The 1996–97 season was the 100th season of competitive
football in Scotland. This season saw a playoff system introduced between the second bottom club in the Premier Division and the second-top club in Division One.[1]
^As the
League Cup winners
Rangers had qualified for European competition via their league position, the place in the
UEFA Cup was passed to the next highest placed team in the league,
Dundee United.
Rangers matched Celtic's record of nine successive top division titles.
Tommy Burns was sacked as Celtic manager after the end of the season, having won just one trophy in his three years in charge.
Mark Hateley briefly returned to Rangers after a year in
England to provide cover in attack during the title run-in, before moving back to England as player-manager of
Hull City.
Kilmarnock won the
Scottish Cup to end their 32-year wait for a major trophy.
Veteran goalkeeper
Jim Leighton transferred from Hibernian to Aberdeen at the end of the season.
Trevor Steven, the former England winger, retired from playing at the end of the season after winning seven league titles with Rangers since first joining them in 1989.
St Johnstone returned to the Premier Division by winning the Division One title by a 20-point margin.