2009–10 Scottish Premier League

The 2009–10 Scottish Premier League season was the twelfth season of the Scottish Premier League. Rangers were the defending champions and they retained the championship with three games to spare by winning 1–0 against Hibernian at Easter Road on 25 April.^[2] The competition began on 15 August 2009 and ended on 9 May 2010.

Scottish Premier League

Season	2009–10
Dates	15 August 2009 – 9 May 2010
Champions	Rangers 6th Premier League title 53rd Scottish title
Relegated	Falkirk
Champions League	Rangers Celtic
Europa League	Dundee United Hibernian Motherwell
Matches played	228
Goals scored	586 (2.57 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kris Boyd (23)
Biggest home win	Rangers 7–1 Dundee United
Biggest away win	Nine wins by three clear goals[1]
Highest scoring	Motherwell 6–6 Hibernian (12)
Highest attendance	Celtic v St Johnstone: 58,500 Celtic v Dundee United: 58,500
Lowest attendance	Hamilton Academical v Heart of Midlothian: 2,003
Average attendance	Rangers: 47,564
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

Clubs

Promotion and relegation from 2008–09

Promoted from First Division to Premier League

• St Johnstone

Relegated from Premier League to First Division

• Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Stadia and locations

Aberdeen	Celtic	Dundee United	Falkirk
Pittodrie Stadium	Celtic Park	Tannadice Park	Falkirk Stadium
Capacity: 20,866[3]	Capacity: 60,411[4]	Capacity: 14,223[5]	Capacity: 7,937[6]
Hamilton Academical	Aberdeen Dundee United Falkirk Hamilton Hearts Hibernian Kilmarnock Rangers St. Johnstone St Mirren Celtic Motherwell Location of teams in 2009–10 Scottish Premier League		Heart of Midlothian
New Douglas Park			Tynecastle Park
Capacity: 5,510[7]			Capacity: 17,420[8]
Hibernian			Kilmarnock
Easter Road			Rugby Park
Capacity: 16,531[9]			Capacity: 17,889[10]
Motherwell	Rangers	St Johnstone	St Mirren
Fir Park	Ibrox Stadium	McDiarmid Park	St Mirren Park
Capacity: 13,677[11]	Capacity: 50,817[12]	Capacity: 10,696[13]	Capacity: 8,023[14]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Kit sponsor
Aberdeen	Mark McGhee	Nike	Team Recruitment
Celtic	Neil Lennon	Nike	Carling
Dundee United	Peter Houston	Nike	Carbrini
Falkirk	Steven Pressley	Puma	Central Demolition
Hamilton Academical	Billy Reid	Nike	Reid Furniture
Heart of Midlothian	Jim Jefferies	Umbro	Ukio Bankas
Hibernian	John Hughes	Le Coq Sportif	McEwan Fraser
Kilmarnock	Jimmy Calderwood	1869	Smallworld
Motherwell	Craig Brown	Canterbury of New Zealand	JAXX
Rangers	Walter Smith	Umbro	Carling
St Johnstone	Derek McInnes	Surridge	Taylor Wimpey
St Mirren	Gus MacPherson	hummel	Braehead Shopping Centre

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of vacancy	Manner of departure	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Aberdeen	Jimmy Calderwood	24 May 2009[15]	Resigned	Pre-season	Mark McGhee	12 June 2009[16]
Celtic	Gordon Strachan	25 May 2009[17]	Resigned		Tony Mowbray	16 June 2009[18]
Hibernian	Mixu Paatelainen	29 May 2009[19]	Resigned		John Hughes	8 June 2009[20]
Falkirk	John Hughes	8 June 2009[20]	Signed by Hibernian		Eddie May	23 June 2009[21]
Motherwell	Mark McGhee	12 June 2009[16]	Signed by Aberdeen		Jim Gannon	27 June 2009[22]
Dundee United	Craig Levein	23 December 2009[23]	Signed by Scotland	4th	Peter Houston	23 December 2009[24] (interim) 25 May 2010[25] (permanent)
Motherwell	Jim Gannon	28 December 2009[26]	Sacked	6th	Craig Brown	29 December 2009[27](interim) 27 January 2010[28] (permanent)
Kilmarnock	Jim Jefferies	11 January 2010[29]	Mutual consent	11th	Jimmy Calderwood	14 January 2010[30]
Heart of Midlothian	Csaba László	29 January 2010[31]	Sacked	5th	Jim Jefferies	29 January 2010[31]
Falkirk	Eddie May	11 February 2010[32]	Sacked	12th	Steven Pressley	11 February 2010[33]
Celtic	Tony Mowbray	25 March 2010[34]	Sacked	2nd	Neil Lennon	25 March 2010[34] (interim) 9 June 2010[35] (permanent)

