16 June: The SPL fine Livingston Β£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 5β0 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 4β0 in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier.[4]
7 August: Hearts demonstrate their
SPL title-challenge credentials as they claim a 4β0 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]
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 Β£18m and a minimum of Β£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 2006β07 season, signing a three-year contract.
5 April: Celtic win the
SPL after beating 2nd placed Hearts 1β0 at
Celtic Park.[19]
16 April: St Mirren win promotion to the SPL after a 2β1 win over
Dundee.[20]
29 April: Livingston are relegated from the SPL after a 1β0 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.[21] Meanwhile, Cowdenbeath clinch the Third Division title after beating Elgin City 2β1.[22]
3 May: Hearts clinch second place and a spot in the
Champions League qualifiers with a 1β0 home win over Aberdeen. This marks the first time since the
1994β95 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 4β2 on
penalties after a 1β1 draw with Second Division champions Gretna.[23]
The
Scottish Premier League 2005β06 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.
^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 2006β07 First Division, Stranraer were relegated and Partick Thistle were promoted.
^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 2006β07 Second Division, Alloa Athletic won the play-off to stay in the division.
Source:
Soccerway Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. (C) Champions; (P) Promoted Notes:
^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 2006β07 Second Division, Alloa Athletic won the play-off to stay in the division.
Other honours
Cup honours
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.
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 1β0 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 β beating
Bulgaria and drawing with hosts
Japan.
16 June: The SPL fine Livingston Β£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 5β0 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 4β0 in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier.[4]
7 August: Hearts demonstrate their
SPL title-challenge credentials as they claim a 4β0 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]
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 Β£18m and a minimum of Β£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 2006β07 season, signing a three-year contract.
5 April: Celtic win the
SPL after beating 2nd placed Hearts 1β0 at
Celtic Park.[19]
16 April: St Mirren win promotion to the SPL after a 2β1 win over
Dundee.[20]
29 April: Livingston are relegated from the SPL after a 1β0 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.[21] Meanwhile, Cowdenbeath clinch the Third Division title after beating Elgin City 2β1.[22]
3 May: Hearts clinch second place and a spot in the
Champions League qualifiers with a 1β0 home win over Aberdeen. This marks the first time since the
1994β95 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 4β2 on
penalties after a 1β1 draw with Second Division champions Gretna.[23]
The
Scottish Premier League 2005β06 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.
^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 2006β07 First Division, Stranraer were relegated and Partick Thistle were promoted.
^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 2006β07 Second Division, Alloa Athletic won the play-off to stay in the division.
Source:
Soccerway Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. (C) Champions; (P) Promoted Notes:
^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 2006β07 Second Division, Alloa Athletic won the play-off to stay in the division.
Other honours
Cup honours
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.
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 1β0 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 β beating
Bulgaria and drawing with hosts
Japan.