The 2005–06 season was the 109th season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in Scotland.

Notable events

2005

*1 June:

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...

officially takes charge of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

after the resignation of

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

*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. *2 August: Celtic crash out of Europe, despite beating Artmedia Bratislava 4–0 in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier. *7 August: Hearts demonstrate their SPL title-challenge credentials as they claim a 4–0 home victory over local rivals Hibernian. *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 Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

. 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 November: St Mirren win the first trophy of the season beating Hamilton Academical 2–1 in the Challenge Cup final. *8 November: Graham Rix is appointed as Hearts new head coach. *14 November: Rangers Chairman David Murray gives his short-term backing to under-fire Manager Alex McLeish despite recent poor results. *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. *13 January: Dundee United appoint Inverness Manager Craig Brewster at the helm after the sacking of Gordon Chisholm. *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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. *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. *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. *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 JJB Sports plc was a British sports retailer. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sports Direct had purchased part of the business, includ ...

. Rangers will net an initial £18m and a minimum of £3m each year on royalty fees for the duration of the licence. *11 March: Rangers confirm that former

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

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 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

. *19 March: Celtic win the League Cup, beating Dunfermline 3–0 at Hampden Park. *23 March: Hearts sack head coach Graham Rix after just 4 months in charge. Valdas Ivanauskas was appointed as head coach for the interim *25 March: Gretna win the Second Division and are promoted to the First Division with their second successive promotion. *5 April: Celtic win the SPL after beating 2nd placed Hearts 1–0 at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

. *16 April: St Mirren win promotion to the SPL after a 2–1 win over

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. *29 April: Livingston are relegated from the SPL after a 1–0 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Meanwhile, Cowdenbeath clinch the Third Division title after beating Elgin City 2–1. *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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. *13 May: Hearts win the Scottish Cup 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw with Second Division champions Gretna.

Major transfer deals

2005

*3 June 2005 – Lee Miller from Bristol City to

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

, £225,000 *9 June 2005 – Ian Murray from Hibernian to Rangers, Free *13 June 2005 – Jamie Smith from

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Free *14 June 2005 – Brahim Hemdani from

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

to Rangers, Free *14 June 2005 –

Jackie McNamara Jackie McNamara (born 24 October 1973) is a Scottish professional Association football, football Sports agent, agent, and former football player, player, Manager (association football), manager and executive. He won 33 international caps playin ...

from

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

, Free *16 June 2005 – Paul Tierney from

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

to Livingston, Free *21 June 2005 – Mohammed Camara from

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, Free *30 June 2005 – Michael Stewart from

to Hibernian, Free *1 July 2005 – Jérémie Aliadière from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Loan *5 July 2005 – Jose-Karl Pierre-Fanfan from Paris Saint Germain to Rangers, Free *6 July 2005 – Mark Burchill from Hearts to

, Free *7 July 2005 –

Maciej Żurawski Maciej Stanisław Żurawski (; born 12 September 1976) is a Polish former professional football player, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. Żurawski appeared 72 times and scored 17 goals for Poland national foo ...

from Wisła Kraków to

, £2m *7 July 2005 – Derek Stillie from

, Undisclosed fee *7 July 2005 – Barry Nicholson from

, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000) *8 July 2005 – Federico Nieto from

Club Almagro Club Almagro is an Argentine sports club from José Ingenieros, Buenos Aires, although its headquarters are in the Almagro, Buenos Aires, Almagro district. The association football, football team currently plays in the Primera Nacional, the secon ...

to Rangers, Loan *13 July 2005 – Artur Boruc from Legia Warszawa to

, Loan *14 July 2005 – Steve Lovell from

, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000) *19 July 2005 – Rudolf Skácel from

to Hearts, Loan *20 July 2005 – Adam Virgo from

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, £1.5m *21 July 2005 – Paul Telfer from

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, Undisclosed fee *25 July 2005 – Edgaras Jankauskas from

FBK Kaunas Kauno futbolo ir beisbolo klubas, commonly known as FBK Kaunas, was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas. History Banga Kaunas (1960–1993) The roots of the club can be traced back to 1960 when Banga Kaunas was founded and they p ...

to Hearts, Loan *29 July 2005 – Shunsuke Nakamura from Reggina to

, £2.5m *4 August 2005 – Julien Rodriguez from

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

to Rangers, £1m *12 August 2005 – David Fernández from

, Free *30 August 2005 – Sotirios Kyrgiakos from Panathinaikos to Rangers, Free *31 August 2005 – Maurice Ross from Rangers to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, season Loan *31 August 2005 – Zurab Khizanishvili from Rangers to Blackburn Rovers, season Loan *31 August 2005 – Francis Jeffers from Charlton Athletic to Rangers, six-month Loan *31 August 2005 – Samuel Almeida Camazzola from Juventude to Hearts, season Loan *31 August 2005 – Du Wei from

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...

, Loan *31 August 2005 – Michael Ball from Rangers to

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

, Free *31 August 2005 –

Filippo Maniero Filippo "Pippo" Maniero (born 11 September 1972) is an Italian retired association footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Club career Maniero played for several teams throughout his career, most notably AC Mi ...

from

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

to Rangers, Free *1 September 2005 – Olivier Bernard from

to Rangers, Free

2006

*1 January 2006 – Kris Boyd from

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

to Rangers, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £400,000) *1 January 2006 –

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...

from

, Free *3 January 2006 – Wes Hoolahan from Shelbourne to Livingston, £100,000 *5 January 2006 – Chris Sutton from

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, Free *10 January 2006 – Steven Thompson from Rangers to Cardiff City, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000) *10 January 2006 – Darryl Duffy from

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

to Hull City, Undisclosed fee *11 January 2006 – Steven Hislop from Gillingham to Livingston, Undisclosed fee (reportedly Nominal) *11 January 2006 – Lee Johnson from Yeovil Town to Hearts, Nominal fee *13 January 2006 – Nerijus Barasa from

to Hearts, six-month Loan *16 January 2006 – Mark Wilson from

, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £500,000) *17 January 2006 –

Neil McCann Neil Doherty McCann (born 11 August 1974) is a Scottish Association football, football pundit, former professional Association football, player and former Manager (association football), manager. He has recently worked as a pundit for BBC Scotla ...

from

to Hearts, Free *24 January 2006 – Chris Hackett from

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

to Hearts, £20,000 *26 January 2006 – Chris Killen from

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

to Hibernian, Free *26 January 2006 – Neil MacFarlane from Hearts to

, Free *27 January 2006 – Scott Muirhead from

, Free *27 January 2006 – Andy Campbell from Cardiff City to

, Free *27 January 2006 – Stephen Simmons from Hearts to

, Free *30 January 2006 –

Dion Dublin Dion Dublin (born 22 April 1969) is an English former professional footballer, television presenter and pundit. He is a club director of Cambridge United. As a player he was a centre-forward, notably playing in the Premier League for Manches ...

from Leicester City to

, Free *31 January 2006 – José Gonçalves from

to Hearts, Loan *31 January 2006 – Juho Mäkelä from HJK Helsinki to Hearts, Free *31 January 2006 – Bruno Aguiar from

to Hearts, Loan *31 January 2006 –

Mirsad Bešlija Mirsad Bešlija (born 6 July 1979) is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He has most notably played for Željezničar, Genk, Heart of Midlothian and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Club career ...

from Racing Genk to Hearts, £850,000 *31 January 2006 – Lindsay Wilson from

, Loan *31 January 2006 –

Paul Dalglish Paul Kenneth Dalglish (born 18 February 1977) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Playing career Dalglish, son of former Scotland international Kenny Dalglish, was born in Glasgow though spent his childhood in Liverpool where his fa ...

from Livingston to Hibernian, Nominal fee *31 January 2006 –

Luděk Stracený Luděk Stracený (born 19 April 1977, in Prague) is a Czech former professional football player. He signed for FBK Kaunas Kauno futbolo ir beisbolo klubas, commonly known as FBK Kaunas, was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas. ...

from

to Hearts, Loan *31 January 2006 – Martin Petráš from

to Hearts, Loan *31 January 2006 – Ferne Snoyl from

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, Loan *8 March 2006 – Garry O'Connor from Hibernian to

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

, £1.6m

League competitions

Scottish Premier League

The

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

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

finished fourth behind Rangers,

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

and Hibernian, the

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

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.

Scottish First Division

Scottish Second Division

Scottish Third Division

Other honours

Cup honours

Hearts became the first non-

club to win the Scottish Cup since they themselves lifted the trophy in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. 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

'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

SFWA awards

Scottish clubs in Europe

Summary

Average coefficient �
4.250
/small>

Rangers

Celtic

Hibernian

Dundee United

Scotland national team

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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 Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and a draw at home to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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 Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ended their hopes of qualification. They finished the season strongly, however, with a victory over

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

and also lifted the

Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...

— beating

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and drawing with hosts

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. ;Key * (A) = Away match * (H) = Home match * WCQ5 = World Cup Qualifying – Group 5

Deaths

*14 July: Matt Patrick, 86, Cowdenbeath forward. *30 August: John Brown, 90, Clyde and Scotland goalkeeper. *25 November:

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

, 59, Hibs winger. *30 December: Fred "Jock" Smith, 79, Aberdeen and Montrose inside forward. *17 January: Wallace Mercer, 59, Hearts chairman. *10 February: John Prentice, 79, Scotland manager. *13 March: Jimmy Johnstone, 61, Celtic (

Lisbon Lions The Lisbon Lions is the nickname given to the Celtic F.C., Celtic team that won the UEFA Champions League, European Cup at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967 European Cup Final, 1967, defeating Inter Milan 2–1. Name The ...

) and Scotland winger. *3 April: Ewan Fenton, 76, Scottish defender for Blackpool *19 June: Hugh Baird, 76, Airdrie, Aberdeen and Scotland forward.

Notes

References

External links

Scottish Premier League official website

Scottish Football League official website

BBC Scottish Premier League portal

BBC Scottish Football League portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:2005-06 in Scottish football Seasons in Scottish football