2021–22 Scottish Premiership

The 2021–22 Scottish Premiership (known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth 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. Celtic claimed the league trophy back after an outstanding run with a 1–1 draw with Dundee United on 11 May enough to confirm them as champions.

Scottish Premiership

Season	2021–22
Dates	31 July 2021 – 15 May 2022
Champions	Celtic 8th Premiership title 52nd Scottish title
Relegated	Dundee
Champions League	Celtic Rangers
Europa League	Heart of Midlothian
Europa Conference League	Dundee United Motherwell
Matches played	228
Goals scored	563 (2.47 per match)
Top goalscorer	Regan Charles-Cook Giorgos Giakoumakis (13 goals each)
Biggest home win	Celtic 7–0 St Johnstone (9 April 2022)
Biggest away win	Dundee 0–5 Ross County (27 October 2021) Motherwell 1–6 Rangers (31 October 2021)
Highest scoring	Motherwell 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 run	Rangers 9 games
Longest unbeaten run	Celtic 32 games
Longest winless run	Dundee Motherwell St Mirren 11 games
Longest losing run	St Johnstone 8 games
Highest attendance	59,077 Celtic 3–0 Rangers (2 February 2022)
Lowest attendance	500 (6 games)
Total attendance	3,317,909
Average attendance	15,800
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

Twelve teams contested 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

• Heart of Midlothian
• Dundee

Relegated to the Championship

• Hamilton Academical
• Kilmarnock

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	Aberdeen Dundee Dundee United Hearts Hibernian Livingston Ross County St. Johnstone St Mirren Celtic Motherwell Rangers 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[a]
1	Celtic (C)	38	29	6	3	92	22	+70	93	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Rangers	38	27	8	3	80	31	+49	89	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3	Heart of Midlothian	38	17	10	11	54	44	+10	61	Qualification for the Europa League play-off round
4	Dundee United	38	12	12	14	37	44	−7	48	Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round
5	Motherwell	38	12	10	16	42	61	−19	46	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
6	Ross County	38	10	11	17	47	61	−14	41
7	Livingston	38	13	10	15	41	46	−5	49
8	Hibernian	38	11	12	15	38	42	−4	45
9	St Mirren	38	10	14	14	33	51	−18	44
10	Aberdeen	38	10	11	17	41	46	−5	41
11	St Johnstone (O)	38	8	11	19	24	51	−27	35	Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
12	Dundee (R)	38	6	11	21	34	64	−30	29	Relegation to Championship

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]
(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).

Results

Matches 1–22 Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away. Home \ Away ABE CEL DND DUN HOM HIB LIV MOT RAN ROS STJ STM Aberdeen — 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 4–1 Celtic 2–1 — 6–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 3–0 3–0 2–0 6–0 Dundee 2–1 2–4 — 0–0 0–1 2–2 0–0 3–0 0–1 0–5 1–0 2–2 Dundee United 1–0 0–3 1–0 — 0–2 1–3 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–2 Heart of Midlothian 1–1 2–1 1–1 5–2 — 0–0 3–0 2–0 0–2 2–1 2–0 2–0 Hibernian 1–0 1–3 1–0 0–3 0–0 — 2–0 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–0 2–2 Livingston 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 — 1–2 1–3 1–1 1–2 0–1 Motherwell 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–3 2–1 — 1–6 2–1 2–0 2–2 Rangers 2–2 1–0 3–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 3–0 1–1 — 4–2 2–0 2–0 Ross County 1–1 1–2 3–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 2–3 3–1 2–4 — 0–0 2–3 St Johnstone 0–1 1–3 3–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–3 1–1 1–2 1–2 — 0–0 St Mirren 3–2 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 0–0 0–0 — Source: [46] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 23–33 Teams play each other once, either home or away. Home \ Away ABE CEL DND DUN HOM HIB LIV MOT RAN ROS STJ STM Aberdeen — 2–3 — 1–1 — 3–1 — — — 0–1 1–1 — Celtic — — 3–2 1–0 — — — — — 4–0 7–0 2–0 Dundee 2–2 — — — — 0–0 0–4 — 1–2 1–2 — 0–1 Dundee United — — 2–2 — 2–2 — — 2–0 1–1 2–1 — — Heart of Midlothian 2–0 1–2 1–2 — — 3–1 2–0 2–0 — — — — Hibernian — 0–0 — 1–1 — — 2–3 — — 2–0 0–0 0–1 Livingston 2–1 1–3 — 2–1 — — — 2–2 — — — 1–1 Motherwell 1–1 0–4 1–1 — — 0–0 — — — 0–1 — 4–2 Rangers 1–0 1–2 — — 5–0 2–0 1–0 2–2 — — — — Ross County — — — — 1–1 — 1–1 — 3–3 — 3–1 1–0 St Johnstone — — 0–0 0–0 2–1 — 1–0 2–1 0–1 — — — St Mirren 1–0 — — 1–2 0–2 — — — 0–4 — 2–1 — Source: [46] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

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.

