In 1975 there was league reconstruction in Scottish Football with two leagues becoming three leagues. The initial format was a 10-14-14 structure and over the past 50 years the second tier of Scottish Football has been one of the most competitive in European and possibly World Football.
It is a league which has also seen the beginning of many famous players career as well as a league which has seen some high profile players end their career.
This is at look back at the first season of the Scottish First Division now know as the Scottish Championship in 1975/76.
The league was created by merging the bottom 8 from the previous season in Division One – Airdrie , Partick , Kilmarnock , Dumbarton , Dunfermline, Clyde , Morton , Arbroath , with top 6 from Division Two – Falkirk , Queen of the South , Montrose , Hamilton , East Fife and St Mirren.
The first season was unique in that it only consisted of 26 games with each teams playing each other home and away at a time when 2 points were awarded for a win.
The short fixture list was supplemented with the Spring Cup which I will cover in a later blog.
The title favourites were Airdrie , Partick and Kilmarnock who had just missed out on places in the first Scottish Premier League.
The League season would run from the final Saturday in August 75 to the end of February 76.
The season began with League Cup sections.
Scottish League Cup
Group 1
Airdrie were drawn with two Premier League teams, Rangers and locals rivals Motherwell as well as Clyde and after an opening with a 6-1 defeat at Ibrox and then beating Motherwell and Clyde at home they finished third losing their final three games. Rangers won the group with 10pts ahead of Motherwell on 8pts.
Group 2
Hibernian won 5 of their 6 games , the only blemish being a 2-1 away defeat to second placed Ayr , having opened with a 2-0 home win over Dundee and ending with a 2-1 win at Dens Park.
Group 3
Celtic proved too strong and they won 5 games out of 6 despite an away defeat to Hearts , they beat Aberdeen home and away.
Group 4
Partick Thistle were drawn with Kilmarnock and two teams who would have a poor start to life in the Premier Division , St Johnstone who would end the season bottom and Dundee Utd who would finish 8th avoiding relegation on goal difference from their city rivals Dundee.
Partick made a great start to the season beating Kilmarnock 3-1 at Rugby Park and swept into the Quarter Finals in style winning all six group games.
Group 5
In a tightly fought group Queen of the South emerged as victors with a final day 3-2 away win against Stirling Albion on 7pts , while Falkirk and Hamilton finished on 6 pts after drawing 2-2 at Douglas Park, Accies won at Falkirk and Queen of the South but failed to win a home game. Stirling were bottom on 5pts.
Group 6
Montrose won the group with 8pts ahead of East Fife and Raith Rovers on 6pts, despite losing 2-1 at Raith on the opening day.
Group 7
Clydebank emerged as group winners despite Arbroath opening with two 4-0 wins over Clydebank and East Stirling. Arbroath’s 1-0 defeat at Berwick, meant a final day decider at Kilbowie which Clydebank won 1-0.
Group 8
Stenhousemuir won the group winning their final two home games 2-1 v Morton and 3-2 v Stranraer to overtake their rivals and win the group on 8pts , with Stranraer on 7pts and Morton on 6pts.
Group 9
This group featured the bottom 6 clubs from the 1974/75 season, the winners then faced a playoff with a randomly drawn Group winner for a Quarter Final place. The six teams played each team once so only played 5 games.
Cowdenbeath were the winners with the decisive result being a 1-0 win away to Queens Park at Hampden.
Playoff
Clydebank beat Cowdenbeath 2-0 home and away for a 4-0 aggregate win.
Quarter Finals
Partick progressed to the League Cup semi final beating Clydebank 4-0 at Firhill before losing the return 1-0.
Montrose also reached the semi finals after losing 1-0 at Easter Road they beat Hibs 3-1 after extra time at Links Park for a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Queen of the South took Rangers to extra time at Palmerston after losing the first leg 1-0 at Ibrox
Celtic beat Stenhousemuir 2-0 away and 1-0 at home.
Semi Finals
Celtic beat Partick Thistle 1-0 in the League Cup semi final, while in the other semi final Montrose led Rangers 1-0 at half time before losing 5-1.
Final
Rangers beat Celtic 1-0
SCOTTISH FIRST DIVISION LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
August 1975
The League campaign opened on 30th August with Partick disappointingly drawing 0-0 away to Morton. Kilmarnock made a solid start beating ten man Hamilton 4-2 at home, but Montrose would go to the top beating East Fife 3-0 at home.
September 1975
Montrose won 2-1 at Angus rivals Arbroath before winning 3-2 at Dumbarton to maintain top spot three games into the season.
Partick moved into second place after beating Clyde 1-0 at home and then winning again at Rugby Park 1-0.
Partick would then move top by the end of the month with wins at Dumbarton 3-2 and 2-1 at home to Dumbarton.
Kilmarnock moved to second place having won four of their five games only losing to Partick by end of September.
Hamilton Accies moved into third place following up their opening day defeat with three successive wins and a draw at Montrose who dropped to 4th having lost at St Mirren before the draw with Accies.
At the other end of the table after drawing their opening game 2-2 with St Mirren , Queen of the South were bottom after losing three in a row.
Clyde were in the other relegation place having lost four of five games despite a 3-0 home win over St Mirren.
October 1975
Partick completed a sequence of six league wins on the bounce before a 1-0 defeat at home to Airdrie and a 0-0 draw at Arbroath saw them drop to second place.
Kilmarnock took over at the top of the league with seven wins in their nine games only losing at Montrose during October and winning the other games.
Airdrie moved into third place with three wins out of four during October all with clean sheets the only blips being a 2-2 draw at Clyde.
St Mirren moved up to fourth with three consecutive wins.
Queen of the South were bottom after losing six of their first nine games, with Morton in the other relegation spot having only won one game in their opening nine games.
Hamilton Accies lost all four games in the month to drop to tenth.
November 1975
Kilmarnock maintained top stop through the month with four wins all with clean sheets despite a shock 1-0 away defeat to Dunfermline.
Partick had a solid month to stay second including a 5-0 home win over East Fife.
Airdrie stayed in third place with four 2-2 draws during November and a 1-0 defeat away to Morton.
St Mirren stayed fourth just ahead of Montrose.
Hamilton Accies slumped into the relegation slots before a 3-2 win over East Fife lifted them to tenth.
Two wins and two draws lifted Clyde to seventh, but Queen of the South remained bottom losing three and drawing two in the month,
The other relegation place was filled by Dunfermline who despite their win over Kilmarnock and 1-1 draw at Firhill against Partick lost their other three games without scoring.
December 1975
Partick regained top spot when Kilmarnock lost 2-0 at Arbroath and Partick won 4-2 at Airdrie on the Saturday before Christmas then beat Arbroath 2-0 at home.
Kilmarnock only won one game in December and drew two.
Airdrie stayed third while Arbroath moved up to fourth beating East Fife , Hamilton and Kilmarnock before dropping back to sixth with defeat at Firhill.
Montrose moved fourth ahead of St Mirren.
Queen of the South ended the year bottom although there were sparks of recovery as they won their final three games 5-2 against Dunfermline , 1-0 at Morton and 4-2 over Dumbarton.
Clyde slumped into the relegation spots losing all four games in December.
January 1976
Partick played Kilmarnock on 3rd January at Firhill and was a virtual title decider as they had a one point lead over the Ayrshire side. The match attracted a massive crowd of 11,507.
Partick won 2-0 with goals by Benny Rooney and Joe Craig as Thistle moved clear in the title race.
Partick were by the end of January in pole position with a three point lead over Kilmarnock with only three games remaining.
Montrose suffered a 5-3 home defeat to Angus rivals Arbroath on New Years Day before winning 6-0 at Dumbarton and ended the month in third place.
Dumbarton bounced back to beat Kilmarnock 3-9 and draw 0-0 at Firhill.
Queen of the South continued their recovery with a 2-2 draw at Airdrie followed by another three wins to move up to tenth.
Hamilton drew three games in a row before winning 4-1 at Morton as they ended the month in eleventh place.
Dunfermline with two draws and two defeats moved into the relegation places with Clyde
Clyde’s slump continued losing all three games to end the month in bottom spot.
February 1976
Partick Thistle were crowned Champions winning all three games in February completing a 15 games unbeaten run which included 11 wins.
Kilmarnock won promotion finishing second while Montrose finishing third had opened February with a 7-1 win at East Frife.
Dumbarton won their final four games to finish fourth ahead of Arbroath in fifth.
Airdrie dropped from fourth to seventh when they lost 3-1 at home to St Mirren (who snatched sixth place) and Hamilton Accies away 2-1.
Hamilton Accies ended February with a ten game unbeaten run although only three of them were wins. Accies final game of the season was held over to March and was lost 3-0 at Dumbarton. Accies finished outside the relegation places in ninth place behind Falkirk.
Queen of the South stayed up winning eight of their final eleven games.
Clyde finished bottom losing twelve of their last thirteen games only drawing 0-0 with Hamilton on the second last day.
Dunfermline were also relegated losing their final two games after a 5-1 win over Clyde.
SCOTTISH CUP
Third Round
Partick won 2-1 at Albion Rovers , Ayr beat Airdrie 4-2 , Hearts drew 2-2 with Clyde before winning the replay 1-0 away. Montrose won 3-1 at Morton.
