League. and a four-year contract worth £8 million came into effect from July 2007; in 2010, the contract was extended until 2013.
Insolvency events
During the SPL era, six of its member clubs entered administration. Serious financial difficulties first arose in 2002 when broadcaster Sky Sports withdrew its interest in the League's television rights when the SPL rejected its offer of £45 million, hoping a better deal would arise from another broadcaster. However, a superior deal failed to arise, adding to the clubs' already delicate financial position. A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in 2003 described five SPL clubs – Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, Hearts, Hibernian and Livingston – as "technically insolvent". Livingston became the third SPL club to enter administration in February 2004 with debts of £3.5 million. Dunfermline Athletic's financial position also looked bleak, with several players asked to take wage-cuts, while Rangers chairman David Murray announced in September 2004 a plan to raise £57 million via a rights issue in an attempt to eliminate a large proportion of the club's debts.
After widespread cost-cutting measures, the finances of SPL clubs began to show signs of improvement. Both Motherwell and Dundee came out of administration in April and August 2004 respectively, while Livingston ended its 15-month spell in administration in May 2005. The 2006 report on SPL finances by PWC revealed operating profits of £2.8 million among SPL clubs, the first collective operating profit made by Scotland's top-flight clubs in over a decade. Seven of the SPL's 12 clubs had a wage turnover ratio of less than 60%. The report highlighted the increasingly precarious financial position of Hearts, describing its current finances as "unsustainable" with debt rising by £7 million to £28 million and a wage bill which represents 97% of its turnover.
In March 2008, Gretna became the fourth SPL club to enter administration. The club was liquidated after it had been relegated to the Scottish Football League at the end of the 2007–08 Scottish Premier League.
SPL clubs were badly affected by the Great Recession in Europe. The 21st PWC annual review found that SPL clubs made a collective loss of £22 million during the 2008–09 season, although this loss was almost entirely due to problems at two clubs. Rangers incurred a £14 million loss after losing most of their European revenues due to an early defeat by FBK Kaunas, while Hearts lost £8 million. owing an approximate £9 million in unpaid taxes and with an ongoing tribunal with HMRC. HMRC blocked a proposed Company Voluntary Arrangement in June 2012, forcing preferred bidder Charles Green to use a new company to buy out the business and assets of Rangers. Weeks before the SPL merged into the Scottish Professional Football League, Hearts became the sixth SPL club to enter administration.
Media coverage
Television
right|thumb|upright|A cameraman pitchside at [[Tynecastle Stadium]]
Between 1998–99 and 2001–02, exclusive television rights for live Scottish Premier League matches were held by Sky Sports. In January 2002, the SPL rejected a £45 million offer from Sky Sports and began considering setting up its own pay-per-view channel, dubbed "SPL TV". However, these plans broke down in April 2002 when the Old Firm clubs – Rangers and Celtic – utilised the 11–1 voting system to veto the proposals. This caused discontent among the remaining ten SPL clubs, which subsequently announced their intention to resign from the league.
Despite a two-year television deal being agreed with BBC Scotland in July 2002 for a significant amount less than previously offered by Sky Sports, the ten non-Old Firm clubs confirmed their resignation from the SPL in August 2002, citing discontent with the voting system. The ten clubs withdrew their resignations in January 2003 after an agreement was reached to change some of the voting procedures and to change the distribution of TV revenue.
The SPL agreed a television rights deal with Irish broadcaster Setanta Sports in February 2004 in a four-year deal worth £35 million. This deal was revised in 2006, with a two-year extension to the original deal agreed, the new four-year deal now being worth £54.5 million and running to 2010. In June 2008, it was announced that a further four-year deal would commence for the 2010–11 season, worth £125 million. Setanta lost the rights to show live SPL matches in the United Kingdom as it was unable to pay the £3 million it owed to the SPL. The SPL then agreed a deal with ESPN and Sky Sports worth £13 million per season to the clubs.
In 2009, Sky and ESPN agreed a five-year deal with the SPL where they would pay a total of £65 million for the rights to show 30 matches each per season. In November 2011, it was announced that a five-year extension to the contract would commence from the 2012–13 season. This deal was amended after Rangers entered insolvency and was not allowed to transfer its SPL membership to a new company. The rights held by ESPN were acquired by BT Sport in February 2013.