Top six Home \ Away CEL DUN HOM MOT RAN ROS Celtic — — 4–1 6–0 1–1 — Dundee United 1–1 — 2–3 1–0 — — Heart of Midlothian — — — — 1–3 0–0 Motherwell — — 2–1 — 1–3 — Rangers — 2–0 — — — 4–1 Ross County 0–2 1–2 — 0–1 — — Source: [47] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Bottom six Home \ Away ABE DND HIB LIV STJ STM Aberdeen — 1–0 — 1–2 — 0–0 Dundee — — 3–1 — 1–1 — Hibernian 1–1 — — — 4–0 — Livingston — 2–1 1–0 — 1–1 — St Johnstone 1–0 — — — — 0–1 St Mirren — 2–0 0–1 0–0 — — Source: [47] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Scoring

As of matches played on 15 May 2022

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Giorgos Giakoumakis	Celtic	13
	Regan Charles-Cook	Ross County
3	Kyogo Furuhashi	Celtic	12
4	Lewis Ferguson	Aberdeen	11
	Bruce Anderson	Livingston
	Alfredo Morelos	Rangers
7	Christian Ramirez	Aberdeen	10
	Liel Abada	Celtic
	Jota	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]
James Scott	Hibernian	St Johnstone	4–0 (H)	15 May 2022	[54]

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean Sheets
1	Joe Hart	Celtic	19
2	Craig Gordon	Heart of Midlothian	14
3	Allan McGregor	Rangers	12
4	Matt Macey	Hibernian	11
	Jak Alnwick	St Mirren
6	Zander Clark	St Johnstone	10
7	Benjamin Siegrist	Dundee United	9

Source:^[55]

Attendances

These are the average attendances of the teams. Games with restricted attendances are not included in these figures.

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Celtic	1,040,998	59,077	56,052	57,833	−0.2%†
2	Rangers	837,477	50,023	47,561	49,263	+0.1%†
3	Heart of Midlothian	295,570	19,041	15,527	17,386	+3.8%†
4	Hibernian	278,877	20,419	13,227	15,493	−7.4%†
5	Aberdeen	219,921	18,719	6,295	12,937	−6.5%†
6	Dundee United[a]	130,017	12,806	4,519	7,648	−10.0%†
7	Dundee[a]	114,816	11,273	4,621	6,379	+20.9%†
8	Motherwell	96,037	8,446	3,587	5,649	+1.3%†
9	St Mirren	88,803	6,596	3,016	4,934	−8.2%†
10	St Johnstone	76,558	7,319	2,249	4,503	+10.1%†
11	Ross County	72,955	6,698	2,224	4,053	−13.1%†
12	Livingston	65,880	8,922	1,319	3,660	+3.3%†
	League total	3,317,909	59,077	1,319	15,800	+3.2%†

Source: ^{[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]}

1. Club was playing in the Scottish Championship in the last season with attendances.

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
April	Ange Postecoglou	Celtic	Jota	Celtic

Premiership play-offs

The quarter-finals were contested by the teams placed third and fourth in the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. The winners advanced to the semi-finals to face the team placed second in the Championship. The final was 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.^[68]

Qualified teams

Team	Rank
St Johnstone	1
Arbroath	2
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3
Partick Thistle	4

	Quarter-final							Semi-final							Final
															1	St Johnstone	2	4	6
								2	Arbroath	0	0	0 (3)			3	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2	0	2
	3	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2	1	3			3	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0	0	0 (5)
	4	Partick Thistle	1	0	1

Quarter-finals

First leg

Partick Thistle v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

3 May 2022	Partick Thistle	1–2	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Glasgow
19:05	Crawford 54'	[69]	Sutherland 71' Samuels 82'	Stadium: Firhill Stadium Attendance: 2,919 Referee: Steven McLean

Second leg

Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Partick Thistle

6 May 2022	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	1–0 (3–1 agg.)	Partick Thistle	Inverness
19:45	Samuels 29'	[70]		Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2,470 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Semi-finals

First leg

Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Arbroath

10 May 2022	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0–0	Arbroath	Inverness
19:05		[71]		Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2,201 Referee: Euan Anderson

Second leg

Arbroath v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

13 May 2022	Arbroath	0–0 (0–0 agg.) (3–5 p)	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Arbroath
19:45		[72]		Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 5,154 Referee: Willie Collum
	Penalties
	McKenna Low Hamilton Linn		Mckay Hardy Welsh Harper Broadfoot

Final

First leg

Inverness Caledonian Thistle v St Johnstone

20 May 2022	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2–2	St Johnstone	Inverness
19:45	McAlear 73', 80'	[73]	Rooney 18' Hallberg 24'	Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 4,811 Referee: Bobby Madden

Second leg

St Johnstone v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

23 May 2022	St Johnstone	4–0 (6–2 agg.)	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Perth
19:45	May 46' MacPherson 53' Hendry 87' Rooney 90'	[74]		Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 7,355 Referee: Nick Walsh

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.^[75] BBC Scotland will broadcast the Premiership quarter-final and semi-final play-off ties.^[76]

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.^[77]

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.