In todays Meat Pie, our regular look at interesting but generally meaningless statistics, Inside Left takes the anorak out of its protective carrier bag and gets its teeth stuck in to the archives as we pick out five of the best first-day-of-the-season fixtures in Scotland's rich footballing history.
Scottish Division One, Season 1938/39
Division One started out, in what would be the last season before the start of World War II, with a massive 20 teams in the league. Rangers would eventually be crowned champions (they didn't lose at home all season) scoring an impressive 112 goals. Their arch-rivals Celtic finished second, scoring only 99 goals of which 9 where scored on the opening day as the Kilmarnock where crushed 9-1 at Parkhead. Down the road in Motherwell meanwhile, a thirteen-goal thriller was taking place. It's hard to believe that you can score five goals in a game and still be on the losing side - just ask Queen of the South as they where thumped 8-5 by Motherwell.
Scottish Division Three, Season 1925/26
In 1925, the Scottish Third Division read like a who's who of what today we'd call Junior football, plus a mixture of teams long departed; Lochgelly United, Beith, Peebles Rovers, Solway Star, Vale of Leven and so on. A massive 42 goals where scored on the opening day of season 1925/26, of which 32 where scored in just five games. Montrose got off to a bad start against Leith Athletic (losing 6-1), Brechin beat Mid-Annandale 4-2, Royal Albert beat Clackmanann 7-1 while Dumbarton side Vale of Leven put 6 past Solway Star. Eventual Third Division champions Helensburgh kept the scoreline respectable - they only lost 3-1 to Forfar!
Scottish Division One, Season 1933/34
Thirty-six goals where scored in just four games on the opening day of season 1933/34. Aberdeen got the ball rolling when they knocked eight without reply past a hapless Ayr United. Hamilton where on the wrong end of a ten-goal thriller in their game against Partick Thistle (3-7), while Hearts narrowly beat St Mirren 6-0. Rangers, who would win the league that season didn't do quite so well: they only won 5-1 against Airdrieonians. Down in Division Two meanwhile, not to be outdone in the scoring charts, Albion Rovers beat Montrose 6-2.
Scottish Premier Division, Season 1977/78
Four draws in five games makes for arguably the most boring opening day ever. In fact, the only game that didn't end in a draw was the game at Pittodrie where Aberdeen (who would finish second) beat eventual champions Rangers 3-1. Celtic against Dundee United and Hibernian against Motherwell both ended goalless while in the other games on that day, Partick Thistle and Clyde (2-2) and St Mirren against Clydebank (1-1) at least managed to get the ball in the net. Phew.
Scottish Division One, Season 1957/58
Six is the magic number alright! On the opening day of the season in 1957, lucky supporters (or unlucky, depending on who you support) saw five of the nine fixtures that day end with six goals being scored. Hearts, who would go on to win the league, beat Dundee 6-0, while the team that would be relegated, Queens Park, lost by the same score at home to Glasgow rivals Partick Thistle. Elsewhere, the scorelines at Motherwell vs. St Mirren, Raith Rovers vs. Third Lanark and Rangers vs. Queen of the South all somehow ended with the home team winning 4-2. Weird ...
Worth special mentions are the 55 goals scored in the opening day of the 1938/39 season, including 11 in just one game between East Fife and Morton (6-5). Eleven goals where also scored in one game on the first day of season 1979/80 when Alloa beat Brechin 8-3. There have also been three games that finished with a 9-1 score-line: Raith Rovers beat Kings Park in 1932, Hamilton beat Berwick in 1990 and Celtic put nine past Clyde in 1971. Fans of Clyde can take solace though - they where winners on the opening day of the season in 1891, when the beat Vale of Leven 10-3.
We leave you though, with a thought: since 1997, none of the teams relegated at the end of the Scottish Premier League season won their opening games:
Season 1997/98 Rangers 1-0 Raith Rovers
Season 1998/99 Celtic 5-0 Dunfermline
Season 1999/00 Aberdeen* 0-5 Celtic
Season 2000/01 St. Mirren 0-1 Kilmarnock
Season 2001/02 Celtic 3-0 St. Johnstone
Season 2002/03 Livingston 3-2 Motherwell
Season 2003/04 Partick 1-1 Livingston
Season 2004/05 Dunfermline 1-1 Dundee United
Season 2005/06 Rangers 3-0 Livingston
Season 2006/07 Dunfermline 1-2 Hearts
Season 2007/08 Gretna 0-4 Falkirk
*Aberdeen survived relegation in 2000 due to Falkirk's ground not meeting SPL criteria.
Right, that's enough for today. We're back next Friday with another anorak-bursting trawl through the archives. Comments can go to the usual address!
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