2021–22 Scottish Premiership

The 2021–22 Scottish Premiership (known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the ninth and current season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football, and the 125th edition overall of the top national league competition, not including one cancelled due to World War II. Rangers are the defending champions.

Scottish Premiership
Season2021–22
Dates31 July 2021 – May 2022
Champions LeagueCeltic
Rangers
Europa LeagueHeart of Midlothian
Matches played210
Goals scored514 (2.45 per match)
Top goalscorerRegan Charles-Cook
(13 goals)
Biggest home winCeltic 7–0 St Johnstone
(9 April 2022)
Biggest away winDundee 0–5 Ross County
(27 October 2021)
Motherwell 1–6 Rangers
(31 October 2021)
Highest scoringMotherwell 1–6 Rangers
(31 October 2021)
Heart of Midlothian 5–2 Dundee United
(6 November 2021)
Celtic 7–0 St Johnstone
(9 April 2022)
Longest winning runRangers
9 games
Longest unbeaten runCeltic
29 games
Longest winless runMotherwell
St Mirren
11 games
Longest losing runSt Johnstone
8 games
Highest attendance59,077
Celtic 3–0 Rangers (2 February 2022)
Lowest attendance500
(6 games)
All statistics correct as of 1 May 2022.

Twelve teams contest the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Livingston, Motherwell, Rangers, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren.

The season began on 31 July 2021.[1] In December, the Scottish Government imposed stadium capacity restrictions as part of its response to the new Omicron variant. As a result, the winter break was brought forward from 4 January to 27 December.[2] The rule of five substitutions per match was also re-introduced (as used the previous season) after the winter break.[3]

Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2020–21 season.

Promoted from the Championship

Relegated to the Championship

Stadia and locations
Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Dens Park Tannadice Park
Capacity: 20,866[4] Capacity: 60,411[5] Capacity: 11,775[6] Capacity: 14,223[7]
Heart of Midlothian
Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership
 Hibernian
Tynecastle Park Easter Road
Capacity: 20,099[8] Capacity: 20,421[9]
Livingston Motherwell
Almondvale Stadium Fir Park
Capacity: 9,713[10] Capacity: 13,677[11]
Rangers Ross County St Johnstone St Mirren
Ibrox Stadium Victoria Park McDiarmid Park St Mirren Park
Capacity: 50,817[12] Capacity: 6,541[13] Capacity: 10,696[14] Capacity: 7,937[15]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aberdeen Jim Goodwin Joe Lewis Adidas Saltire Energy
Celtic Ange Postecoglou Callum McGregor Adidas[16] Dafabet
Dundee Mark McGhee Charlie Adam Macron[17] Crown Engineering Services[18]
Dundee United Tam Courts Ryan Edwards Macron Eden Mill St Andrews[19]
Heart of Midlothian Robbie Neilson Craig Gordon Umbro MND Scotland[20]
Hibernian David Gray (caretaker) Paul Hanlon Joma[21] Utilita[22]
Livingston David Martindale Nicky Devlin Joma Phoenix Drilling Ltd
Motherwell Graham Alexander Stephen O'Donnell Macron Paycare[23]
Rangers Giovanni van Bronckhorst James Tavernier Castore[24] 32Red
Ross County Malky Mackay Keith Watson Joma Ross-shire Engineering[25]
St Johnstone Callum Davidson Liam Gordon Macron Binn Group
St Mirren Stephen Robinson Joe Shaughnessy Joma Digby Brown[26]

