The game in Scotland has long been dominated by Rangers and Celtic with the last time a team other than the big two won the title coming way back in 1985 when Aberdeen, then managed by Sir Alex Ferguson, finished top of the table. Since Kilmarnock famously won their only title in 1965 only Aberdeen (80, 84 & 85) and Dundee United in 1983 have won the title aside from the Old Firm. Here we look at the top transfer fees the current Scottish Premiership clubs have paid including the only time a team other than Rangers or Celtic paid £1,000,000+ for a player!
ABERDEEN - PAUL BERNARD - £1,000,000 - 1995
Aberdeen's highest transfer fee paid was in September 1995 - Manager Roy Aitken paid £1,000,000 to Oldham Athletic who were then playing in Division One in the English football league for Paul Bernard who was a midfielder who was then aged 22. He was born in Edinburgh but had grown up in Manchester after moving south with family when he was young. He came through the ranks at Boundary Park and played in the Premier League for Oldham helping them to the FA Cup semi-final in the 1993/94 season. To this date he is the only player any Scottish club other than Rangers or Celtic have paid a fee of £1,000,000 or more for.
He helped Aberdeen to win the Scottish League Cup in November 1995 but his career suffered due to injuries and loss of form during his spell at Pittodrie and he left the club in 2001 after scoring 6 goals in 99 league games.
He went on to play for Barnsley and Plymouth Argyle before moving back to Scotland with St Johnstone in 2003. He finished his career with Drogheda United in the Republic of Ireland.
Bernard has made two appearances for the full Scotland side whilst with Oldham Athletic but he didn't get any further caps.
CELTIC - ODESONNE EDOUARD - £8,000,000 - 2018
Odsonne Édouard joined Celtic in June 2018 after a successful loan spell from PSG for a reported fee of £8,000,000 (some reports suggest £9,000,000) which beat the previous records set for Chris Sutton (July 2000) and John Hartson (August 2001). He has caps for France up to under 21 level but is yet to achieve a full cap. At the current time of writing he has 76 goals in 153 games for Celtic. The Glasgow giants have also recently paid £7,000,000 for centre back Christopher Jullien who joined from Toulouse in 2019.
DUNDEE UNITED - STEVEN PRESSLEY - £750,000 - 1995
In July 1995 Dundee United paid £750,000 to Coventry City for centre-back Steven Pressley. He had made 34 appearances for Rangers prior to his move to Highfield Road where he spent the 94/95 season scoring one goal against Manchester United. United had been relegated from the Premier Division and he played a big part in them regaining their spot in the top tier at the first attempt in 95/96.
They were promoted after a second place finish and a relegation/promotion play off win against Partick Thistle and then finished in third place in the 96/97 top tier season before he moved to Hearts on a free transfer in 1998 where he was made club captain. He made 271 appearances for the Edinburgh side before moving to Celtic between 2006 and 2008.
He is one of a small number of played to play for both Rangers and Celtic in modern times. Since the end of the first World War only Pressley along with Tully Craig, Alfie Conn, Mo Johnston, Kenny Miller and Mark Brown have play for both of the Old Firm clubs.
He featured in the team with won the Scottish Cup in 2007 making him the first player to achieve this with three clubs having been a sub for Rangers in their 1993 win and Hearts in 2006. He went on to play in Denmark for Randers and finished his playing career with Falkirk where he was an unused sub in the 2009 cup final against Rangers.
He was briefly joint caretaker manager at Hearts for two games at the end of the 04/05 season. Since he stopped playing has managed Falkirk, Coventry City, Fleetwood Town, Pafos (Cyprus) and Carlisle United whom he left in November 2019. His son Aaron, 19, is a centre forward currently on the books with Championship side Brentford.
HAMILTON ACADEMICAL - TOMAS CERNY - £180,000 - 2009
Hamilton Academical paid £180,000 for goalkeeper Tomas Cerny in July 2009. He was then aged 24 and had been with the club on loan for the previous two seasons helping them to promotion to the top division. He joined from Sigma Olomuc in his native Czech Republic where he only made one full first team appearance - At the time of his move it was reported both Celtic and Rangers had shown an interest in his services.