Events

Main article: 2009–10 in Scottish football § Notable events

• 21 April – Inverness Caledonian Thistle won promotion to the Scottish Premier League as First Division champions following a 1–0 defeat for their nearest challengers Dundee against Raith Rovers.^[36]
• 25 April – Rangers clinch the championship by winning 1–0 against Hibernian at Easter Road.^[2]
• 5 May – The 6–6 draw between Motherwell and Hibernian at Fir Park breaks the SPL record for the most goals scored in a single SPL match.^[37][38]
• 8 May – Falkirk were relegated after goalless draw against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.^[39]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rangers (C)	38	26	9	3	82	28	+54	87	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Celtic	38	25	6	7	75	39	+36	81	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3	Dundee United	38	17	12	9	55	47	+8	63	Qualification for the Europa League play-off round[a]
4	Hibernian	38	15	9	14	58	55	+3	54	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
5	Motherwell	38	13	14	11	52	54	−2	53	Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round
6	Heart of Midlothian	38	13	9	16	35	46	−11	48
7	Hamilton Academical	38	13	10	15	39	46	−7	49
8	St Johnstone	38	12	11	15	57	61	−4	47
9	Aberdeen	38	10	11	17	36	52	−16	41
10	St Mirren	38	7	13	18	36	49	−13	34
11	Kilmarnock	38	8	9	21	29	51	−22	33
12	Falkirk (R)	38	6	13	19	31	57	−26	31	Relegation to the First Division

Source: SPFL Archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. by winning the Scottish Cup.

Results

Matches 1–22

During their first 22 matches, each team played every other team home and away.

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	DUN	FAL	HAM	HOM	HIB	KIL	MOT	RAN	STJ	STM
Aberdeen		1–3	0–2	0–1	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	1–0
Celtic	1–0		1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–2	3–0	0–0	1–1	5–2	3–1
Dundee United	0–1	2–1		2–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–3	3–3	3–2
Falkirk	0–0	3–3	1–4		2–0	0–1	1–3	0–0	0–0	1–3	1–2	1–3
Hamilton Academical	0–3	1–2	0–1	0–0		2–1	2–0	0–0	2–2	0–1	0–2	1–0
Heart of Midlothian	0–3	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–2		0–0	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–2	1–0
Hibernian	2–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	5–1	1–1		1–0	2–0	1–4	3–0	2–1
Kilmarnock	1–1	1–0	0–2	1–2	3–0	1–2	1–1		0–3	0–0	2–1	1–2
Motherwell	1–1	2–3	2–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–3	3–1		0–0	1–3	2–0
Rangers	0–0	2–1	7–1	4–1	4–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	6–1		3–0	2–1
St Johnstone	1–0	1–4	2–3	3–1	1–1	2–2	5–1	0–1	2–2	1–2		1–0
St Mirren	1–0	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–2	2–1	1–1	1–0	3–3	0–2	1–1

Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away).

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	DUN	FAL	HAM	HOM	HIB	KIL	MOT	RAN	STJ	STM
Aberdeen		4–4	2–2			0–1			0–3		1–3	2–1
Celtic			1–0			2–0		3–1	2–1		3–0
Dundee United				3–0	0–2	1–0			3–0	0–0
Falkirk	3–1	0–2					1–3	0–1				2–1
Hamilton Academical	1–1	0–1		2–2			4–1		0–0		1–0
Heart of Midlothian				3–2	2–0		2–1	1–0		1–4
Hibernian	2–2	0–1	2–4					1–0			1–1	2–1
Kilmarnock	2–0		4–4		1–2					0–2	3–2	1–1
Motherwell				0–1		3–1	1–0	1–0		1–1
Rangers	3–1	1–0		3–0	1–0		3–0					3–1
St Johnstone			0–1	1–1		1–0			1–2	4–1
St Mirren		4–0	1–2		0–0	1–1			0–0		1–1

Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

After 33 matches, the table splits into two groups of six. Each team plays every team in their own half once (either at home or away)

