2015–16 Scottish Premiership

The 2015–16 Scottish Premiership (known as the Ladbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The season began on 1 August 2015.^[3] Celtic were the defending champions.

Scottish Premiership

Season	2015–16
Dates	1 August 2015 – 22 May 2016
Champions	Celtic 3rd Premiership title 47th Scottish title
Relegated	Dundee United
Champions League	Celtic
Europa League	Aberdeen Heart of Midlothian
Matches played	228
Goals scored	650 (2.85 per match)
Top goalscorer	Leigh Griffiths (31 goals)[1]
Biggest home win	Celtic 8–1 Hamilton Academical[2] (19 January 2016)
Biggest away win	Kilmarnock 0–4 Dundee[2] (1 August 2015) Kilmarnock 0–4 Ross County[2] (22 August 2015) Aberdeen 1–5 St Johnstone[2] (3 October 2015) Partick Thistle 0–4 Heart of Midlothian[2] (31 October 2015) Kilmarnock 0–4 Aberdeen[2] (19 December 2015)
Highest scoring	Celtic 8–1 Hamilton Academical[2] (19 January 2016)
Longest winning run	8 matches:[2] Aberdeen
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches:[2] Aberdeen
Longest winless run	10 matches:[2] Dundee United
Longest losing run	5 matches:[2] Partick Thistle
Highest attendance	49,050[2] Celtic 7–0 Motherwell (15 May 2016)
Lowest attendance	1,516[2] Hamilton Academical 0–1 Inverness CT (11 May 2016)
Total attendance	2,237,437[2]
Average attendance	9,644 (838)[2]
← 2014–15 2016–17 → All statistics correct as of 15 May 2016.

Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Hamilton Academical, Heart of Midlothian, Inverness CT, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Ross County and St Johnstone.

Teams

Promoted from Scottish Championship

• Heart of Midlothian

Relegated from Scottish Premiership

• St Mirren

Stadia and locations

Aberdeen	Celtic	Dundee	Dundee United
Pittodrie Stadium	Celtic Park	Dens Park	Tannadice Park
Capacity: 20,897[4]	Capacity: 60,355[5]	Capacity: 11,506[6]	Capacity: 14,229[7]
Hamilton Academical	Aberdeen Dundee Utd Dundee Heart of Midlothian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Ross County St. Johnstone Celtic Hamilton Motherwell Partick Thistle Location of teams in 2015–16 Scottish Premiership		Heart of Midlothian
New Douglas Park			Tynecastle Stadium
Capacity: 6,078[8]			Capacity: 17,529[9]
Inverness Caledonian Thistle			Kilmarnock
Caledonian Stadium			Rugby Park
Capacity: 7,800[10]			Capacity: 18,128[11]
Motherwell	Partick Thistle	Ross County	St Johnstone
Fir Park	Firhill Stadium	Victoria Park	McDiarmid Park
Capacity: 13,677[12]	Capacity: 10,102[13]	Capacity: 6,541[14]	Capacity: 10,696[15]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Aberdeen	Derek McInnes	Ryan Jack	Adidas	Saltire Energy
Celtic	Ronny Deila	Scott Brown	New Balance	Magners
Dundee	Paul Hartley	James McPake	Puma	Kilmac Energy
Dundee United	Gordon Young (interim)	Seán Dillon	Nike	Calor
Hamilton Academical	Martin Canning	Michael McGovern	Adidas[16]	Nevis (H), Scotia Aid (A)
Heart of Midlothian	Robbie Neilson	Alim Öztürk	Puma	Save the Children
Inverness CT	John Hughes	Richie Foran	Carbrini	Subway
Kilmarnock	Lee Clark	Mark Connolly	Erreà	QTS
Motherwell	Mark McGhee	Keith Lasley	Macron	Cash Converters
Partick Thistle	Alan Archibald	Abdul Osman	Joma	Kingsford Capital Management
Ross County	Jim McIntyre	Andrew Davies	Carbrini	Stanley CRC Evans Offshore
St Johnstone	Tommy Wright	Dave Mackay	Joma	Invest in Perth

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Motherwell	Ian Baraclough	Sacked	23 September 2015[17]	10th	Mark McGhee	13 October 2015[18]
Dundee United	Jackie McNamara		26 September 2015[19]	11th	Mixu Paatelainen	14 October 2015[20]
Kilmarnock	Gary Locke	Resigned	30 January 2016[21]	11th	Lee McCulloch (interim)	30 January 2016[21]
Kilmarnock	Lee McCulloch	End of interim	15 February 2016[22]	10th	Lee Clark	15 February 2016[22]
Dundee United	Mixu Paatelainen	Sacked	4 May 2016[23]	12th	Gordon Young (interim)	4 May 2016[24]

Tournament format and regulations

Basic

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.