BBC Scotland's Sportscene held the rights to broadcast highlights of each match first on terrestrial TV. The BBC also held the rights to show online Internet highlights to UK users for one week after each match. BBC Alba, launched in September 2008, showed one full SPL match per week in delayed coverage. The SPL was broadcast in Australia by Setanta Sports Australia, in Canada by Sportsnet World and in the United States by Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Soccer Plus.
Radio
Radio broadcasting rights were held by BBC Radio Scotland. BBC Radio Scotland also provided internet webcasts to all Scottish Premier League matches, having become the first broadcaster to introduce such a service in June 2000. Old Firm matches were also broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live and 102.5 Clyde 1.
Member clubs
The clubs listed below competed in the Scottish Premier League. Teams in italics were founder members, who played in the 1998–99 competition.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left"
|-
! Club
! City/Town
|-
| Aberdeen
| Aberdeen
|-
| Celtic
| Glasgow
|-
| Dundee
| Dundee
|-
| Dundee United
| Dundee
|-
| Dunfermline Athletic
| Dunfermline
|-
| Falkirk
| Falkirk
|-
| Gretna
| Gretna
|-
| Hamilton Academical
| Hamilton
|-
| Heart of Midlothian
| Edinburgh
|-
| Hibernian
| Edinburgh
|-
| Inverness CT
| Inverness
|-
| Kilmarnock
| Kilmarnock
|-
| Livingston
| Livingston
|-
| Motherwell
| Motherwell
|-
| Partick Thistle
| Glasgow
|-
| Rangers
| Glasgow
|-
| Ross County
| Dingwall
|-
| St Johnstone
| Perth
|-
| St Mirren
| Paisley
|-
|}
Stadia
The following stadia were used by clubs in the Scottish Premier League.
thumb|225px|[[Celtic Park, the biggest stadium by capacity used in the SPL.]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width=130|Stadium
! width=190|Club(s)
! Notes
|-
| Almondvale Stadium || Livingston and Gretna|| Gretna played one home game at Almondvale during the 2007–08 season due to the bad condition of the Fir Park pitch.
|-
| Caledonian Stadium || Inverness Caledonian Thistle||
|-
| Celtic Park || Celtic|| The biggest club stadium in Scotland by seating capacity.
|-
| Dens Park || Dundee ||
|-
| East End Park || Dunfermline Athletic ||
|-
| Easter Road || Hibernian ||
|-
| Falkirk Stadium || Falkirk ||
|-
| Fir Park || Motherwell and Gretna|| Gretna used Fir Park for most of the 2007–08 season because their normal home ground, Raydale Park, did not meet SPL requirements.
|-
| Firhill Stadium || Partick Thistle ||
|-
| Ibrox Stadium || Rangers ||
|-
| Love Street || St Mirren || Love Street was closed in January 2009.
|-
| McDiarmid Park || St Johnstone|| First purpose-built all-seater stadium in Scotland.
|-
| New Douglas Park || Hamilton Academical ||
|-
| Pittodrie Stadium || Aberdeen and Inverness C.T.|| Inverness C.T. moved to Aberdeen's Pittodrie Stadium for part of the 2004–05 season while the Caledonian Stadium was upgraded to meet capacity regulations.
|-
| Rugby Park || Kilmarnock||
|-
| St Mirren Park || St Mirren || Opened in January 2009.
