Hamilton wins Mitre SPL Goal of the Decade

Jim Hamilton's stunning volley for Motherwell against Celtic in January 2006 has been voted the Mitre SPL Goal of the Decade.

The first SPL goal was claimed by Eoin Jess of Aberdeen exactly 10 years ago today and a total of 5,934 goals have been scored since the league was established in 1998.

A judging panel that comprised John Hartson, Barry Ferguson, Mitre, Setanta Sports, The Sun newspaper and the SPL gave Hamilton's strike the nod ahead of Henrik Larsson's chip against Rangers in 2000 and Austin McCann's long-range effort for Hearts against Celtic in 2003.

More than 80 goals were nominated by fans across the globe and the panel originally whittled that down to a top 10. A public vote saw a top three determined before the panel made their choice.

Hamilton, now with St Mirren, was surprised and delighted to be crowned the winner.

He said: "The goals involved were all unbelievable so to come out on top is a great achievement. I would like to thank all the people who voted for me.

"This is a great surprise and gives me another reason to remember the goal for the rest of my life. I just caught it sweetly and luckily for me it went in. The accolades I got at the time from Gordon Strachan and the Celtic fans were great."