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Celtic John Kennedy End of interim spell 15 May 2021[27] Pre-season Ange Postecoglou 10 June 2021[28]
Ross County John Hughes End of contract 24 May 2021[29] Malky Mackay 26 May 2021[30]
Dundee United Micky Mellon Mutual consent 25 May 2021[31] Tam Courts 7 June 2021[32]
Rangers Steven Gerrard Signed by Aston Villa 11 November 2021[33] 1st Giovanni van Bronckhorst 18 November 2021[34]
Hibernian Jack Ross Sacked 9 December 2021[35] 7th Shaun Maloney 20 December 2021[36]
Aberdeen Stephen Glass 13 February 2022[37] 9th Jim Goodwin 19 February 2022[38]
Dundee James McPake 16 February 2022[39] 11th Mark McGhee 17 February 2022[40]
St Mirren Jim Goodwin Signed by Aberdeen 19 February 2022[38] 6th Stephen Robinson 22 February 2022[41]
Hibernian Shaun Maloney Sacked 19 April 2022[42] 7th David Gray (caretaker) 19 April 2022[42]

Format

In the initial phase of the season, the 12 teams will play a round-robin tournament whereby each team plays each one of the other teams three times. After 33 games, the league splits into two sections of six teams, with each team playing each other in that section. The league attempts to balance the fixture list so that teams in the same section play each other twice at home and twice away, but sometimes this is impossible. A total of 228 matches will be played, with 38 matches played by each team.

League summary

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Celtic (T) 35 27 5 3 81 20 +61 86 Qualification for the Champions League group stage[lower-alpha 2]
2 Rangers (T) 35 24 8 3 71 29 +42 80 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round[lower-alpha 3]
3 Heart of Midlothian (Q) 35 17 10 8 51 35 +16 61 Qualification for the Europa League play-off round
4 Dundee United 35 11 11 13 34 40 −6 44 Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round
5 Ross County 35 10 11 14 45 54 −9 41 Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 4]
6 Motherwell 35 10 10 15 39 54 −15 40
7 Livingston 35 12 8 15 38 44 −6 44
8 Hibernian 35 10 11 14 32 38 −6 41
9 Aberdeen 35 10 9 16 40 44 −4 39
10 St Mirren 35 9 12 14 31 51 −20 39
11 St Johnstone 35 7 10 18 22 46 −24 31 Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
12 Dundee (Y) 35 5 11 19 30 59 −29 26 Relegation to the Championship
Updated to match(es) played on 1 May 2022. Source: [43][44]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-Head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification, second stage group allocation or relegation).[45]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (T) Qualified, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (Y) May at best qualify for the relegation play-offs
Notes:
  1. Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
  2. Due to the suspension of Russian teams from UEFA club competitions, the Scottish Premiership winners will qualify for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage.
  3. Due to the suspension of Russian teams from UEFA club competitions, the Scottish Premiership runners-up will enter the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.
  4. As the winners of the 2021–22 Scottish Cup will qualify for European competition based on league position, the spare Europa Conference League berth will be transferred to the fifth-placed team.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 13, but then postponed and played between rounds 16 and 17, it is added to the standings for round 16.

Team ╲ Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
Celtic1044656664422222222222221111111111111
Rangers155311111111111111111112222222222222
Heart of Midlothian43323332223333333333333333333333333333
Dundee United116677555334444444467777764556744444
Ross County7101091111111112121212121212121211101010101010101010108677555
Motherwell98754444666755555544444445667885666
Livingston121212121291010109910101010119888888889974568887
Hibernian31112223555567667755555557445456778
Aberdeen22246779988678876676666678891010109999
St Mirren6911111010877778867889999999967899910101010
St Johnstone87888898810109999101112121212121211111211111111111111111111
Dundee51191091212121111111111111191010111111111112121112121212121212121212
Leader and Champions League play-off round
Champions League second qualifying round
Europa League play-off round
Europa Conference League third qualifying round
Europa Conference League second qualifying round
Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
Relegated to the Championship
Source: [46]

Results

Matches 34–38

After 33 matches, the league splits into two sections of six teams i.e. the top six and the bottom six, with the teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches are determined by the position of the teams in the league table at the time of the split.