|-
| Tannadice Park || Dundee United||
|-
| Tynecastle Stadium || Heart of Midlothian||
|-
| Victoria Park || Ross County||
|-
|}
Statistics
Championships
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Season
!Winner
!Runner-up
!Relegated
!Top scorer
!Players' Player of the Year
!Writers' Player of the Year
|-
|1998–99
|Rangers (1)
|Celtic (1)
|Dunfermline Athletic
|Henrik Larsson 29 (Celtic)
|Henrik Larsson (Celtic)
|Henrik Larsson (Celtic)
|-
|1999–2000
|Rangers (2)
|Celtic (2)
|No relegation
|Mark Viduka 25 (Celtic)
|Mark Viduka (Celtic)
|Barry Ferguson (Rangers)
|-
|2000–01
|Celtic (1)
|Rangers (1)
|St Mirren
|Henrik Larsson 35 (Celtic)
|Henrik Larsson (Celtic)
|Henrik Larsson (Celtic)
|-
|2001–02
|Celtic (2)
|Rangers (2)
|St Johnstone
|Henrik Larsson 29 (Celtic)
|Lorenzo Amoruso (Rangers)
|Paul Lambert (Celtic)
|-
|2002–03
|Rangers (3)
|Celtic (3)
|No relegation
|Henrik Larsson 28 (Celtic)
|Barry Ferguson (Rangers)
|Barry Ferguson (Rangers)
|-
|2003–04
|Celtic (3)
|Rangers (3)
|Partick Thistle
|Henrik Larsson 30 (Celtic)
|Chris Sutton (Celtic)
|Jackie McNamara (Celtic)
|-
|2004–05
|Rangers (4)
|Celtic (4)
|Dundee
|John Hartson 25 (Celtic)
|John Hartson (Celtic)<br />Fernando Ricksen (Rangers)
|John Hartson (Celtic)
|-
|2005–06
|Celtic (4)
|Heart of Midlothian (1)
|Livingston
|Kris Boyd 32 (15 – Kilmarnock, 17 – Rangers)
|Shaun Maloney (Celtic)
|Craig Gordon (Hearts)
|-
|2006–07
|Celtic (5)
|Rangers (4)
|Dunfermline Athletic
|Kris Boyd 20 (Rangers)
|Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic)
|Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic)
|-
|2007–08
|Celtic (6)
|Rangers (5)
|Gretna
|Scott McDonald 25 (Celtic)
|Aiden McGeady (Celtic)
|Carlos Cuéllar (Rangers)
|-
|2008–09
|Rangers (5)
|Celtic (5)
|Inverness CT
|Kris Boyd 27 (Rangers)
|Scott Brown (Celtic)
|Gary Caldwell (Celtic)
|-
|2009–10
|Rangers (6)
|Celtic (6)
|Falkirk
|Kris Boyd 23 (Rangers)
|Steven Davis (Rangers)
|David Weir (Rangers)
|-
|2010–11
|Rangers (7)
|Celtic (7)
|Hamilton Academical
|Kenny Miller 21 (Rangers)
|Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic)
|Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic)
|-
|2011–12
|Celtic (7)
|Rangers (6)
|Dunfermline Athletic
|Gary Hooper 24 (Celtic)
|Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic)
|Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic)
|-
|2012–13
|Celtic (8)
|Motherwell (1)
|Dundee
|Michael Higdon 26 (Motherwell)
|Michael Higdon (Motherwell)
|Leigh Griffiths (Hibernian)
|-
|}
All-time SPL table
This table is a cumulative record of all SPL matches played. The table is accurate from the 1998–99 season to the end of the 2012–13 season, inclusive.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!width=35|P <br />
!width=160|Club <br />
!width=40|Ssn <br />
!width=40|Pld <br />
!width=40|W <br />
!width=40|D <br />
!width=40|L <br />
!width=40|F <br />
!width=40|A <br />
!width=40|GD <br />
!width=40|Pts <br />
!width=40|PPG <br />
!width=35|1st <br />
!width=35|2nd <br />
!width=35|3rd <br />
!width=35|4th <br />
|-
|1||align=left|Celtic
|| 15 || 566 || 412 || 82 || 72 || 1304 || 453 || +851 ||1318|| || 8 || 7 || ||
|- style="background:#efefef"
|2||align=left|Rangers
|| 14 || 528 || 364 || 93 || 71 || 1150 || 418 || +732 ||1175|| || 7 || 6 || 1 ||
|-
|3||align=left|Heart of Midlothian
|| 15 || 566 || 229 || 139 || 198 || 733 || 670 || +63 ||826|| || || 1 || 5 || 1
|- style="background:#efefef"
|4||align=left|Motherwell
|| 15 || 566 || 195 || 132 || 239 || 708 || 839 || −131 ||717|| || || 1 || 2 || 1
|-
|5||align=left|Kilmarnock
|| 15 || 566 || 189 || 145 || 232 || 685 || 811 || −126 ||712|| || || || || 3
|- style="background:#efefef"
