retired_amyslack

Scotland On Sunday
May 4th, 2003
Title Race Goes To The Wire

Narrow wins for both Rangers and Celtic yesterday ensured that the race for the SPL title will go all the way. A Gary McCutcheon goal 20 minutes from time gave Celtic the win at Aberdeen although had Celtic shown greater composure in front of goal it would not have been such a nerve-wracking afternoon for the fans and the manager. Rangers completed a 3-2 win over Hibs to keep them in with a shout if Celtic are unable to finish the job at home to Dundee United next weekend. The relegation question, however, has been answered as Hearts will now be playing First Division football next season.

retired_bbcarr

*bites nails*

retired_amyslack

The waiting is over...

Scotland On Sunday
May 11th, 2003
Celtic Are Champions

There were scenes of jubilation at Celtic Park yesterday as a 2-0 victory over Dundee United ensured that Celtic were crowned as Premier League champions. Goals from Gary McCutcheon and Gary Teale provided the win although a surprise 1-0 win for Livingston over Rangers rendered the Parkhead result irrelevant. Capturing the title in a titanic struggle over rivals Rangers certainly seems to have vindicated the controversial decision taken two seasons ago to focus on signing and playing Scottish players in order to rejuvenate the national game.

retired_marcias

I can't stand Celtic, but since you're managing them I'll force a "" :p

retired_bbcarr

yay! good title win, bob

retired_amyslack

Thanks fellas

The Glasgow Herald
May 15th, 2003
Betis Lift UEFA Cup

Real Betis, Celtic's conquerors in the Semi Final, won the UEFA Cup last night with a 1-0 win over Arsenal at the Amsterdam ArenA. The only goal of a somewhat disappointing game came early in the second half and the Gunners were unable to mount an effective reply as their luck finally ran out.


The Glasgow Herald
May 22nd, 2003
Roma Bore Inter To Death

It was no great surprise to see the all-Italian Champions League Final end in a scoreless draw with Roma beating Inter in the penalty shootout. Most commentators agree that this was possibly the most boring final ever played in a competition that specialises in boring finals.

retired_amyslack

Scotland On Sunday
May 25th, 2003
Highland Heartache At Hampden
First Division Ross County put up a great fight in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park yesterday but in the end Kilmarnock were just too strong for them and won the trophy 2-1. Garry Hay gave Kilmarnock the lead after 14 minutes and that's how the score stayed until the break. Craig Dargo added a second in the 69th minute before Man of the Match 19-year-old Darren Jack pulled one back for Ross County.

retired_amyslack

Scotland On Sunday
June 1st, 2003
Season Review

Welcome to our annual roundup of the season just completed in Scotland and around Europe. In Scotland, Celtic showed that their "Braveheart Revolution" could bring success as they won the Premiership with a 5-point gap over Rangers. Celtic dominated the annual awards with boss Tick Jones voted Manager of the Year. His players also featured strongly in their respective categories. The Scottish Cup was won by Kilmarnock with Celtic retaining the League Cup and Cowdenbeath won the Challenge Cup. In Europe, Celtic reached the UEFA Cup Semi Final but Rangers finished bottom of their Champions League group with just one point.

The final leagues tables for all four divisions are shown below.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ********************************************** Scottish Premier Division - Sunday 1st June 2003********************************************** *********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Celtic 38 14 3 2 46 12 13 6 0 40 10 90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Rangers 38 14 2 3 36 13 12 5 2 38 20 85 3rd Livingston 38 12 5 3 38 18 5 3 10 16 19 59 4th Hibs 38 12 1 6 33 27 7 1 11 28 40 59 5th Aberdeen 38 10 3 5 24 15 5 6 9 17 24 54 6th Dundee Utd 38 9 4 5 29 24 6 2 12 15 34 51 7th Kilmarnock 38 11 3 6 33 19 5 2 11 16 31 53 8th Dundee 38 8 6 5 28 23 4 8 7 20 24 50 9th Dunfermline 38 8 4 6 26 21 2 8 10 11 33 42 10th St. Mirren 38 5 7 8 21 24 2 4 12 16 34 32 11th Motherwell 38 4 5 9 14 23 4 2 14 14 30 31 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12th R Hearts 38 7 6 7 21 25 0 2 16 13 50 29 ************************************************** ***************************************** Scottish First Division - Sunday 1st June 2003********************************************** *********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Inverness C. Thistle 36 15 3 0 49 14 8 2 8 33 35 74 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd St. Johnstone 36 14 2 2 38 19 7 3 8 37 41 68 3rd Ayr 36 15 2 1 42 12 5 3 10 20 31 65 4th Partick Thistle 36 7 3 8 28 24 8 4 6 26 23 52 5th Airdrie Utd 36 8 4 6 31 28 6 6 6 18 19 52 6th Ross County 36 10 3 5 36 25 5 1 12 19 37 49 7th Arbroath 36 9 3 6 29 25 4 3 11 22 34 45 8th Falkirk 36 8 3 7 36 29 3 3 12 18 38 39 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9th R Clyde 36 4 7 7 25 31 4 5 9 25 39 36 10th R Hamilton 36 4 5 9 18 27 1 5 12 16 35 25 ************************************************** ***************************************** Scottish Second Division - Sunday 1st June 2003********************************************** *********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Forfar 36 10 5 3 37 22 7 4 7 33 32 60 2nd P Raith Rovers 36 10 4 4 29 19 7 2 9 25 34 57 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Cowdenbeath 36 6 5 7 21 21 7 9 2 23 19 53 4th Dumbarton 36 5 9 4 25 24 8 4 6 27 25 52 5th Queen's Park 36 7 5 6 25 24 7 3 8 24 22 50 6th Stranraer 36 6 3 9 27 35 7 5 6 35 36 47 7th Alloa 36 7 4 7 18 18 5 5 8 13 17 45 8th Berwick 36 6 4 8 19 26 6 4 8 19 23 44 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9th R Morton 36 6 6 6 31 27 5 3 10 28 33 42 10th R Queen of Sth. 36 8 3 7 36 32 2 9 7 21 27 42 ************************************************** ***************************************** Scottish Third Division - Sunday 1st June 2003********************************************** *********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Peterhead 36 9 6 3 33 24 10 3 5 37 27 66 2nd P Albion Rovers 36 7 7 4 36 32 10 6 2 36 25 64 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Montrose 36 11 4 3 40 23 7 4 7 32 29 62 4th Stirling 36 7 6 5 34 26 8 2 8 42 39 53 5th Elgin City 36 7 6 5 26 24 7 5 6 33 36 53 6th Stenhousemuir 36 6 2 10 24 38 7 5 6 26 23 46 7th Brechin 36 7 4 7 41 28 4 4 10 28 31 41 8th Gretna 36 7 4 7 21 24 3 5 10 12 23 39 9th East Fife 36 7 4 7 30 30 2 5 11 14 37 36 10th East Stirling 36 7 2 9 25 30 2 6 10 19 40 35</pre>

Scottish Awards

Player of the Year
1st - Paul Lambert, Celtic
2nd - Stephen Crainey, Celtic
3rd - Gary McCutcheon, Celtic

Young Player of the Year
1st - Mark Kerr, Celtic
2nd - James McFadden, Celtic
3rd - Kevin Nolan, Rangers

Top Goalscorer
1st - Steve Laidlaw, Montrose, 35 goals
2nd - Peter MacDonald, St. Johnstone, 23 goals
3rd - Ian Rankin, Albion Rovers, 22 goals

Scottish European Qualifiers
Champions League - Celtic, Rangers
UEFA Cup - Livingston, Kilmarnock
Inter-Toto Cup - Hibs

England
Premier League Champions - Liverpool
Relegated - Bolton, Ipswich, West Ham

First Division Champions - Fulham
Promoted - Portsmouth, Charlton
Relegated - Wimbledon, Reading, Brighton

Second Division Champions - Crewe
Promoted - Walsall, Brentford
Relegated - Colchester, Cardiff, Grimsby, Luton

Third Division Champions - Southend
Promoted - Scunthorpe, Swansea, Cambridge Utd
Relegated - Exeter

Conference Champions - Barnet
Relegated - Southport, Kettering, Aldershot

FA Cup - Arsenal 2 Blackburn 0

League Cup - Man Utd 2 Tottenham 1

Vans Trophy - Crewe 1 Stevenage 0

FA Trophy - Barnet 1 Bournemouth 0

Charity Shield - Arsenal 0 Liverpool 0 (Arsenal win on penalties)


France
First Division Champions - Nantes
French Cup - Nantes 2 Montpellier 2 (Nantes win on penalties)

Germany
First Division Champions - FC Bayern
German Cup - FC Bayern 3 1860 Munchen 0

Holland
Premier Division Champions - PSV
Dutch Cup - PSV 2 NEC 0

Italy
Serie A Champions - Inter
Italian Cup - Milan 2 Parma 2 (over two legs, Milan win on away goals)

Portugal
Premier Division Champions - Sporting
Portuguese Cup - Benfica 2 Vitoria Setubal 1

Spain
First Division Champions - Barcelona
Spanish Cup - Sevilla 3 Tenerife 2

European Competitions
Champions League - Roma 0 Inter 0 (Roma win on penalties)
UEFA Cup - Betis 1 Arsenal 0

retired_amyslack

The Glasgow Herald
June 5th, 2003
Sad Scots Lose Again

Scotland suffered yet another defeat as they lost 1-0 at Hampden to Belarus in their Euro 2004 qualifier. A totally uninspired performance saw them lose to a 68th minute penalty. This defeat leaves them with just 3 points from their 6 group matches so far and some drastic action is required to rejuvenate the team.


The Glasgow Herald
July 15th, 2003
Changes Afoot At Celtic Park

There has been some activity on the playing front at Celtic over the summer. A number of youngsters have been released including Mike Doyle, Barry John Corr, Ryan McCann and Jon Paul McGovern. At 36 years of age Kevin Gallacher has decided that enough is enough and has retired. The pre-arranged transfers of Stephen Pearson from Motherwell and Colin Cameron from Wolves have taken place as planned. Young midfielder Stephen Simmons has been signed from Hearts for £1.2M.

retired_amyslack

The Glasgow Herald
July 19th, 2003
Old Firm Could Meet In Europe

In an extraordinary Champions League draw Celtic may have to face Rangers in the 3rd Qualifying Round if the Gers get past Maccabi Haifa in their 2nd Round qualifier. Both managers expressed disbelief that they could have to face one another so early in the competition with Tick Jones being particularly critical of UEFA.


Scotland On Sunday
July 27th, 2003
McCutcheon Off The Mark

It took Gary McCutcheon precisely 2 minutes to pick up from where he left off last season as that's how long it took for him to open the scoring for Celtic in their season opener at home to St. Mirren. He had to wait another 40 minutes for his second and then Jamie Smith added a third before half time. McCutcheon completed his hat trick in the second half as Celtic cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win. The only black mark was an injury to Charlie Miller that will keep him out of action for a fortnight.