|
The 1975/76 season was the 103rd season of competitive football in Scotland and the 79th season of Scottish league football. It was the first season in the new, three-tier setup.
Division One was no longer the top division in Scottish football, although all three divisions are still part of the Scottish Football League. The Premier Division champions succeeded the last Division One champions, and the new Division One champions are equivalent to the old Division Two champions. The new Division Two is a completely new competition, although it shares its name with the old Division Two.
Both Division One and Two now contained 14 teams, previously considered a difficult number to ensure a balanced schedule. A 26-game programme, with every team playing each other home and away, was considered too short, a 52-game programme (with each team playing each other home and away twice) too congested.
A 39-game schedule would leave an imbalance with each side having two fixtures at home against some teams, and one against others. The Scottish Football League addressed the problem by opting for a 26-game calendar and introducing a supplementary competition, the Spring Cup, open only to teams from Divisions One and Two, to be played at the season's end. It was discontinued after a single season.
Ayr United had successfully qualified for the new Premier League and began planning for the season early. In fact an eight match Canadian tour started in June, followed by some home friendlies, an Anglo-Scottish Cup round and the Scottish League Cup sectional matches before the league start up.
All told United had played 18 matches before the official start to the Premier League campaign at the end of August. Pride of place in those early matches was a 14-0 win in Canada against French Canadian side St Pierre - a club record score.
Everybody’s tip for the drop, Ayr United nevertheless established themselves well in the new ‘Top Ten’ elite of Scotland and a creditable 6th place was obtained, albeit by a single point. Early on United’s hopes were dealt a severe blow when Ally MacLeod announced that he was quitting as manager to take up the post as boss of Aberdeen. Alex Stuart was appointed manager and in his first game in charge, Ayr scored an amazing 3-0 win over Rangers at Somerset Park.
However Ayr were never far from the relegation zone and their fate was decided on the final day of the season in a match that will never be forgotten by those Ayr fans who witnessed the game. Ayr United simply neded to win at home to Motherwell but United trailed at half time to an early Motherwell goal.
In the second half, Malky Robertson missed a penalty but with just quarter of an hour remaining, Davie McCulloch scored to give United a foot back in the Premier League door. The cause looked lost however with just over five minutes to go. Sensationally Gerry Phillips squeezed a Gordon Crammond cross over the line to put Ayr ahead. At least that what the home fans thought. The referee had judged that the ball had gone out of play before Crammond had reached it and awarded a corner. Somerset Park eruptic in fury and under pressure from the United players, he agreed to consult his linesman. The consultation appeared to last an eternity.
Now the silence of the crowd was deafening and you could cut the tension with a knife before the referee eventually pointed to the centre spot and awarded an Ayr United goal.
Ayr held on for a historic 2-1 win and Premier League survival.
|