Motherwell produced the shock of the round coming from 2-0 down at half time to beat Celtic 3-2 at Fir Park.
Fourth Round
Queen of the South draw 2-2 at Premier Division Ayr before winning the replay at Palmerston 5-4 after extra time to reach the Quarter Final
Montrose beat Raith Rovers 2-1 while Rangers beat Aberdeen 4-1.
Partick Thistle drew 0-0 at Firhill with Dumbarton , with the replay being won 1-0 by Dumbarton.
Quarter Final
Dumbarton having seen off First Division champions Partick Thistle then knocked out runners up Kilmarnock 2-1 at Boghead.
Montrose drew 2-2 with Hearts at Links Park , before drawing again 2-2 at Tynecastle before losing the second replay at Muirton Park, Perth 2-1 after extra time.
Motherwell drew 2-2 with Hibs before the replay at Easter Road ended 1-1 after extra time. a third game at Ibrox saw Motherwell win 2-1.
Queen of the South lost 5-0 at home. to Rangers.
Semi Finals
Dumbarton drew 0-0 with Hearts in the Hampden semi -final before returning to the National Stadium and losing the replay 3-0.
Motherwell saw the fortune of their Third Round victory over Celtic reversed when their 2-0 half time lead over Rangers ended in a 3-2 defeat , the turning point being Rangers controversial penalty award at 0-2 early in the second half.
Final
Rangers scored in the first minute and went on to beat Hearts 3-1.
FIRST DIVISION NOTABLE PLAYERS BY TEAM
1 PARTICK THISTLE
Alan Rough – Goalkeeper – 53 Scotland caps and play in two World Cups – 1978 & 1982
Danny Kellachan – played 147 games for Partick before moving to Hamilton Accies in 1978.
Alan Hansen – 26 Scotland caps , won 3 European Cups, 8 League titles , 2 FA Cups , 3 League Cups during a distinguished career with Liverpool before becoming a Match of the Day pundit.
John Hansen – Alan’s brother was the only ever present in the 1975/76 Partick Thistle team
Jackie Campbell played 406 games for Partick between 1963 – 1982, as part of the famous Thistle team that won the 1971 League Cup
Dougie Somner – Top scorer with 27 goals went on to play for St Mirren and was their first scorer in Europe before moving to Hamilton Accies and Montrose.
Joe Craig – Scorer of 23 goals in 1975/76 . moved to Celtic where he gained his only Scotland cap coming off the bench to score before moving to Blackburn Rovers and Hamilton Accies.
Dennis McQuade – Scorer of 13 goals , had scored in Partick ‘s famous 4-1 League Cup Final win over Celtic in 1971 went on to play for Hearts and Hamilton Accies.
2 KILMARNOCK
Jim Stewart – Goalkeeper – 2 caps for Scotland and was part of Scotland 1974 World Cup Squad, went on to play for Middlesborough and Rangers
Goalkeeping coach at Kilmarnock , Hearts , Rangers , Scotland and Nottingham Forest.
Gordon Smith – moved on to Rangers before a move to Brighton led to his infamous miss in the 1983 FA Cup final , became Chief Executive of SFA from 2007 -2010.
Davie Provan – won 10 caps for Scotland after moving to Celtic where he won 4 Premier Leagues , 2 Scottish Cups and 1 League Cup.
Iain McCulloch – went to Notts County where he won promotion to First Division in 1981 and was their top scorer for next two seaons.
3 MONTROSE
Les Barr – the hero of Montrose League Cup run – scored the winning goal in Quarter Final against Hobs and scored the penalty that gave Montrose the half time lead against Rangers in the Semi Final
Harry Johnston – played 182 games 1970-76 for Montrose and returned for a second spell playing 95 games – 1979-1982 after a spell with Partick Thistle.
Bertie Miller played 120 games for Montrose 1975-1979 after two spells at East Fife either side of his big move to Aberdeen. where he played 49 games 1971-1973.
4 DUMBARTON
Walter Smith – went on to manage Rangers and Scotland
Murdo MacLeod – won 20 caps for Scotland , including playing at World Cup in 1990. He moved to Celtic where he won 4 Premier Leagues , 2 Scottish Cups and 1 League Cup before moving to Borussia Dortmund where he won the German Cup , and then Hibernian where he won 1 League Cup
John Bourke – joint top league scorer with 17 goals , went on to have a successful career at Dundee Utd & Kilmarnock before returning to both Dumbarton and Kilmarnock either side of a spell at Brechin City.
Ian Wallace – won 3 Scotland caps and went to Coventry City before a spell under Brian Clough at reigning European Cup holders Nottingham Forest.
