1970–71 in Scottish football

Division One champions
Celtic
Division Two champions
Partick Thistle
Scottish Cup winners
Celtic
League Cup winners
Rangers
Junior Cup winners
Cambuslang Rangers
Teams in Europe
Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Rangers
Scotland national team
1971 BHC, UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying

The 1970–71 season was the 98th season of competitive football in Scotland and the 74th season of Scottish league football.[1]

## Scottish League Division One

[edit]

Main article: 1970–71 Scottish Division One

Aberdeen, with a 15-game unbeaten run, led the league from December until the last week of the season. Aberdeen faced Celtic in their penultimate game, needing a win to almost certainly clinch the title, but could only draw 1–1 and then they lost their last game, at Falkirk, allowing Celtic to take the championship by 2 points.

Pos | Team

* v
* t
* e

| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Celtic | 34  | 25  | 6  | 3  | 89  | 23  | +66  | 56  | Champion
2  | Aberdeen | 34  | 24  | 6  | 4  | 68  | 18  | +50  | 54  |
3  | St Johnstone | 34  | 19  | 6  | 9  | 59  | 44  | +15  | 44
4  | Rangers | 34  | 16  | 9  | 9  | 58  | 34  | +24  | 41
5  | Dundee | 34  | 14  | 10  | 10  | 53  | 45  | +8  | 38
6  | Dundee United | 34  | 14  | 8  | 12  | 53  | 54  | −1  | 36
7  | Falkirk | 34  | 13  | 9  | 12  | 46  | 53  | −7  | 35
8  | Morton | 34  | 13  | 8  | 13  | 44  | 44  | 0  | 34
9  | Airdrieonians | 34  | 13  | 8  | 13  | 60  | 65  | −5  | 34
10  | Motherwell | 34  | 13  | 8  | 13  | 43  | 47  | −4  | 34
11  | Heart of Midlothian | 34  | 13  | 7  | 14  | 41  | 40  | +1  | 33
12  | Hibernian | 34  | 10  | 10  | 14  | 47  | 53  | −6  | 30
13  | Kilmarnock | 34  | 10  | 8  | 16  | 43  | 67  | −24  | 28
14  | Ayr United | 34  | 9  | 8  | 17  | 37  | 54  | −17  | 26
15  | Clyde | 34  | 8  | 10  | 16  | 33  | 59  | −26  | 26
16  | Dunfermline Athletic | 34  | 6  | 11  | 17  | 44  | 56  | −12  | 23
17  | St Mirren | 34  | 7  | 9  | 18  | 38  | 56  | −18  | 23  | Relegated to 1971–72 Second Division
18  | Cowdenbeath | 34  | 7  | 3  | 24  | 33  | 69  | −36  | 17

Source: Soccerbase and League Tables

Champions: Celtic
Relegated: St Mirren, Cowdenbeath

## Scottish League Division Two

[edit]

