1990–91 Scottish Premier Division
# 1990–91 Scottish Premier Division

The 1990–91 Scottish Premier Division season was won by Rangers, two points ahead of Aberdeen. Rangers had seemed on course for a comfortable victory in the championship, but a loss of form around the time of manager Graeme Souness leaving the club allowed a surging Aberdeen to take the lead in the championship after 35 games. Rangers won a league deciding match against Aberdeen in the final game of the season at Ibrox. Mark Hateley scored twice in a 2–0 victory for Rangers, giving them their third successive league championship. Due to a league expansion from 10 to 12 teams, no clubs were relegated.

## Clubs

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium |
| - | - | - |
| Aberdeen | Aberdeen | Pittodrie Stadium |
| Celtic | Parkhead, Glasgow | Celtic Park |
| Dundee United | Dundee | Tannadice Park |
| Dunfermline Athletic | Dunfermline | East End Park |
| Heart of Midlothian | Gorgie, Edinburgh | Tynecastle Park |
| Hibernian | Leith, Edinburgh | Easter Road |
| Motherwell | Motherwell | Fir Park |
| Rangers | Ibrox, Glasgow | Ibrox Park |
| St Johnstone | Perth | McDiarmid Park |
| St Mirren | Paisley | Love Street |

### Managers

| Team | Manager |
| - | - |
| Aberdeen | Alex Smith and Jocky Scott (co-managers) |
| Celtic | Billy McNeill |
| Dundee United | Jim McLean |
| Dunfermline Athletic | Iain Munro |
| Heart of Midlothian | Joe Jordan |
| Hibernian | Alex Miller |
| Motherwell | Tommy McLean |
| Rangers | Walter Smith |
| St Johnstone | Alex Totten |
| St Mirren | Tony Fitzpatrick |

**Managerial changes**

| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Dunfermline Athletic | Jim Leishman | 31 May 1990 | Resigned | Iain Munro | 27 July 1990 |
| Heart of Midlothian | Alex MacDonald | 9 September 1990 | Sacked | Joe Jordan | 10 September 1990 |
| Rangers | Graeme Souness | 16 April 1991 | Signed by Liverpool | Walter Smith | 19 April 1991 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 36 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 62 | 23 | +39 | 55 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Aberdeen | 36 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 62 | 27 | +35 | 53 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Celtic | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 52 | 38 | +14 | 41 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Dundee United | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 41 | 29 | +12 | 41 | |
| 5 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 48 | 55 | −7 | 35 | |
| 6 | Motherwell | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 33 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 7 | St Johnstone | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 41 | 54 | −13 | 31 | |
| 8 | Dunfermline Athletic | 36 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 38 | 61 | −23 | 27 | |
| 9 | Hibernian | 36 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 24 | 51 | −27 | 25 | |
| 10 | St Mirren | 36 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 28 | 59 | −31 | 19 | |

## Results

### Matches 1–18

During matches 1-18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | DNU | DUF | HOM | HIB | MOT | RAN | STJ | STM |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aberdeen | | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Celtic | 0–3 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 |
| Dundee United | 2–3 | 3–1 | | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Hibernian | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Motherwell | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | | 2–4 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Rangers | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | | 4–1 | 5–0 |
| St Johnstone | 5–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 0–1 |
| St Mirren | 0–4 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | |

### Matches 19–36

During matches 19-36 each team plays every other team a further two times (home and away).

| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | DNU | DUF | HOM | HIB | MOT | RAN | STJ | STM |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aberdeen | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Celtic | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Dundee United | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Hibernian | 2–4 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–4 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–3 |
| Motherwell | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 |
| Rangers | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| St Johnstone | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 1–1 | | 2–1 |
| St Mirren | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | |
