| Season: | 2006–07 |
| Dates: | 29 July 2006 – 20 May 2007 |
| Continentalcup3 Qualifiers: | None |
| Matches: | 228 |
| Total Goals: | 560 |
| League Topscorer: | Kris Boyd (20) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Motherwell 5–0 Kilmarnock (30 September) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Motherwell 1–6 Hibernian (18 November) |
| Nextseason: | 2007–08 |
The 2006–07 Scottish Premier League season was the ninth season of the Scottish Premier League. It began on 29 July 2006.
The league champions, Celtic and runners-up, Rangers, qualified for the UEFA Champions League on the return of Walter Smith as manager following a brief and disastrous reign by Frenchman Paul Le Guen. The team finishing third, Aberdeen qualified for the UEFA Cup, as did the Scottish Cup finalists Dunfermline Athletic. However, being the bottom-placed team in the SPL, Dunfermline were also relegated to the First Division.
Promoted from First Division to Premier League
Relegated from Premier League to First Division
| Aberdeen | Celtic | Dundee United | Dunfermline Athletic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittodrie Stadium | Celtic Park | Tannadice Park | East End Park | |
| Capacity: 20,866[1] | Capacity: 60,411[2] | Capacity: 14,223[3] | Capacity: 12,509[4] | |
| Falkirk | Heart of Midlothian | |||
| Falkirk Stadium | Tynecastle Park | |||
| Capacity: 7,937[5] | Capacity: 17,420[6] | |||
| Hibernian | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | |||
| Easter Road | Caledonian Stadium | |||
| Capacity: 16,531[7] | Capacity: 7,500[8] | |||
| Kilmarnock | Motherwell | Rangers | St Mirren | |
| Rugby Park | Fir Park | Ibrox Stadium | Love Street | |
| Capacity: 17,889[9] | Capacity: 13,677[10] | Capacity: 50,817[11] | Capacity: 10,800[12] | |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rangers | Alex McLeish | 8 May 2006 | Sacked | Pre-season |  Paul Le Guen | 9 May 2006 | |
| Motherwell | Terry Butcher | 17 May 2006 | Signed by Sydney FC | Maurice Malpas | 17 May 2006 | ||
| Hibernian | Tony Mowbray | 13 October 2006 | Signed by West Bromwich Albion | 7th | John Collins | 31 October 2006 | |
| Dunfermline Athletic | Jim Leishman | 26 October 2006 | Became Director of Football | 11th |  Stephen Kenny | 10 November 2006 | |
| Dundee United | Craig Brewster | 29 October 2006 | Sacked | 12th | Craig Levein | 30 October 2006 | |
| Rangers | Paul Le Guen | 4 January 2007 | Mutual consent | 2nd | Walter Smith | 10 January 2007 | |
| Heart of Midlothian |  Valdas Ivanauskas | 20 March 2007 | Mutual consent | 4th |  Anatoliy Korobochka | 20 March 2007 (caretaker) 30 July 2007 (permanent) |
See main article: 2006–07 in Scottish football.
During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).
During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away).
During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once.
| Scorer | width=140 | Team | width=110 | Appearances | width=110 | Goals | width=110 | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kris Boyd | Rangers | 32 | 20 | 0.63 | ||||
| Scott McDonald | Motherwell | 32 | 15 | 0.47 | ||||
| Steven Naismith | Kilmarnock | 37 | 15 | 0.41 | ||||
| Anthony Stokes | Falkirk | 16 | 14 | 0.86 | ||||
| Chris Killen | Hibernian | 18 | 13 | 0.72 | ||||
| Darren Mackie | Aberdeen | 36 | 13 | 0.36 | ||||
| Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink | Celtic | 21 | 13 | 0.62 | ||||
| Colin Nish | Kilmarnock | 33 | 12 | 0.36 | ||||
| Charlie Adam | Rangers | 32 | 11 | 0.34 | ||||
| Barry Robson | Dundee United | 29 | 11 | 0.38 | ||||
| John Sutton | St Mirren | 33 | 11 | 0.33 | ||||
| Craig Dargo | Inverness CT | 27 | 10 | 0.37 | ||||
| Noel Hunt | Dundee United | 28 | 10 | 0.36 | ||||
| Steve Lovell | Aberdeen | 27 | 9 | 0.33 | ||||
| Shunsuke Nakamura | Celtic | 37 | 9 | 0.24 | ||||
| Andrius Velicka | Heart of Midlothian | 27 | 8 | 0.30 |
See main article: List of Scottish Premier League hat-tricks.
| Scorer | width=140 | For | width=140 | Against | width=140 | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 October 2006 | ||||||
| 28 October 2006 | ||||||
| 4 November 2006 | ||||||
| 12 November 2006 | ||||||
| 30 December 2006 | ||||||
| 20 January 2007 | ||||||
| 11 February 2007 | ||||||
| 17 March 2007 | ||||||
| 17 March 2007 |
Overall 3.7 million spectators attended an average per match of just over 8,090. The average and highest attendances for SPL clubs during the 2006/07 season are shown below:
| Club | Average | Highest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | 57,928 | 59,659 | |
| Rangers | 49,955 | 50,488 | |
| Hearts | 16,937 | 17,369 | |
| Hibernian | 14,587 | 16,747 | |
| Aberdeen | 12,475 | 20,045 | |
| Dundee United | 7,147 | 12,329 | |
| Kilmarnock | 6,807 | 13,506 | |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 6,106 | 8,561 | |
| Motherwell | 5,877 | 11,745 | |
| St Mirren | 5,609 | 10,251 | |
| Falkirk | 5,387 | 7,245 | |
| Inverness CT | 4,879 | 7,522 |
Source: SPL official website
See main article: Scottish Premier League monthly awards.
| Month | Manager | Player | Young Player | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | Jim Jefferies (Kilmarnock) | Russell Latapy (Falkirk) | Aiden McGeady (Celtic) | |
| September | Gordon Strachan (Celtic) | Allan McGregor (Rangers) | Aiden McGeady (Celtic) | |
| October | Charlie Christie (Inverness CT) | Lee Naylor (Celtic) | Anthony Stokes (Falkirk) | |
| November | Craig Levein (Dundee United) | Russell Anderson (Aberdeen) | Anthony Stokes (Falkirk) | |
| December | John Hughes (Falkirk) | Artur Boruc (Celtic) | Darren Barr (Falkirk) | |
| January | Gordon Strachan (Celtic) | Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic) | Christophe Berra (Hearts) | |
| February | Maurice Malpas (Motherwell) | Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic) | Lewis Stevenson (Hibernian) | |
| March | Craig Levein (Dundee United) | Alan Hutton (Rangers) | Steven Naismith (Kilmarnock) | |
| April | Stephen Kenny (Dunfermline Athletic) | Neil Lennon (Celtic) | Mark Reynolds (Motherwell) |