5 ARBROATH
Gordon Marshall -Veteran Goalkeeper played 142 games for Arbroath 1972-1978 , began his career playing 193 games for Hearts 1956-1963 before moving to Newcastle playing 177 games 1963-1968. Also played for Nottingham Forest before returning to Scotland Hibs , Celtic and Aberdeen.
Jimmy Bone – scored for Partick in 1971 League Cup Final win and played for Norwich and Sheffield Utd before moving to Gayfield before winning the Anglo Scottish Cup under Alex Ferguson at St Mirren.
Derek Rylance played 275 games for Arbroath 1971-1981.
6 ST MIRREN
Alex Ferguson – manager began his managerial career at Love Street in 1974, and became a legend at Aberdeen and Manchester Utd.
Tony Fitzpatrick – made captain of St Mirren at age 19 by Alex Ferguson played 160 games for St Mirren before moving to Bristol City before returning and playing another 191 games for the Paisley club. He had a 6 year spell as CEO from 2016.
Frank McGarvey – his scoring exploits at St Mirren led to an ill-fated move to Liverpool. He had great success at Celtic lifting 5 major honours between 1980 and 1985 before returning to St Mirren and helping them lift the Scottish Cup in 1987.
Billy Stark – played 255 games for St Mirren before success with Aberdeen and Celtic before brief spells at Kilmarnock and Hamilton Accies. He went on to a long coaching career beginning as assistant to Tommy Burns at Celtic and worked at SFA as Scotland u-21 manager.
7 AIRDRIE
This Airdrie team had played Celtic in the 1975 Scottish Cup Final
Derek Whiteford – played over 300 games in a ten year spell with Airdrie from 1967.
Paul Jonquin played over 700 games for Airdrie between 1962 and 1979
8 FALKIRK
Ally Donaldson Goalkeeper for Falkirk between 1972 and 1976 either side of playing for Dundee.
Stewart Kennedy a full back who played over 100 games for Falkikrk before moving to Aberdeen , where he won 8 Scotland caps including playing in 1978 World Cup. A serious injury in European Cup Winners Cup semi final in 1983 brought a premature end to his career and missed the final in Gothenburg although he was on the bench against Real Madrid.
9 HAMILTON ACCIES
Rikki Ferguson – goalkeeper played a club record 452 games for Accies 1974-1988, also capped by Scotland at u-21 level , a real hero to Accies fans.
Jim Frew – right back who played 363 games for Accies 1971-1981
Arthur McMillan left back played 221 games for Accies 1969- 1977 , winning Accies Player of the Year award in 1971, 1973 & 1976.
Jamie Fairlie – many Accies fans of the era’s favourite player , played 291 games for Accies scoring 74 goals 1974-1983 , sadly broke his leg at Falkirk on the eve of a big money move to Aberdeen in 1981. He went on to play for Airdrie, where he scored the winner against Dumbarton , which handed the 1986 First Division to Accies. Following spells with Clydebank and Motherwell. He returned to Accies 1987-1989 winning the First Division in 1988 playing a further 41 games and scoring 7 goals.
Billy Thomas a new signing at the start of the season , scored 17 goals in 25 appearances over two seasons.
10 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH
Allan Ball – goalkeeper played 579 games for Queens his only club between 1963 & 1982.
Tommy O’Hara – went to play in USA and returned to play for Motherwell, Falkirk and Partick Thistle.
11 MORTON
Roy Baines – goalkeeper signed from Hibs played 117 games for Morton 1972-1976 before a playing a few games in a 3 year spell at Celtic before returning to Morton 1979-1983 playing a further 154 games before ending his career with St Johnstone 1983-85.
Davie Hayes – full back who played 465 games for Morton 1969-1984
George Anderson played for Morton 1969-81 and returned from 1985-87 after a spell with Airdrie.
12 EAST FIFE
Ernie McGarr – experienced goalkeeper began his career at Aberdeen where he was unable to dislodge Bobby Clark , but won 2 Scotland caps before he played 118 games for East Fife before playing 75 games for Airdrie between 1978 and 1980. He famously saved three penalties against Celtic in 1973.
Mark Clougherty played for East Fife before moving to Falkirk, Clyde and then on to Dumbarton where he played 223 games 1980-1988.
13 DUNFERMLINE
Allan Evans – moved on to Aston Villa where he won the English League Championship in 1981 and European Cup in 1982 and was a member of the Scotland squad at Spain 82 and won 4 Scotland caps
14 CLYDE
Dom Sullivan – a cultured midfield player , went on to play successfully for Aberdeen and Celtic
Neil Hood – signed from Hamilton Accies in 1975 having scored 44 goals in 144 games for Accies, went on to score 69 goals in 151 games for Clyde a popular striker.
Football is Academical 