Promotion and relegation

Heart of Midlothian were promoted as 2014–15 Scottish Championship winners. On 2 May, bottom club Dundee United were defeated 2–1 away to their city rivals Dundee, a defeat which confined them to relegation of the Championship. Craig Wighton, a local Dundee fan, scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute of the game. The champion of that league will be promoted to the Premiership for the 2016–17 season. The team that finishes 11th in the Premiership will play the winner of the Championship playoffs (teams that finish 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Championship) in two playoff games, with the winner securing a Premiership spot for the 2016–17 season.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
1	Celtic (C)	38	26	8	4	93	31	+62	86	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2	Aberdeen	38	22	5	11	62	48	+14	71	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3	Heart of Midlothian	38	18	11	9	59	40	+19	65
4	St Johnstone	38	16	8	14	58	55	+3	56
5	Motherwell	38	15	5	18	47	63	−16	50
6	Ross County	38	14	6	18	55	61	−6	48
7	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	38	14	10	14	54	48	+6	52
8	Dundee	38	11	15	12	53	57	−4	48
9	Partick Thistle	38	12	10	16	41	50	−9	46
10	Hamilton Academical	38	11	10	17	42	63	−21	43
11	Kilmarnock (O)	38	9	9	20	41	64	−23	36	Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
12	Dundee United[b] (R)	38	8	7	23	45	70	−25	28	Relegation to the Championship

Source: SPFL Archive
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification and second stage group allocation).^[26]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
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. Dundee United were deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player in their win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 6 May 2016.^[25]

Results

Matches 1–22

Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away.

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	DND	DUN	HAM	HOM	INV	KIL	MOT	PAR	ROS	STJ
Aberdeen		2–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	0–0	3–1	1–5
Celtic	3–1		6–0	5–0	8–1	0–0	4–2	0–0	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–1
Dundee	0–2	0–0		2–1	4–0	1–2	1–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	3–3	2–1
Dundee United	0–1	1–3	2–2		1–2	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–3	0–1	1–0	1–2
Hamilton Academical	1–1	1–2	1–1	4–0		3–2	3–4	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–3	2–4
Heart of Midlothian	1–3	2–2	1–1	3–2	2–0		2–0	1–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	4–3
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2–1	1–3	1–1	2–2	0–2	2–0		2–1	0–1	0–0	2–0	0–1
Kilmarnock	0–4	2–2	0–4	1–1	1–2	2–2	2–0		0–1	2–5	0–4	2–1
Motherwell	1–2	0–1	3–1	0–2	3–3	2–2	1–3	1–0		2–1	1–1	2–0
Partick Thistle	0–2	0–2	0–1	3–0	1–1	0–4	2–1	2–2	1–0		1–0	2–0
Ross County	2–0	1–4	5–2	2–1	2–0	1–2	1–2	3–2	3–0	1–0		2–3
St Johnstone	3–4	0–3	1–1	2–1	4–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–2	1–1

Source: Scottish Premiership
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Teams play every other team once (either at home or away).

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	DND	DUN	HAM	HOM	INV	KIL	MOT	PAR	ROS	STJ
Aberdeen		2–1	1–0		3–0			2–1				1–1
Celtic			0–0			3–1	3–0				2–0	3–1
Dundee						0–1	1–1		2–2		5–2	2–0
Dundee United	0–1	1–4	2–2			2–1	0–2	5–1
Hamilton Academical		1–1	2–1	0–0		0–0			0–1	1–2
Heart of Midlothian	2–1							1–0	6–0	1–0		0–3
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3–1				0–1	0–0			1–2	0–0
Kilmarnock		0–1	0–0		0–1		2–1				0–2	3–0
Motherwell	2–1	1–2		2–1				0–2		3–1	1–2
Partick Thistle	1–2	1–2	2–4	1–0				0–0
Ross County	2–3			0–3	2–1	0–3	0–3			1–0
St Johnstone				0–1	0–0		1–0		2–1	1–2	1–1

Source: Scottish Premiership
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

