Scottish Premier. Remarkable season for one club and not so for the others.
Motherwell was dead last with 15 points. They lasted two season among the best and, inevitably one may say, dropped down.
St. Johnstone did not last even that long – they were promoted the previous year and now failed to survive among the best – 9th with 23 points.
Dundee – 8th with 27 points.
Hibernian – 7th with 31 points.
St. Mirren – 6th with 32 points.
Heart of Midlothian – 5th with 36 points.
Glasgow Rangers – no doubt about it: dark period. Not as bad as 1979-80, but they were 4th second season in a row and were not title contenders at all since 1978-79. 42 points in 36 games looked impressive only when compared to the record of Hearts.
Dundee United – 3rd with 47 points. Running strong, but let’s face it – they were not a great squad. One of the best Scottish teams at that time, but not supreme. Thus, not even running for the title one year after winning it.
Celtic – 2nd with 50 points. Still the leading scorers of the league, but unlike the previous season they were not equal to the leaders. Small consolation… better than Rangers and consistently so, but only second best in the country. Second best is not exactly satisfactory result.
Aberdeen dominated the season and won the title with 57 points from 25 wins and 7 ties. They lost only 4 matches. 78-21 goal-difference – the defensive record particularly impressive: Celtic had the same defensive record, but in the very-very distant 1921-22, when they received 21 goals in 38 matches. Less goals had been received only before 1922. This season was most likely the peak of the wonderful team Alex Ferguson built. And it was also the season signaling the end – Aberdeen had no means to compete with Celtic and Rangers, let alone English clubs. Key players were surely going out – Gordon Strachan without a doubt – and similar replacements were probably impossible to get. It was not yet Sir Alex, of course – it was still Alec – but Ferguson was already marked for different tasks. There was no question about it: it was just a matter of short time until Ferguson moves elsewhere, Aberdeen could not keep him. Inevitable losses would bring down the team, that was sure – especially when the peak was reached and everybody was paying close attention, marking players and coach.