He stayed with The Accies until 2012 and has since played for CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), Eegotelis (Greece) before moving back to Scotland to play for Hibernian, Partick Thistle and Aberdeen where he signed a new one year contract in July 2020. He is second choice keeper at Pittodrie - He has made two appearances in the 18/19 season and has not featured since.
HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN - ULISES DE LA CRUZ - £700,000 - 2001
It was June 2001 when then Hibernian manager Alex McLeish paid £700,000 for Ecuadorian defender Ulises De La Cruz after impressing in International games for his home country. He spent just one season with Hibs playing 32 games scoring two goals both against local rival's Hearts. He played in the 2002 World Cup for Ecuador and was signed for Aston Villa then managed by Graham Taylor with the fee reported to be around the £1,000,000 mark.
He was a fan favourite at Villa but fell out of favour when David O'Leary took over as manager. In August 2006 he joined Reading on a free transfer before a very short one month spell with Birmingham City in 2009. He finished his career with LDU Quito whom he had joined Hibs from in 2001. He is now a politician in his home country being elected to the national assembly in 2013.
KILMARNOCK - PAUL WRIGHT - £340,000 - 1995
Striker Paul Wright moved from St Johnstone to Kilmarnock in March 1995 for a fee of £340,000. He had scored 40 goals in 112 appearances for The Saints between 1991 to 1995 whom he had joined from Hibs for £275,000 (a then record fee for the Perth club). He scored 70 goals for Killie in 174 games up to 2001 - He helped them win the 1997 Scottish Cup Final in which he scored the only goal of the game on 20 minutes.
He went on to play for Falkirk, Greenock Morton and Larkhall Thistle. He began his career in 1984 at Aberdeen when Sir Alex Ferguson was manager spending the 89/90 season with Queens Park Rangers. He is currently on the coaching staff of South of Scotland league side Bonnyton Thistle where another Kilmarnock legend in Alan Robertson in manager.
LIVINGSTON - LYNDON DYKES - £200,000 - 2019
Lyndon Dykes transferred from Queen of the South the Livingston for £200,000 in January 2019 but he spent the remainder of the season with his former club. The striker now aged 25 was born in Australia but moved to Dumfries to play for QOS where his relatives lived firstly in 2014. He had a second spell between 2016 to 2019.
He only played for one season being the shortened 19/20 campaign for Livingston and played three games in the 20/21 season scoring 14 goals in 36 games before a £2,000,000 to Championship side Queens Park Rangers. Dykes now has 7 full International caps for Scotland.
MOTHERWELL - JOHN SPENCER - £500,000 - 1999
John Spencer began his career in the Rangers academy system in 1982 - He made his first team debut in 1987. He didn't feature much in then manager Graeme Souness's side and was loaned to Morton and Lai Sun in Hong Kong. In 1992 he joined Chelsea for a fee of £450,000 who at the time were managed by fellow Scot Ian Porterfield. He made 103 appearances for the London side scoring 36 goals and was part of the squad which got to the 1994 FA Cup final.
Shortly after Ruud Gullit took over at Stamford Bridge he was sold to Queens Park Rangers who were then playing in the second tier for a £2,500,000 fee and then in 1998 he moved to Everton to be reunited with Walter Smith who had been Rangers manager in the last part of his stay with the club. The Toffees paid £1,500,000 for his services but his playing time at Goodison Park was very limited and after only eight months he was loaned to Motherwell who later paid £500,000 to make the deal permanent in 1999.
Over three seasons he suffered a series of injuries but did manage 21 goals in 81 games played. He moved to America in 2001 to play for the Colorado Rapids. He played until 2004 making the Major League Best XI in 2001 and 2003. He has since been assistant coach at the Rapids, San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo as well as being coach as Portland Timbers.
RANGERS - TORE ANDRE FLO - £12,000,000 - 2000
In November 2000 Rangers paid £12,000,000 for Norwegian centre-forward Tore Andre Flo - the deal is still the biggest in Scottish football history. He was signed from Chelsea who had brought him for £300,000 in 1997 where he had played in the Premier League and Champions League. The Rangers manager at the time was Dick Advocaat. He stayed with Rangers until transfer deadline day in the summer of 2002.