Main article: 1970–71 Scottish Division Two

Pos | Team

* v
* t
* e

| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Partick Thistle | 36  | 23  | 10  | 3  | 78  | 26  | +52  | 56  | Promotion to the 1971–72 First Division
2  | East Fife | 36  | 22  | 7  | 7  | 86  | 44  | +42  | 51
3  | Arbroath | 36  | 19  | 8  | 9  | 80  | 52  | +28  | 46  |
4  | Dumbarton | 36  | 19  | 6  | 11  | 87  | 46  | +41  | 44
5  | Clydebank | 36  | 17  | 8  | 11  | 57  | 43  | +14  | 42
6  | Montrose | 36  | 17  | 7  | 12  | 78  | 64  | +14  | 41
7  | Albion Rovers | 36  | 15  | 9  | 12  | 53  | 52  | +1  | 39
8  | Raith Rovers | 36  | 15  | 9  | 12  | 62  | 62  | 0  | 39
9  | Stranraer | 36  | 14  | 8  | 14  | 54  | 52  | +2  | 36
10  | Stenhousemuir | 36  | 14  | 8  | 14  | 64  | 70  | −6  | 36
11  | Queen of the South | 36  | 13  | 9  | 14  | 50  | 56  | −6  | 35
12  | Stirling Albion | 36  | 12  | 8  | 16  | 61  | 61  | 0  | 32
13  | Queen's Park | 36  | 13  | 4  | 19  | 51  | 72  | −21  | 30
14  | Berwick Rangers | 36  | 10  | 10  | 16  | 42  | 60  | −18  | 30
15  | Forfar Athletic | 36  | 9  | 11  | 16  | 63  | 75  | −12  | 29
16  | Alloa Athletic | 36  | 9  | 11  | 16  | 56  | 86  | −30  | 29
17  | East Stirlingshire | 36  | 9  | 9  | 18  | 57  | 86  | −29  | 27
18  | Hamilton Academical | 36  | 8  | 7  | 21  | 50  | 79  | −29  | 23
19  | Brechin City | 36  | 6  | 7  | 23  | 30  | 73  | −43  | 19

Source: "1970-1971 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Promoted: Partick Thistle, East Fife

## Cup honours

[edit]

Competition  | Winner  | Score  | Runner-up

|
|
|

Scottish Cup 1970–71 | Celtic | 2 – 1 (rep.)  | Rangers
League Cup 1970–71 | Rangers | 1 – 0  | Celtic
Junior Cup | Cambuslang Rangers | 2 – 1  | Newtongrange Star

## Other honours

[edit]

### National

[edit]

Competition  | Winner  | Score  | Runner-up

|
|
|

Scottish Qualifying Cup – North  | Inverness Caledonian | 4 – 2 * †  | Elgin City
Scottish Qualifying Cup – South  | St Cuthbert Wanderers | 5 – 3 *  | Burntisland Shipyard

### County

[edit]

Competition  | Winner  | Score  | Runner-up

|
|
|

Aberdeenshire Cup | Peterhead |  |
Ayrshire Cup | Ayr United | 2 – 2 * ‡  | Kilmarnock
East of Scotland Shield | Hibernian | 1 – 0  | Hearts
Fife Cup | Cowdenbeath | 2 – 0 *  | Dunfermline Athletic
Forfarshire Cup | Dundee | 2 – 0  | Dundee United
Lanarkshire Cup | Airdrie |  | Motherwell
Stirlingshire Cup | Stenhousemuir | 3 – 2  | East Stirling

* – aggregate over two legs
† – play off
‡ – won on penalties

### Highland League

[edit]

Top Three  Pos | Team  | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Inverness Caledonian | 30  | 23  | 5  | 2  | 92  | 32  | +60  | 51
2  | Inverness Thistle | 30  | 20  | 6  | 4  | 115  | 41  | +74  | 46
3  | Peterhead | 30  | 19  | 7  | 4  | 98  | 45  | +53  | 45

Source: [citation needed]

## Individual honours

[edit]

Award  | Winner  | Club

|
|

Footballer of the Year |  Martin Buchan | Aberdeen

## Scotland national team

[edit]

Main article: Scotland national football team 1960–79 results

Date  | Venue  | Opponents  | Score[2] | Competition  | Scotland scorer(s)

|
|
|
|
|

11 November  | Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  |  Denmark | 1–0  | ECQG5 | John O'Hare
3 February  | Stade Sclessin, Liège (A)  |  Belgium | 0–3  | ECQG5 |
21 April  | Estadio da Luz, Lisbon (A)  |  Portugal | 0–2  | ECQG5 |
15 May  | Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)  |  Wales | 0–0  | BHC |
18 May  | Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  |  Northern Ireland | 0–1  | BHC |
22 May  | Wembley Stadium, London (A)  |  England | 1–3  | BHC | Hugh Curran
9 June  | Idraetsparken, Copenhagen (A)  |  Denmark | 0–1  | ECQG5 |
14 June  | Lenin Stadium, Moscow (A)  |  Soviet Union | 0–1  | Friendly |

Key:

* (H) = Home match
* (A) = Away match
* ECQG5 = European Championship qualifying – Group 5
* BHC = British Home Championship

## Notes and references

[edit]

1. ^ "1970/71 - the Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 10 September 2012.
2. ^ Scotland's score is shown first.

