2005–06 in Scottish football

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

2005

 * 1 June: Gordon Strachan officially takes charge of Celtic after the resignation of Martin O'Neill
 * 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. 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.
 * 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. 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 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.
 * 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.
 * 16 April: St Mirren win promotion to the SPL after a 2–1 win over Dundee.
 * 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.
 * 13 May: Hearts win the Scottish Cup 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw with Second Division champions Gretna.

2005

 * 3 June 2005 – Lee Miller from Bristol City to Dundee United, £225,000
 * 9 June 2005 – Ian Murray from Hibernian to Rangers, Free
 * 13 June 2005 – Jamie Smith from ADO Den Haag to Aberdeen, Free
 * 14 June 2005 – Brahim Hemdani from Marseille to Rangers, Free
 * 14 June 2005 – Jackie McNamara from Celtic to Wolves, Free
 * 16 June 2005 – Paul Tierney from Manchester United to Livingston, Free
 * 21 June 2005 – Mohammed Camara from Burnley to Celtic, Free
 * 30 June 2005 – Michael Stewart from Manchester United to Hibernian, Free
 * 1 July 2005 – Jérémie Aliadière from Arsenal to Celtic, Loan
 * 5 July 2005 – Jose-Karl Pierre-Fanfan from Paris Saint Germain to Rangers, Free
 * 6 July 2005 – Mark Burchill from Hearts to Dunfermline, Free
 * 7 July 2005 – Maciej Żurawski from Wisła Kraków to Celtic, £2m
 * 7 July 2005 – Derek Stillie from Dunfermline to Dundee United, Undisclosed fee
 * 7 July 2005 – Barry Nicholson from Dunfermline to Aberdeen, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000)
 * 8 July 2005 – Federico Nieto from Club Almagro to Rangers, Loan
 * 13 July 2005 – Artur Boruc from Legia Warszawa to Celtic, Loan
 * 14 July 2005 – Steve Lovell from Dundee to Aberdeen, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000)
 * 19 July 2005 – Rudolf Skácel from Marseille to Hearts, Loan
 * 20 July 2005 – Adam Virgo from Brighton to Celtic, £1.5m
 * 21 July 2005 – Paul Telfer from Southampton to Celtic, Undisclosed fee
 * 25 July 2005 – Edgaras Jankauskas from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan
 * 29 July 2005 – Shunsuke Nakamura from Reggina to Celtic, £2.5m
 * 4 August 2005 – Julien Rodriguez from AS Monaco to Rangers, £1m
 * 12 August 2005 – David Fernández from Celtic to Dundee United, Free
 * 30 August 2005 – Sotirios Kyrgiakos from Panathinaikos to Rangers, Free
 * 31 August 2005 – Maurice Ross from Rangers to Sheffield Wednesday, 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 to Celtic, Loan
 * 31 August 2005 – Michael Ball from Rangers to PSV Eindhoven, Free
 * 31 August 2005 – Filippo Maniero from Torino to Rangers, Free
 * 1 September 2005 – Olivier Bernard from Southampton to Rangers, Free

2006

 * 1 January 2006 – Kris Boyd from Kilmarnock to Rangers, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £400,000)
 * 1 January 2006 – Roy Keane from Manchester United to Celtic, Free
 * 3 January 2006 – Wes Hoolahan from Shelbourne to Livingston, £100,000
 * 5 January 2006 – Chris Sutton from Celtic to Birmingham City, Free
 * 10 January 2006 – Steven Thompson from Rangers to Cardiff City, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £250,000)
 * 10 January 2006 – Darryl Duffy from Falkirk 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 FBK Kaunas to Hearts, six-month Loan
 * 16 January 2006 – Mark Wilson from Dundee United to Celtic, Undisclosed fee (reportedly £500,000)
 * 17 January 2006 – Neil McCann from Southampton to Hearts, Free
 * 24 January 2006 – Chris Hackett from Oxford United to Hearts, £20,000
 * 26 January 2006 – Chris Killen from Oldham Athletic to Hibernian, Free
 * 26 January 2006 – Neil MacFarlane from Hearts to Aberdeen, Free
 * 27 January 2006 – Scott Muirhead from Aberdeen to Dunfermline, Free
 * 27 January 2006 – Andy Campbell from Cardiff City to Dunfermline, Free
 * 27 January 2006 – Stephen Simmons from Hearts to Dunfermline, Free
 * 30 January 2006 – Dion Dublin from Leicester City to Celtic, Free
 * 31 January 2006 – José Gonçalves from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan
 * 31 January 2006 – Juho Mäkelä from HJK Helsinki to Hearts, Free
 * 31 January 2006 – Bruno Aguiar from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan
 * 31 January 2006 – Mirsad Bešlija from Racing Genk to Hearts, £850,000
 * 31 January 2006 – Lindsay Wilson from PSV Eindhoven to Kilmarnock, Loan
 * 31 January 2006 – Paul Dalglish from Livingston to Hibernian, Nominal fee
 * 31 January 2006 – Luděk Stracený from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan
 * 31 January 2006 – Martin Petráš from FBK Kaunas to Hearts, Loan
 * 31 January 2006 – Ferne Snoyl from Feyenoord to Aberdeen, Loan
 * 8 March 2006 – Garry O'Connor from Hibernian to Lokomotiv Moscow, £1.6m

Scottish Premier League
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-flight Scottish football since the 1960s.

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.

Summary
Average coefficient – 4.250

Scotland national team
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.


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