2000–01 Scottish Premier League

Bank of Scotland Premier League

Season	2000–01
Champions	Celtic
Relegated	St. Mirren
Champions League	Celtic Rangers
UEFA Cup	Hibernian Kilmarnock
Intertoto Cup	Dundee
Goals scored	605
Average goals/game	2.65
Top goalscorer	Henrik Larsson (35)
Biggest home win	Hearts 7–1 Dunfermline Athletic (24 February) Rangers 7–1 St. Mirren (4 November) Celtic 6–0 Aberdeen (16 December) Celtic 6–0 Kilmarnock (2 January)
Biggest away win	Dundee United 0–4 Celtic (26 December) Dundee United 0–4 Hearts (14 October)
Highest attendance	60,440, Celtic 1–0 St. Mirren (7 April)
Lowest attendance	2,610, Dunfermline Athletic 1–2 Motherwell (12 May)
Average attendance	15,905
← 1999–2000 2001–02 →

The 2000–01 Scottish Premier League was the third season of the Scottish Premier League. It began in on 29 July 2000.

Celtic finished the season as league champions by a 15-point margin over neighbouring Rangers, also winning both of the domestic cups in their first season under the management of Martin O'Neill.

Overview

2000–01 saw the Scottish Premier League expanded from 10 to 12 clubs, with the league 'split' introduced. After 33 rounds of matches, by which time all clubs had played each other three times, the league split into a 'top six' and 'bottom six' with clubs only competing against teams within their own section for the final five fixtures. The new format received widespread criticism from SPL managers.

The 2000–01 title was won by Celtic - their first SPL title, won in Martin O'Neill's first season as manager of the club. Rangers finished second, 15 points behind their Old Firm-rivals. St. Mirren were relegated in what was their debut season in the SPL and their first appearance in Scotland's top division since 1991–92. As champions, Celtic qualified for the Champions League, as did second-placed Rangers, with Scotland gaining two Champions League berths for the first time. Third-placed Hibernian and fourth-placed Kilmarnock qualified for the UEFA Cup, while Dundee became the first SPL club - and the first Scottish club since Partick Thistle in 1995 - to qualify for the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Promotion and relegation from 1999–00

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

• St. Mirren
• Dunfermline Athletic

Relegation from Premier League to First Division

• No team was relegated as Falkirk's Brockville Stadium did not meet SPL requirements. Last placed Aberdeen had been due to meet them in a play-off due to League reconstruction.

League table

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic	38	31	4	3	90	29	+61	97	2001–02 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
2	Rangers	38	26	4	8	76	36	+40	82	2001–02 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3	Hibernian	38	18	12	8	57	35	+22	66	2001–02 UEFA Cup First round
4	Kilmarnock	38	15	9	14	44	53	–9	54	2001–02 UEFA Cup Qualifying round
5	Hearts	38	14	10	14	56	50	+6	52
6	Dundee	38	13	8	17	56	50	+6	47	UEFA Intertoto Cup First round
7	Aberdeen	38	11	12	15	45	57	–7	45
8	Motherwell	38	12	7	19	42	56	–14	43
9	Dunfermline Athletic	38	11	9	18	34	54	–20	42
10	St. Johnstone	38	9	13	16	40	56	–16	40
11	Dundee United	38	9	8	21	38	63	–25	35
12	St. Mirren	38	8	6	24	32	72	–40	30	Relegated to 2001–02 First Division