## External links

[edit]

* Scottish Football Historical Archive

* v
* t
* e

Seasons in Scottish football

* 1840s
* 1850s
* 1860s
* 1870
* 1871–72
* 1872–73
* 1873–74
* 1874–75
* 1875–76
* 1876–77
* 1877–78
* 1878–79
* 1879–80
* 1880–81
* 1881–82
* 1882–83
* 1883–84
* 1884–85
* 1885–86
* 1886–87
* 1887–88
* 1888–89
* 1889–90
* 1890–91
* 1891–92
* 1892–93
* 1893–94
* 1894–95
* 1895–96
* 1896–97
* 1897–98
* 1898–99
* 1899–1900
* 1900–01
* 1901–02
* 1902–03
* 1903–04
* 1904–05
* 1905–06
* 1906–07
* 1907–08
* 1908–09
* 1909–10
* 1910–11
* 1911–12
* 1912–13
* 1913–14
* 1914–15
* 1915–16
* 1916–17
* 1917–18
* 1918–19
* 1919–20
* 1920–21
* 1921–22
* 1922–23
* 1923–24
* 1924–25
* 1925–26
* 1926–27
* 1927–28
* 1928–29
* 1929–30
* 1930–31
* 1931–32
* 1932–33
* 1933–34
* 1934–35
* 1935–36
* 1936–37
* 1937–38
* 1938–39
* 1939–40
* 1940–41
* 1941–42
* 1942–43
* 1943–44
* 1944–45
* 1945–46
* 1946–47
* 1947–48
* 1948–49
* 1949–50
* 1950–51
* 1951–52
* 1952–53
* 1953–54
* 1954–55
* 1955–56
* 1956–57
* 1957–58
* 1958–59
* 1959–60
* 1960–61
* 1961–62
* 1962–63
* 1963–64
* 1964–65
* 1965–66
* 1966–67
* 1967–68
* 1968–69
* 1969–70
* 1970–71
* 1971–72
* 1972–73
* 1973–74
* 1974–75
* 1975–76
* 1976–77
* 1977–78
* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96
* 1996–97
* 1997–98
* 1998–99
* 1999–2000
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25

* v
* t
* e

1970–71 in Scottish football

« 1969–70

1971–72 »

Domestic leagues|

* Football League
* Division One
* Division Two
* Highland League

Domestic cups|

* Scottish Cup
* Final
* League Cup
* Final
* Junior Cup

European competitions|

* European Cup
* European Cup Winners' Cup
* Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
* Texaco Cup

Related to national team|

* Results
* Euro 1972 qualifying (Group 5)
* British Home Championship

Club seasons

Division One|

* Aberdeen
* Airdrieonians
* Ayr United
* Celtic
* Clyde
* Cowdenbeath
* Dundee
* Dundee United
* Dunfermline Athletic
* Falkirk
* Heart of Midlothian
* Hibernian
* Kilmarnock
* Morton
* Motherwell
* Rangers
* St. Johnstone
* St. Mirren

Division Two|

* Albion Rovers
* Alloa Athletic
* Arbroath
* Berwick Rangers
* Brechin City
* Clydebank
* Dumbarton
* East Fife
* East Stirlingshire
* Forfar Athletic
* Hamilton Academical
* Montrose
* Queen of the South
* Queen's Park
* Partick Thistle
* Raith Rovers
* Stenhousemuir
* Stirling Albion
* Stranraer

*[Pos]: Position
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points