Top six Home \ Away CEL DUN HOM HIB MOT RAN Celtic 3–2 4–0 2–1 Dundee United 0–2 0–2 1–2 Heart of Midlothian 1–2 0–0 0–2 Hibernian 1–2 0–1 Motherwell 2–3 6–6 Rangers 2–0 3–3 Source: BBC Sport Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom six Home \ Away ABE FAL HAM KIL STJ STM Aberdeen 1–0 1–3 1–2 Falkirk 0–1 0–0 1–1 Hamilton Academical 3–0 0–0 Kilmarnock 0–0 1–2 St Johnstone 1–1 2–3 2–2 St Mirren 0–1 1–0 Source: BBC Sport Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Attendances

As of 14:51, 9 May 2010 (UTC)
Source: SPL

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Highest	Lowest	Average
Aberdeen	Pittodrie Stadium	22,199	16,803	6,097	10,461
Celtic	Celtic Park	60,355	58,500	24,000	45,582
Dundee United	Tannadice Park	14,209	11,100	5,598	7,821
Falkirk	Falkirk Stadium	9,706[40]	7,049	4,321	5,635
Hamilton Academical	New Douglas Park	6,096	5,343	2,003	3,005
Heart of Midlothian	Tynecastle Stadium	17,420	17,126	12,325	14,484
Hibernian	Easter Road	17,500[41]	16,949	9,185	12,164
Kilmarnock	Rugby Park	18,128	10,662	4,068	5,919
Motherwell	Fir Park	13,742	9,355	3,544	5,307
Rangers	Ibrox Stadium	51,082	50,321	44,291	47,564
St Johnstone	McDiarmid Park	10,673	7,807	2,993	4,717
St Mirren	St Mirren Park	8,016	6,164	3,009	4,414

Goals

Top scorers

As of 12:14, 10 May 2010 (UTC)
Sources: SPL BBC Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine

Rank	Scorer	Team	Goals
1	Kris Boyd	Rangers	23
2	Anthony Stokes	Hibernian	21
3	Kenny Miller	Rangers	18
4	Jon Daly	Dundee United	13
	Derek Riordan	Hibernian
6	Lukas Jutkiewicz	Motherwell	12
	Robbie Keane	Celtic
8	John Sutton	Motherwell	11
9	Marc-Antoine Fortuné	Celtic	10
	Scott McDonald	Celtic[42]
	Georgios Samaras	Celtic

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Scottish Premier League hat-tricks

Scorer	For	Against	Date
Peter MacDonald	St Johnstone	Motherwell	26 December 2009[43]
Kris Boyd 5	Rangers	Dundee United	30 December 2009[44]
Jon Daly	Dundee United	Falkirk	23 January 2010[45]
Colin Nish	Hibernian	Motherwell	5 May 2010[46]

⁵ player scored 5 goals

Awards

Monthly awards

Main article: Scottish Premier League monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Young Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
August	Tony Mowbray[47]	Celtic	Danny Cadamarteri[48]	Dundee United	Ross Forbes[49]	Motherwell
September	John Hughes[50]	Hibernian	Derek Riordan[50]	Hibernian	Craig Thomson[51]	Heart of Midlothian
October	Jim Gannon[52]	Motherwell	Liam Miller[53]	Hibernian	Lukas Jutkiewicz[52]	Motherwell
November	Craig Levein[54]	Dundee United	Andy Webster[54]	Dundee United	Peter Pawlett[55]	Aberdeen
December	Walter Smith[56]	Rangers	Kris Boyd[56]	Rangers	Anthony Stokes[57]	Hibernian
January	Craig Brown[58]	Motherwell	Steven Davis[59]	Rangers	Fraser Fyvie[60]	Aberdeen
February	Craig Brown[61]	Motherwell	David Weir[62]	Rangers	Chris Maguire[63]	Kilmarnock
March	Peter Houston[64]	Dundee United	Robbie Keane[65]	Celtic	Ryan Flynn[66]	Falkirk
April	Billy Reid[67]	Hamilton Academical	Kenny Miller[68]	Rangers	Graham Carey[69]	St Mirren

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards

^[70]

Award	Recipient
Player of the Season	David Weir[71]
Manager of the Season	Walter Smith[71]
Young Player of the Season	David Goodwillie[72]
Goal of the Season	Anthony Stokes[72]
Save of the Season	Artur Boruc[72]
Under-19 League Player of the Season	Dale Hilson[73]
Best Club Media Relations	Motherwell[73]
SPL Family Champions	St Mirren[73]
Best Community Initiative	Hibernian[73]