Troubled season for Rangers

The 2005/06 season in Scotland saw Rangers finishing the campaign empty-handed.

In the Premier League they only managed a third placing and missed out on the Champions League.

Besides, they were knocked out of the two domestic competitions - Celtic beat them in the quarter-finals of the League Cup while Hibernian gave them a 3-0 hiding in round four of the Scottish Cup at Ibrox.

In their first season under Gordon Strachan, Celtic claimed their 40th championship crown with a 17-point cushion.

Yet, in Europe the 'Gers became the first Scottish side to reach the knock-out phase of the Champions League. But, that was not enough to save Alex McLeish from the sack. Next season he will be replaced by Frenchman Paul Le Guen.

Celtic did get a helping hand from their ex-player Henrik Larsson. He turned provider this time as he set up the two goals for Barcelona to defeat Arsenal 2-1 in the Champions League final.

Arsenal will now play in the third qualifying round of the competition while Celtic go straight into the group phase.

Hearts will make their debut in the Champions League after finishing second in the Premier League. Rangers and Hibernian, along with Scottish Cup finalists Gretna, will compete in the UEFA Cup.

Livingston officially became the worst team in Premier League history after they went down with a total of 18 points - three fewer than the previous record low tally set by St Johnstone in 2001-02.

Hearts lifted the Scottish Cup, beating Gretna 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. The League Cup went to Celtic after a resounding 3-0 win over Dunfermline.

Livingston will be replaced by First Division champions St Mirren, who claimed a double following their win over Hamilton in the Bells Cup, the KO tournament for non-Premier League sides.

Individual prizes:

Scottish Football Writers Manager of the Year: Gordon Strachan (Celtic).

Scottish Football Writers Player of the Year: Craig Gordon (Hearts).

Scottish Football Writers Young Player of the Year: Steven Naysmith (Kilmarnock).

Scottish Premier Player of the Season: Paul Hartley (Hearts).

Scottish PFA Player and Young Player of the Year: Shaun Maloney (Celtic).

Hat-tricks

August 9: Hartson for Celtic (away) vs Motherwell 4-4.

August 27: Nish for Kilmarnock (home) vs Livingston 3-0; Sproule for Hibernian (away) vs Rangers 3-0.

September 20: Young for Dunfermline (away) vs Kilmarnock 4-3 (League Cup).

October 26: Petrov for Celtic (home) vs Motherwell 5-0.

December 11: Lovenkrands for Rangers (away) vs Kilmarnock 3-2.

January 7: Boyd for Rangers (home) vs Peterhead 5-0 (Scottish Cup).

February 19: Zurawski - netted four - for Celtic (away) vs Dunfermline 8-1.

April 2: Boyd for Rangers (away) vs Dundee United 4-1; Hartley for Hearts (Hampden Park) vs Hibernian 4-0 (Scottish Cup).

Note: Where not indicated, hat-trick netted in Premier League.

Play-offs

First Division - Final
Partick-Peterhead 1-2
Peterhead-Partick 1-2
Aggregate 3-3. Partick win 4-2 on penalties to earn promotion.

Second Division - Final
Alloa-Berwick 4-0
Berwick-Alloa 2-1
Aggregate 5-2 for Alloa. They stay up as Berwick failed in their promotion attempt.