2023–24 Scottish Premiership

The 2023–24 Scottish Premiership (known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football, and the 127th edition overall of the top national league competition, not including one cancelled due to World War II. The season began on 5 August 2023.[1]

Scottish Premiership
Season2023–24
Dates5 August 2023 –
19 May 2024
ChampionsCeltic
10th Premiership title
54th Scottish title
RelegatedLivingston
Champions LeagueCeltic
Rangers
Europa LeagueHeart of Midlothian
Kilmarnock
Conference LeagueSt Mirren
Matches played228
Goals scored629 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorerLawrence Shankland
(24 goals)
Biggest home winCeltic 6–0 Aberdeen
(12 November 2023)
Celtic 7–1 Dundee
(28 February 2024)
Biggest away winDundee 0–5 Rangers
(1 November 2023)
Kilmarnock 0–5 Celtic
(15 May 2024)
Highest scoringCeltic 7–1 Dundee
(28 February 2024)
Longest winning runRangers
(9 games)
Longest unbeaten runCeltic
(16 games)
Longest winless runLivingston
(17 games)
Longest losing runLivingston
(8 games)
Highest attendance59,664
Celtic 2–1 Rangers
(30 December 2023)
Lowest attendance1,142
Livingston 2–2 Ross County
(30 January 2024)
Total attendance3,716,679
Average attendance16,301
All statistics correct as of 19 May 2024.

On 15 May, Celtic successfully defended their title, securing a tenth Premiership title and 54th Scottish league title overall, following a 5–0 victory away to Kilmarnock.[2][3]

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

Teams

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The following teams changed division after the 2022–23 season.

Promoted from the Championship

Relegated to the Championship

Stadia and locations

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Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Heart of Midlothian
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Dens Park Tynecastle Park
Capacity: 20,866[4] Capacity: 60,411[5] Capacity: 11,775[6] Capacity: 19,852[7]
       
Hibernian
Location of teams in the 2023–24 Scottish Premiership
Kilmarnock
Easter Road Rugby Park
Capacity: 20,421[8] Capacity: 15,003[9][10]
   
Livingston Motherwell
Almondvale Stadium Fir Park
Capacity: 9,713[11] Capacity: 13,677[12]
   
Rangers Ross County St Johnstone St Mirren
Ibrox Stadium Victoria Park McDiarmid Park St Mirren Park
Capacity: 50,987[13] Capacity: 6,541[14] Capacity: 10,696[15] Capacity: 7,937[16]
       
Premiership football clubs in Edinburgh
Premiership football clubs in Glasgow

Personnel and kits

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Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aberdeen   Peter Leven (Interim)   Graeme Shinnie Adidas TEXO
Celtic   Brendan Rodgers   Callum McGregor Adidas Dafabet
Dundee   Tony Docherty   Joe Shaughnessy Macron Crown Engineering Services
Heart of Midlothian   Steven Naismith   Craig Gordon Umbro MND Scotland (Home)
Stellar Omada (Away)
Hibernian   David Gray (Interim)   Paul Hanlon Joma Bevvy.com
Kilmarnock   Derek McInnes   Kyle Vassell Hummel James Frew Ltd
Livingston   David Martindale   Mikey Devlin Joma Emptez
Motherwell   Stuart Kettlewell   Liam Kelly Macron G4 Claims
Rangers   Philippe Clement   James Tavernier Castore Unibet
Ross County   Don Cowie (Interim)   Jack Baldwin Joma Ross-shire Engineering
St Johnstone   Craig Levein   Liam Gordon Macron GS Brown Construction
St Mirren   Stephen Robinson   Mark O'Hara Macron Digby Brown

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Dundee   Gary Bowyer End of contract 10 May 2023[17] Pre-season   Tony Docherty 29 May 2023[18]
Celtic   Ange Postecoglou Signed by Tottenham Hotspur 6 June 2023[19]   Brendan Rodgers 19 June 2023[20]
Hibernian   Lee Johnson Sacked 27 August 2023[21] 12th   Nick Montgomery 11 September 2023[22]
Rangers   Michael Beale 1 October 2023[23] 3rd   Philippe Clement 15 October 2023[24]
St Johnstone   Steven MacLean 29 October 2023[25] 12th   Craig Levein 5 November 2023[26]
Ross County   Malky Mackay 15 November 2023[27] 11th   Derek Adams 20 November 2023[28]
Aberdeen   Barry Robson 31 January 2024[29] 8th   Neil Warnock 5 February 2024[30]
Ross County   Derek Adams Resigned 7 February 2024[31] 11th   Don Cowie (Interim) 8 February 2024[32]
Aberdeen   Neil Warnock 9 March 2024[33] 10th   Peter Leven (Interim) 9 March 2024[34]
Hibernian   Nick Montgomery Sacked 14 May 2024[35] 9th   David Gray (Interim) 14 May 2024[35]

Format

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In the initial phase of the season, the 12 teams will play a round-robin tournament whereby each team plays each of the other teams three times. After 33 games, the league splits into two sections of six teams, with each team playing each other once 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 were be played, with 38 matches played by each team.

