Scottish Premier League
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The Scottish Premier League (SPL for short) is the top division within the current structure of Scottish association football. It is also known as the Bank of Scotland Premierleague after its main sponsor, the Bank of Scotland.
Previously 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 had become a bit stagnant and it was decided to split into a three divisional structure (Premier Division, First Division and Second Division).
This set up continued till the mid 1990s when it was decided to split into a four divisional structure with the addition of a Third Division.
In 1998 the football clubs in the Premier Division decided to split from the Scottish Football League and form the Scottish Premier League (sometimes branded as the Premierleague). This decision was fuelled by a desire by the top clubs in Scotland wanting to retain more of the revenue generated by the game.
Since 2000, the SPL has operated a "split league format". Under this system, after 33 games (i.e. when every club has played every other club 3 times, either twice away and once at home, or vice versa), the division is split into 2 halves, and clubs play a further 5 matches, against the teams in their half of the division, taking their total to 38 games. This can (and often does) result in the team placed 7th having a higher points total than the team placed 6th, because their final 5 games are considerably easier!
Providing they meet certain criteria to do with their stadium it is still possible for clubs to be promoted from the Scottish Football League, First Division to the SPL.
Originally the SPL contained 10 clubs, but it subsequently decided to enlarge itself to a membership of 12.
In 2003, the league's promotion criteria caused controversy as 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 fan stadium capacity it required, thus saving Motherwell from relegation.
The same situation nearly materialised in 2004, but after several votes and discussion, Inverness Caledonian Thistle were finally allowed promotion provided that they groundshared with north rivals Aberdeen at Pittodrie, a ground over 160 km (100 miles) away. In 2005 the stadia criteria for entry to the SPL was reduced to 6,000 thereby allowing Inverness Caldedonian Thistle to return to their home stadium.
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Current SPL members
These are the current teams playing in the SPL in season 2005-2006
- Aberdeen F.C.
- Celtic F.C.
- Dundee United F.C.
- Dunfermline Athletic F.C.
- Falkirk F.C.
- Heart of Midlothian F.C.
- Hibernian F.C.
- Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.
- Kilmarnock F.C.
- Livingston F.C.
- Motherwell F.C.
- Rangers F.C.
SPL managers
Here is a list of the current managers in the SPL. The list is in order of the longest serving manager first down to the shortest serving manager.
- The managers position at Heart of Midlothian F.C. is currently vacant.
Previous Winners
- 1999: Rangers
- 2000: Rangers
- 2001: Celtic
- 2002: Celtic
- 2003: Rangers
- 2004: Celtic
- 2005: Rangers
Also see
List of Scottish Football Clubs
External link
Official site (http://www.scotprem.com)fr:Championnat d'Écosse de football simple:Scottish Premier League nl:Scottish Premier League