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

Top six Home \ Away ABE CEL HOM MOT ROS STJ Aberdeen 0–1 4–1 0–4 Celtic 3–2 7–0 1–1 Heart of Midlothian 1–3 1–1 2–2 Motherwell 1–0 1–2 Ross County 1–3 0–1 St Johnstone 3–0 2–1 Source: Scottish Premiership Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom six Home \ Away DND DUN HAM INV KIL PAR Dundee 2–1 0–1 1–1 Dundee United 1–3 3–3 Hamilton Academical 0–1 0–4 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 4–0 2–3 3–1 Kilmarnock 2–4 0–2 Partick Thistle 1–2 2–2 1–4 Source: Scottish Premiership Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

As of matches played on 15 May 2016^[1][27]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Leigh Griffiths	Celtic	31
2	Kane Hemmings	Dundee	21
3	Adam Rooney	Aberdeen	20
4	Louis Moult	Motherwell	15
	Liam Boyce	Ross County
6	Kris Doolan	Partick Thistle	14
	Steven MacLean	St Johnstone
8	Billy Mckay	Dundee United	12
	Juanma	Hearts
10	Miles Storey	Inverness CT	11

Awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Ref.
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Derek McInnes	Aberdeen	Leigh Griffiths	Celtic	[28]
September	Derek McInnes	Aberdeen	Niall McGinn	Aberdeen
October	Ronny Deila	Celtic	Leigh Griffiths	Celtic
November	Alan Archibald	Partick Thistle	Michael O'Halloran	St Johnstone
December	Mark McGhee	Motherwell	Liam Boyce	Ross County
January	Ronny Deila	Celtic	Kane Hemmings	Dundee
February	Mixu Paatelainen	Dundee United	Paul Paton	Dundee United
March	Mark McGhee	Motherwell	Jackson Irvine	Ross County
April	John Hughes	Inverness CT	Patrick Roberts	Celtic

Premiership play-offs

The quarter-finals were contested between the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the Scottish Championship; Hibernian and Raith Rovers. Hibernian, the winners, advanced to the semi-finals to face the 2nd placed team in the Championship; Falkirk. Falkirk, the winners, advanced to the final to play-off against the 11th placed team in the Premiership, Kilmarnock, with the winners securing a place in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership.

	Quarter-final							Semi-final							Final
															1	Kilmarnock	0	4	4
								2	Falkirk	2	3	5			2	Falkirk	1	0	1
	3	Hibernian	0	2	2			3	Hibernian	2	2	4
	4	Raith Rovers	1	0	1

Quarter-final

First leg

Raith Rovers v Hibernian

4 May 2016	Raith Rovers	1–0	Hibernian	Stark's Park, Kirkcaldy
19:45	Panayiotou 75'	BBC Report		Attendance: 5,330 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Second leg

Hibernian v Raith Rovers

7 May 2016	Hibernian	2–0 (2–1 agg.)	Raith Rovers	Easter Road, Edinburgh
12:30	McGinn 8' McGregor 12'	BBC Report		Attendance: 11,133 Referee: John McKendrick

Semi-final

First leg

Hibernian v Falkirk

10 May 2016	Hibernian	2–2	Falkirk	Easter Road, Edinburgh
19:45	Henderson 57' McGregor 66'	BBC Report	Miller 34' McHugh 80'	Attendance: 11,830 Referee: Alan Muir

Second leg

Falkirk v Hibernian

13 May 2016	Falkirk	3–2 (5–4 agg.)	Hibernian	Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
19:45	Alston 13' Leahy 79' McHugh 90'	BBC Report	Keatings 31' (pen.), 34'	Attendance: 7,851 Referee: Craig Thomson

Final

First leg

Falkirk v Kilmarnock

19 May 2016	Falkirk	1–0	Kilmarnock	Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
19:45	Vaulks 90+1'	BBC Report		Attendance: 7,636 Referee: John Beaton

Second leg

Kilmarnock v Falkirk

22 May 2016	Kilmarnock	4–0 (4–1 agg.)	Falkirk	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
15:00	Kiltie 3', 62' Addison 8' Boyd 65'	BBC Report		Attendance: 11,013 Referee: Willie Collum

Attendances

Celtic FC drew the highest average home attendance in the 2015–16 edition of the Scottish Premiership.

#	Football club	Home games	Average attendance[29]
1	Celtic FC	19	44,850
2	Heart of Midlothian	19	16,423
3	Aberdeen FC	19	13,094
4	Dundee United	19	7,969
5	Dundee FC	19	6,122
6	Motherwell FC	19	4,912
7	Ross County FC	19	4,034
8	Kilmarnock FC	19	3,993
9	St. Johnstone FC	19	3,880
10	Partick Thistle FC	19	3,800
11	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	19	3,754
12	Hamilton Academical FC	19	3,027

See also

• Nine in a row