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
1 Celtic (C) 38 29 6 3 95 30 +65 93 Qualification for the Champions League league stage
2 Rangers 38 27 4 7 87 32 +55 85 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3 Heart of Midlothian 38 20 8 10 54 42 +12 68 Qualification for the Europa League play-off round[b]
4 Kilmarnock 38 14 14 10 46 44 +2 56 Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round
5 St Mirren 38 13 8 17 46 52 −6 47 Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round
6 Dundee 38 10 12 16 49 68 −19 42
7 Aberdeen 38 12 12 14 48 52 −4 48
8 Hibernian 38 11 13 14 52 59 −7 46
9 Motherwell 38 10 13 15 56 59 −3 43
10 St Johnstone 38 8 11 19 29 54 −25 35
11 Ross County (O) 38 8 11 19 38 67 −29 35 Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
12 Livingston (R) 38 5 10 23 29 70 −41 25 Relegation to the Championship
Source: [36][37]
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).[38]
(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. ^ As the winners of the 2023–24 Scottish Cup, Celtic, qualified for the Champions League, the berth reserved for the cup winners (Europa League play-off round) passed to the third-placed team. The berths for the Europa League second qualifying round and the Conference League second qualifying round were passed down to the fourth- and fifth-placed teams.

Results

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Matches 34–38

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After 33 matches, the league was split 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 were determined by the position of the teams in the league table at the time of the split.

Season statistics

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Top scorers

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Rank Player Club Goals
1   Lawrence Shankland Heart of Midlothian 24
2   Matt O'Riley Celtic 18
3   James Tavernier Rangers 17
4   Bojan Miovski Aberdeen 16
  Cyriel Dessers Rangers
6   Theo Bair Motherwell 15
7   Kyogo Furuhashi Celtic 14
  Simon Murray Ross County
9   Abdallah Sima Rangers 11
10   Luke McCowan Dundee 10
  Myziane Maolida Hibernian

Source:[42]

Clean sheets

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Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1   Jack Butland Rangers 18
2   Joe Hart Celtic 15
  Zander Clark Heart of Midlothian
4   Will Dennis Kilmarnock 14
5   Kelle Roos Aberdeen 10
  Zach Hemming St Mirren
7   David Marshall Hibernian 9
8   Trevor Carson Dundee 8
  Dimitar Mitov St Johnstone
10   Shamal George Livingston 7

Source:[43]

Awards

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Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August   Stephen Robinson St Mirren   Ryan Strain St Mirren
September   Brendan Rodgers Celtic   Matt O'Riley Celtic
October   Derek McInnes Kilmarnock   Abdallah Sima Rangers
November   Steven Naismith Heart of Midlothian   Lawrence Shankland Heart of Midlothian
December   Derek McInnes Kilmarnock
January   Philippe Clement Rangers   Alan Forrest
February   Blair Spittal Motherwell
March   Tony Docherty Dundee   Myziane Maolida Hibernian
April   Brendan Rodgers Celtic   Luke McCowan Dundee

The SPFL Premiership manager of the year was Derek McInnes of Kilmarnock.

The SPFL Premiership player of the year was Lawrence Shankland of Heart of Midlothian.

Premiership play-offs

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The quarter-final was contested by the teams placed third and fourth in the 2023–24 Scottish Championship, Partick Thistle and Airdrieonians. Partick Thistle advanced to the semi-final to face the team placed second in the Championship, Raith Rovers. The final was contested by Raith Rovers and the team placed eleventh in the Premiership, Ross County, who won the tie to secure a place in the 2024–25 Scottish Premiership.[44]

Qualified teams

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Team Rank
Ross County 1
Raith Rovers 2
Partick Thistle 3
Airdrieonians 4

Quarter-final

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First leg

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7 May 2024 Airdrieonians2–2Partick ThistleAirdrie
19:45 Todorov   5'
McGill   50'
[45] McBeth   29'
Robinson   45'
Stadium: Excelsior Stadium
Attendance: 3,163
Referee: Grant Irvine