He scored 35 goals in 68 games in Scotland. He signed for Sunderland for £6,750,000. His time with The Black Cats wasn't memorable for the right reasons with just 6 goals scored in 33 games before he moved to Italy on a free transfer to play for Siena. He went to play for Valrenga in Norway before a move back to England in 2006 to play for Leeds United and MK Dons. He finished his career in 2012 with Sogndal in Norway.
Since 2012 when the original 'The Rangers Football Club PLC' entered the process of liquidation and the sale of the business and assets to a new company 'Seco Scotland Ltd' which was later renamed 'The Rangers Football Club Ltd' the record transfer is the £7,000,000 paid for Ryan Kent in 2019. The winger came through the academy ranks at Liverpool but never made a first team appearance spending time on loan with Coventry City, Bristol City and SC Freiburg before a loan spell with Rangers in 2018/19
ROSS COUNTY - ROSS DRAPER - £100,000 - 2017
Midfielder Ross Draper had come through the ranks at Shrewsbury Town but never made a first team appearances. He dropped down into non-league football in 2007 representing Stafford Rangers and Hednesford Town whilst working in the banking industry. In July 2009 he moved to League Two side Macclesfield Town who were then managed by the legend Keith Alexander who took a chance on Draper then aged 20.
He became a first team regular at Moss Rose until 2012 when they were relegated from the football league. He was reported to be the only player to be offered a contract for the next season from the club's squad in the 11/12 season.
He then moved North of the border to play for then Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle where he played 206 games until August 2017. At Caley he played in the 2014 League Cup final in which he was named man of the match despite a defeat to Aberdeen and famously in the 2015 Cup Final where they won against Falkirk.
In 2017 he moved to Highland rival's Ross County for a fee of £100,000 whom he helped win the Scottish Championship and Challenge Cup in 2018/19. Now aged 32 he is still a first team regular player with The Staggies.
ST JOHNSTONE - BILLY DODDS - £400,000 - 1994
Billy Dodds is probably best known in his playing career for his spells with Dundee between 1989 to 1994 and Aberdeen between 1994 to 1998. He is also the holder of St Johnstone's record transfer fee paid which was £400,000 from Dundee in 1994. He only played 20 games scoring 6 times for The Saints before quickly moving on to Pittodrie for £800,000 which at the time was record fee for The Dons.
He went on to play for Dundee United, Rangers and played a handful of games for Partick Thistle in 2006. Rangers paid £1,300,000 for him in 1999 when he was 30 years old.
ST MIRREN - THOMAS STICKROTH - £400,000 - 1990
In 1990 German defender Thomas Stickroth, then 24, joined St Mirren from Bayer Uerdingen for £500,000 - at the time were playing in the top tier in German football. He stayed with The Saints until 1992 where he moved to FC Saarbrucken - He later finished his career with VFL Bochum from 1995 to 2002. He is current Assistant Manager at second tier side Eintracht Braunschweig.