|6||align=left|Aberdeen
|| 15 || 566 || 188 || 143 || 235 || 651 || 785 || −134 ||707|| || || || 1 || 4
|-
|7||align=left|Hibernian
|| 14 || 530 || 183 || 134 || 213 || 712 || 761 || −49 ||683|| || || || 2 || 2
|- style="background:#efefef"
|8||align=left|Dundee United
|| 15 || 566 || 173 || 162 || 231 || 674 || 845 || −171 ||681|| || || || 1 || 2
|-
|9||align=left|Inverness CT
|| 8 || 304 || 97 || 83 || 124 || 380 || 417 || −37 ||374|| || || || || 1
|- style="background:#efefef"
|10||align=left|St Johnstone
|| 8 || 300 || 90 || 87 || 123 || 307 || 398 || −91 ||357|| || || || 2 ||
|-
|11||align=left|Dunfermline Athletic
|| 9 || 340 || 83 || 89 || 168 || 335 || 565 ||−230 ||338|| || || || || 1
|- style="background:#efefef"
|12||align=left|Dundee
|| 8 || 300 || 87 || 70 || 143 || 336 || 478 || −142 ||331|| || || || ||
|-
|13||align=left|St Mirren
|| 8 || 304 || 68 || 91 || 145 || 277 || 446 || −169 ||295|| || || || ||
|- style="background:#efefef"
|14||align=left|Falkirk
|| 5 || 190 || 51 || 48 || 91 || 197 || 277 || −80 ||201|| || || || ||
|-
|15||align=left|Livingston
|| 5 || 190 || 48 || 45 || 97 || 205 || 306 ||−101 ||189|| || || || 1 ||
|- style="background:#efefef"
|16||align=left|Hamilton Academical
|| 3 || 114 || 30 || 26 || 58 || 93 || 158 || −65 ||116|| || || || ||
|-
|17||align=left|Partick Thistle
|| 2 || 76 || 14 || 19 || 43 || 76 || 125 || −49 || 61|| || || || ||
|- style="background:#efefef"
|18||align=left|Ross County
|| 1 || 38 || 13 || 14 || 11 || 47 || 48 || −1 ||53|| || || || ||
|-
|19||align=left|Gretna
|| 1 || 38 || 5 || 8 || 25 || 32 || 83 ||−51 ||13|| || || || ||
|}
<small>P = Position; Ssn = Number of seasons; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; Ppg = Points per game</small>
Top goalscorers
Kilmarnock and Rangers player Kris Boyd scored the most goals in the SPL, with 167 goals. He broke the previous record of 158, set by Henrik Larsson, by scoring five goals for Rangers in a 7–1 win against Dundee United on 30 December 2009. Boyd and Larsson were the only players who scored more than 100 goals in the SPL era. There are players who scored far more goals in the predecessor Scottish Football League competition, with Jimmy McGrory holding the overall record with 408 goals in the top flight of Scottish football.
Top 10 SPL goalscorers
thumb|upright|[[Kris Boyd, the SPL's all-time top goalscorer]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width=45 |Rank
! Player
! Club(s)
! width=45 |Goals
|-
| align=center|1 || Kris Boyd || Kilmarnock (2001–2006)<br />Rangers (2006–2010)<br />Kilmarnock (2013) ||align=center|167
|-
| align=center|2 || Henrik Larsson || Celtic (1998–2004) ||align=center|158
|-
| align=center|3 || Derek Riordan
; Most goals scored in a season: Celtic, 105 goals, 2003–04
; Youngest goalscorer: Fraser Fyvie, for Aberdeen vs Heart of Midlothian,
; All-time top scorer: Kris Boyd (Kilmarnock and Rangers), 164 goals
; Most SPL appearances: James Fowler, 401 (correct to the end of the 2012–13 season)
; Highest attendance: 60,440, Celtic v St Mirren, 7 April 2001
; Lowest attendance: 431, Gretna v Inverness CT, 5 April 2008
; Highest transfer fee received: Aiden McGeady, from Celtic to Spartak Moscow, £9.5 million, 13 August 2010<!--NOTE: Victor Wanyama was sold in July 2013, after the SPL merged with the SFL to become the SPFL. The Wanyama transfer set a SPFL record. It did NOT set a SPL record because the SPL no longer existed.-->
; Highest transfer fee between two SPL clubs: Scott Brown, from Hibernian to Celtic, £4.4 million, 1 June 2007
See also
- List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues
- Scottish Premier League monthly awards