Season statistics

Scoring
As of matches played on 1 May 2022

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Regan Charles-Cook Ross County 13
2 Lewis Ferguson Aberdeen 11
Bruce Anderson Livingston
Alfredo Morelos Rangers
5 Christian Ramirez Aberdeen 10
Liel Abada Celtic
Liam Boyce Heart of Midlothian
Tony Watt Motherwell, Dundee United
Kemar Roofe Rangers

Hat-tricks
Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League hat-tricks § Scottish Premiership
Player For Against Score Date Ref.
Kyogo Furuhashi Celtic Dundee 6–0 (H) 8 August 2021 [48]
David Turnbull Celtic St Mirren 6–0 (H) 21 August 2021 [49]
Fashion Sakala Rangers Motherwell 1–6 (A) 31 October 2021 [50]
Giorgos Giakoumakis Celtic Dundee 3–2 (H) 20 February 2022 [51]
Giorgos Giakoumakis Celtic Ross County 4–0 (H) 19 March 2022 [52]
Kemar Roofe Rangers St Mirren 0–4 (A) 10 April 2022 [53]

Most assists
Rank Player Club Assists
1 James Tavernier Rangers 12
2 Barrie McKay Heart of Midlothian 10
3 Jota Celtic 9
4 Ryan Kent Rangers 8
5 Anthony Ralston Celtic 7
Paul McMullan Dundee
Alfredo Morelos Rangers

Source:[54]

Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean Sheets
1 Joe Hart Celtic 18
2 Craig Gordon Heart of Midlothian 14
3 Allan McGregor Rangers 12
4 Matt Macey Hibernian 10
5 Benjamin Siegrist Dundee United 9
Zander Clark St Johnstone

Source:[55]

Awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August Robbie Neilson Hearts Martin Boyle Hibernian
September Graham Alexander Motherwell Ian Harkes Dundee United
October Ange Postecoglou Celtic Jota Celtic
November Graham Alexander Motherwell Jota Celtic
December Giovanni van Bronckhorst Rangers Alfredo Morelos Rangers
January Ange Postecoglou Celtic Regan Charles-Cook Ross County
February Ange Postecoglou Celtic Bruce Anderson Livingston
March Ange Postecoglou Celtic Giorgos Giakoumakis Celtic

Premiership play-offs

The quarter-finals will be contested by the teams placed third and fourth in the Scottish Championship. The winners will advance to the semi-finals to face the team placed second in the Championship. The final will be contested by the semi-final winners and the team placed eleventh in the Premiership, with the winners securing a place in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership.[56]

First leg
3 May 2022 Partick Thistle v Inverness Caledonian Thistle Glasgow
19:05 Stadium: Firhill Stadium

Second leg
6 May 2022 Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Partick Thistle Inverness
19:45 Stadium: Caledonian Stadium

First leg
10 May 2022 Quarter-final winners v Arbroath
19:05

Second leg
13 May 2022 Arbroath v Quarter-final winners Arbroath
19:45 Stadium: Gayfield Park

First leg
20 May 2022 Semi-final winners v 11th in Scottish Premiership
19:45

Second leg
23 May 2022 11th in Scottish Premiership v Semi-final winners
19:45

Broadcasting

Live matches (UK and Ireland)

Sky Sports has exclusive rights to the Scottish Premiership and will show up to 48 matches, and the Premiership play-off final.[57] BBC Scotland will broadcast the Premiership quarter-final and semi-final play-off ties.[58]

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, clubs will continue to stream matches (not broadcast on Sky) to fans on a pay-per-view or "virtual season ticket" basis, whilst capacities in stadia are limited due to social distancing restrictions.[59]

Highlights

Highlights are broadcast on BBC Scotland's flagship Sportscene programme on both Saturdays and Sundays. Sky Sports also show highlights.

Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba has rights to broadcast repeats in full of 38 Saturday 3 pm matches "as live" at 5.30 pm.

The SPFL also uploads the goals from every Premiership match onto its YouTube channel.

References
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