Source: SPL official website

Results

Matches 1–22

During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away

ABE

CEL

DND

DUN

DNF

HOM

HIB

KIL

MOT

RAN

STJ

STM

Aberdeen

1–1

0–2

4–1

0–0

1–1

0–2

1–2

3–3

1–2

1–1

2–1

Celtic

6–0

1–0

2–1

3–1

6–1

3–0

2–1

1–0

6–2

4–1

2–0

Dundee

2–2

1–2

3–0

3–0

1–1

1–2

0–0

1–2

1–1

1–1

5–0

Dundee United

3–5

1–2

0–2

3–2

0–4

0–1

0–1

1–1

1–1

1–2

0–0

Dunfermline Athletic

0–0

1–2

1–0

1–0

1–0

1–1

1–0

1–2

0–0

1–1

2–0

Heart of Midlothian

3–0

2–4

3–1

3–1

2–0

0–0

0–2

3–0

0–1

0–3

2–0

Hibernian

0–2

0–0

5–1

3–0

3–0

6–2

1–1

2–0

1–0

2–0

2–0

Kilmarnock

1–0

0–1

2–3

1–0

2–1

0–3

0–1

3–2

2–4

0–2

2–1

Motherwell

1–1

3–3

0–2

2–1

0–1

2–0

1–3

1–2

0–1

4–0

2–0

Rangers

3–1

5–1

0–2

3–0

4–1

1–0

1–0

0–3

2–0

2–1

7–1

St Johnstone

0–0

0–2

0–0

1–0

0–2

2–2

0–3

1–1

2–3

2–1

2–0

St Mirren

2–0

0–2

2–1

1–1

2–1

1–2

1–1

0–1

0–1

1–3

0–1

Source: Soccerbase
^{1 ^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away). This means that during matches 1-33 each team played every other team 3 times (either 1 home, 2 away or 2 home, 1 away).

Home \ Away

ABE

CEL

DND

DUN

DNF

HOM

HIB

KIL

MOT

RAN

STJ

STM

Aberdeen

0–1

0–2

1–0

1–0

3–3

3–0

Celtic

2–1

1–1

6–0

1–0

1–0

1–0

Dundee

2–3

0–1

0–0

2–2

0–1

Dundee United

1–1

0–4

1–1

2–0

1–1

4–0

Dunfermline Athletic

3–2

0–3

3–1

2–1

0–0

Heart of Midlothian

0–3

7–1

1–1

3–0

3–0

1–0

Hibernian

3–0

1–0

1–1

0–0

4–2

Kilmarnock

0–0

0–0

2–1

1–1

1–2

1–2

Motherwell

0–1

0–3

1–1

1–2

1–0

Rangers

1–0

0–2

2–0

2–0

3–0

St Johnstone

1–2

2–3

2–2

2–0

1–2

St Mirren

2–1

1–1

1–3

0–1

1–3

1–0

Source: Soccerbase
^{1 ^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once (either at home or away).

Top six

Home \ Away	CEL	DND	HOM	HIB	KIL	RAN
Celtic		0–2	1–0
Dundee				0–2	2–1	0–3
Heart of Midlothian		2–0				1–4
Hibernian	2–5		0–0		1–1
Kilmarnock	1–0		1–1
Rangers	0–3			4–0	5–1

Source: Soccerbase
^{1 ^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom Six

Home \ Away	ABE	DUN	DNF	MOT	STJ	STM
Aberdeen		1–2	1–0
Dundee United			1–0	1–0
Dunfermline Athletic				1–2	0–0	1–2
Motherwell	0–2				0–1	3–3
St Johnstone	0–3	2–3				2–2
St Mirren	2–1	2–1

Source: Soccerbase
^{1 ^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Player	Club	Goals
Henrik Larsson	Celtic	35
Arild Stavrum	Aberdeen	17
Juan Sara	Dundee	15
Andy Kirk	Hearts	13
Stuart Elliott	Motherwell	12
Colin Cameron	Hearts	12
Tore André Flo	Rangers	11
Mixu Paatelainen	Hibernian	11
Chris Sutton	Celtic	11
David Zitelli	Hibernian	10
Ricky Gillies	St. Mirren	10
Keigan Parker	St. Johnstone	10

Source: SPL official website

Attendances

The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 2000/01 season are shown below:

Team	Average
Celtic	59,369
Rangers	47,532
Hearts	12,771
Aberdeen	12,403
Hibernian	10,792
Kilmarnock	8,223
Dundee	8,041
Dundee United	7,829
Dunfermline Athletic	6,413
Motherwell	6,208
St. Mirren	5,838
St. Johnstone	5,438

Source: SPL official website

Monthly awards

Main article: Scottish Premier League monthly awards

Month	Manager	Player
August	Martin O'Neill (Celtic)	Andy McLaren (Kilmarnock)
September	Bobby Williamson (Kilmarnock)	Henrik Larsson (Celtic)
October	Alex McLeish (Hibernian)	Mixu Paatelainen (Hibernian)
November	Billy Davies (Motherwell)	Barry Ferguson (Rangers)
December	Martin O'Neill (Celtic)	Barry Ferguson (Rangers)
January	None awarded due to winter break.
February	Martin O'Neill (Celtic)	Claudio Caniggia (Dundee)
March	Alex Smith (Dundee United)	Neil Lennon (Celtic)
April	Tom Hendrie (St. Mirren)	Antti Niemi (Hearts)
May	Alex Smith (Dundee United)	Jörg Albertz (Rangers)

References

• Season Review - ScotPrem.co.uk

See also

• Celtic F.C. season 2000-01
• Rangers F.C. season 2000-01
• Dundee United FC Season 2000-01