ALL TIME SCOTTISH FOOTBALL'S TOP TRANSFERS
all correct as of 6th January 2021
| PLAYER | TEAMS | FEE | YEAR |
| 1. TORE ANDRE FLO | Chelsea > RANGERS | £12,000,000 | 2000 |
| 2. ODSONNE EDOUARD | PSG > CELTIC | £9,000,000 | 2018 |
| 3= CHRISTOPHER JULLIEN | Toulouse > CELTIC | £7,000,000 | 2019 |
| 3= RYAN KENT | Liverpool > RANGERS | £7,000,000 | 2019 |
| 5. MICHAEL BALL | Everton > RANGERS | £6,500,000 | 2001 |
| 6= CHRIS SUTTON | Chelsea > CELTIC | £6,000,000 | 2000 |
| 6= JOHN HARTSON | Coventry City > CELTIC | £6,000,000 | 2001 |
| 7= MIKEL ARTETA | Barcelona > RANGERS | £5,750,000 | 2002 |
| 7= EYAL BERKOVIC | West Ham Utd > CELTIC | £5,750,000 | 1999 |
| 7= NEIL LENNON | Leicester City > CELTIC | £5,750,000 | 2000 |
LIST OF SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE TRANSFERS IN 2020 TRANSFER WINDOW
showing moves which attracted a transfer fee
| PLAYER | CLUBS | FEE |
| IANIS HAGI | Genk > RANGERS | £3,150,000 |
| MARK O'HARA | Peterborough United > MOTHERWELL | Nominal Fee |
| KEVIN NISBET | Dunfermline Athletic > HIBERNIAN | Undisclosed+ |
| TUNDE OWOLABI | FC United of Manchester > HAMILTON | Undisclosed |
| VASILIS BARKAS | AEK Athens > CELTIC | £2,950,000 |
| HAKEEM ODOFFIN | Livingston > HAMILTON | Undisclosed |
| CEDRIC ITTEN | St Gallen > RANGERS | £2,700,000 |
| KEMAR ROOFE | Anderlecht > RANGERS | Undisclosed* |
| ALBIAN AJETI | West Ham Utd > CELTIC | £4,500,000 |
| DAVID TURNBULL | Motherwell > CELTIC | £3,000,000 |
| FLORENT HOTI | Rochdale > DUNDEE UNITED | Undisclosed |
| MICHAEL O'CONNOR | Waterford > ROSS COUNTY | Undisclosed# |
| JEANDO FUCHS | Alaves > DUNDEE UNITED | Undisclosed |
| KYLE MAGENNIS | St Mirren > HIBERNIAN | Undisclosed |
| CALVIN BASSEY | Leicester City > RANGERS | Undisclosed |
* reported to be £5million euros
# already left the club to join Shelbourne in December
SOME RANDOM FACTS ABOUT SCOTTISH TRANSFERS
FALKIRK broke the WORLD RECORD TRANSFER FEE for a player in February 1922 which is the only time a Scottish Club have held this record. They paid £5,000 which included an early day crowd funding campaign from some of the club's supporters, to West Ham United for striker Syd Puddefoot. The record only lasted a month when Warney Cresswell moved from South Shields to Sunderland.
Puddefoot was born in Limehouse and played for The Hammers prior to and during the first world war. He was stationed in Bridge of Allan during the conflict which is near to Falkirk who he guested for in games. He stayed with Falkirk for three seasons netting 45 goals in 113 league appearances. In 1925 he moved to Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £4,500. After his playing career he coached both Fernerbahce and Galatasaray in the early 1930s. He also coached Northampton Town from 1935 to 1937.
There is superb article here on nutmegmagazine.co.uk about Syd Puddefoot - I especially like the story of the Falkirk directors getting the train to East London with £5,000 in cash to secure their target and returning skint but successful.
Defender Richard Gough became the first player a Scottish club paid £1,000,00 for in 1987. He moved from Tottenham Hotspur who had paid £750,000 for his services in 1986 from Dundee United.
John Collins was Celtic's first £1,000,000 player when moving from Hibernian in 1990.
Scott Brown holds the record for a fee between two Scottish clubs. Celtic paid £4,400,000 for the midfielder in 2007. He has since played over 600 times for Celtic and now aged 35 is still a first team regular with the club.
Brown's transfer beat the previous record which was £4,000,000 when Duncan Ferguson moved to Rangers from Dundee United in July 1993. His stay at Ibrox was a short and somewhat controversial one as due to an incident in a game with Raith Rovers where he headbutted John McStay he was found guilty of assault and received a three month prison sentence. He moved to Everton in October 1994 for a reported fee of £5,490,000.
With fees of £9,000,000 and 7,000,000 (twice) paid in the last few season could we see the £12,000,000 record set in 2000 being broken in the next year or so?
With two champions league spots available in 21/21 due to Scotland moving up UEFA's co-efficient list due to their recent European performances it could well happen I think.
The National side's qualification for the delayed Euro 2020 is also a huge boost foe the game North of the Border.
Another question to ask is will we ever see another Scottish club spending £1,000,00+ on a player?
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