Second leg

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10 May 2024 Partick Thistle 2–1
(4–3 agg.)
AirdrieoniansGlasgow
19:45 Graham   18', 47' [46] Lyall   55' Stadium: Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 6,531
Referee: Colin Steven

Semi-final

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First leg

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14 May 2024 Partick Thistle1–2Raith RoversGlasgow
19:45
[47]
Stadium: Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 5,497
Referee: Chris Graham

Second leg

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17 May 2024 Raith Rovers 1–2 (a.e.t.)
(3–3 agg.)
(4–3 p)
Partick ThistleKirkcaldy
19:45
[48]
Stadium: Stark's Park
Attendance: 6,070
Referee: Steven McLean
Penalties

Final

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First leg

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23 May 2024 Raith Rovers1–2Ross CountyKirkcaldy
20:00
[49]
Stadium: Stark's Park
Attendance: 6,216
Referee: John Beaton

Second leg

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26 May 2024 Ross County 4–0
(6–1 agg.)
Raith RoversDingwall
12:00
[50] Stadium: Victoria Park
Attendance: 5,797
Referee: Don Robertson

References

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  1. ^ "Key dates for Season 2023/24". SPFL. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Rodgers 'never had any doubt' about Celtic title challenge". BBC Sport. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  3. ^ "O'Riley double helps Celtic thrash Kilmarnock and clinch 54th league title". Guardian. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Aberdeen Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Celtic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Dundee Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. ^ "Heart of Midlothian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Hibernian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. ^ "Kilmarnock Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Rugby Park". killiefc.com. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Livingston Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 16 September 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Motherwell Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. ^ "Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Ross County Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  15. ^ "St Johnstone Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  16. ^ "St Mirren Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Dundee: Gary Bowyer leaves post as manager less than week after title win". BBC Sport. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Dundee appoint Tony Docherty as manager as Kilmarnock lose assistant". BBC Sport. 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou leaves Celtic to become new Spurs manager". BBC Sport. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Celtic: Brendan Rodgers appointed as Ange Postecoglou's successor on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Lee Johnson: Hibernian sack manager after 'disappointing start to domestic campaign'". BBC Sport. 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  22. ^ "Hibernian: Nick Montgomery named new manager after leaving Central Coast Mariners". BBC Sport. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  23. ^ "Rangers: Michael Beale sacked as manager; Steven Davis takes interim charge". BBC Sport. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Philippe Clement: Rangers appoint former Monaco head coach as manager". BBC Sport. 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  25. ^ "St Johnstone: Steven MacLean leaves manager's post after winless start". BBC Sport. 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  26. ^ "Craig Levein: St Johnstone appoint former Scotland and Hearts manager as team boss". BBC Sport. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  27. ^ "Ross County part company with manager Malky Mackay". BBC Sport. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  28. ^ "Ross County appoint Derek Adams for third spell after Morecambe exit". BBC Sport. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  29. ^ "Barry Robson: Aberdeen sack manager after nine months in charge". BBC Sport. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  30. ^ "Neil Warnock: Aberdeen appoint veteran as interim manager". BBC Sport. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  31. ^ "Ross County: Manager Derek Adams resigns after 12 games". BBC Sport. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  32. ^ "Ross County: Don Cowie replaces Derek Adams on interim basis". BBC Sport. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  33. ^ "Neil Warnock: Aberdeen manager steps down after Scottish Cup win". BBC Sport. 9 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  34. ^ McPheat, Nick (9 March 2024). "Neil Warnock leaves Aberdeen: 'Club in chaos' or 'doing right thing'?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  35. ^ a b "Montgomery: Hibs sack head coach". BBC Sport. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  36. ^ "Scottish Premiership Table". BBC. 28 August 2023.
  37. ^ "cinch Premiership League Table". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  38. ^ "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League (Rule Number C35-C37)" (PDF). SPFL. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  39. ^ a b "Summary - Premiership". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  40. ^ "Summary - Premiership". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  41. ^ "Summary - Premiership". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  42. ^ "BBC Top Scorers". BBC. 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  43. ^ "Premiership Clean Sheets Table". Footy Stats. 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  44. ^ "SPFL play-off schedule 2023/24". SPFL. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  45. ^ "Airdrie and Partick level after thrilling play-off first leg". BBC Sport. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  46. ^ "Graham sends Partick Thistle into play-off semi-final". BBC Sport. 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  47. ^ "Rovers seize advantage in Premiership play-off with Thistle". BBC Sport. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  48. ^ "Raith Rovers 1–2 Partick Thistle". BBC Sport. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  49. ^ "Raith Rovers 1–2 Ross County". BBC Sport. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  50. ^ "Ross County 4–0 Raith Rovers". BBC Sport. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
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