2017–18 Scottish Premiership

112nd season of top-tier football league in Scotland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2017–18 Scottish Premiership (known as the Ladbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 23 June 2017.[4] The season began on 5 August 2017.[5] Celtic were the defending champions.

Quick Facts Season, Dates ...
Scottish Premiership
Season2017–18
Dates5 August 2017 – 13 May 2018
ChampionsCeltic
5th Premiership title
49th Scottish title
RelegatedPartick Thistle
Ross County
Champions LeagueCeltic
Europa LeagueAberdeen
Rangers
Hibernian
Matches played228
Goals scored594 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorerKris Boyd (18 goals)[1][2]
Biggest home winCeltic 5–0 Rangers[3]
(29 April 2018)
Biggest away winSt Johnstone 0–4 Celtic[3]
(4 November 2017)
Dundee 0–4 St Johnstone[3]
(10 March 2018)
Motherwell 1–5 St Johnstone[3]
(5 May 2018)
Highest scoringHibernian 5–5 Rangers[3]
(13 May 2018)
Longest winning run6 matches:[3]
Kilmarnock
Longest unbeaten run17 matches:[3]
Celtic
Longest winless run12 matches:[3]
Ross County
Longest losing run6 matches:[3]
Hamilton Academical
Highest attendance59,259[3]
Celtic 2–2 Hibernian
(30 September 2017)
Lowest attendance1,272[3]
Hamilton Academical 3–2 Ross County
(16 December 2017)
Total attendance3,632,642[3]
Average attendance15,932 (1,963)[3]
All statistics correct as of 13 May 2018.
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Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Hamilton Academical, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Rangers, Ross County and St Johnstone.

The season's average attendance was 15,932, the highest level since 2006–07.[3]

On 29 April 2018, Celtic won their seventh consecutive title and 49th overall after a 50 win at home to Rangers.[6]

Teams

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The following teams have changed division since the 2016–17 season.

Stadia and locations

More information Aberdeen, Celtic ...
Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Hamilton Academical
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Dens Park New Douglas Park
Capacity: 20,866[7] Capacity: 60,411[8] Capacity: 11,506[9] Capacity: 5,510[10]
Heart of Midlothian Hibernian
Tynecastle Park[11] Easter Road
Capacity: 20,099[12] Capacity: 20,421[13]
Kilmarnock Motherwell
Rugby Park Fir Park
Capacity: 17,889[14] Capacity: 13,677[15]
Partick Thistle Rangers Ross County St Johnstone
Firhill Stadium Ibrox Stadium Victoria Park McDiarmid Park
Capacity: 10,102[16] Capacity: 50,817[17] Capacity: 6,541[18] Capacity: 10,696[19]
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Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Dundee Scotland Neil McCann End of interim 20 May 2017[20] Pre-season Scotland Neil McCann 1 June 2017[21]
Kilmarnock Scotland Lee McCulloch 20 May 2017[22] Scotland Lee McCulloch 5 June 2017[23]
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Ian Cathro Sacked 1 August 2017[24] Scotland Craig Levein 28 August 2017[25]
Ross County Scotland Jim McIntyre 25 September 2017[26] 10th Republic of Ireland Owen Coyle 28 September 2017[27]
Kilmarnock Scotland Lee McCulloch Resigned 1 October 2017[28] 12th Scotland Steve Clarke 14 October 2017[29]
Rangers Portugal Pedro Caixinha Sacked 26 October 2017[30] 4th Scotland Graeme Murty (interim) 26 October 2017[30]
Rangers Scotland Graeme Murty End of interim 22 December 2017[31] 3rd Scotland Graeme Murty 22 December 2017[31]
Ross County Republic of Ireland Owen Coyle Resigned 1 March 2018[32] 12th Scotland Steven Ferguson and Scotland Stuart Kettlewell 2 March 2018[33]
Rangers Scotland Graeme Murty Sacked 1 May 2018[34] 3rd Northern Ireland Jimmy Nicholl (interim) 1 May 2018[34]
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Format

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.

Prize money

In April 2018, the SPFL confirmed the prize money to be allocated to the league members at the conclusion of the competitions. The Premiership winners would receive £3.176 million, with a total pot of £24.5m to be distributed across the four divisions.[35]

League summary

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League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
1 Celtic (C) 38 24 10 4 73 25 +48 82 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round[b]
2 Aberdeen 38 22 7 9 56 37 +19 73 Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round
3 Rangers 38 21 7 10 76 50 +26 70 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
4 Hibernian 38 18 13 7 62 46 +16 67
5 Kilmarnock 38 16 11 11 49 47 +2 59
6 Heart of Midlothian 38 12 13 13 39 39 0 49
7 Motherwell 38 13 9 16 43 49 6 48
8 St Johnstone 38 12 10 16 42 53 11 46
9 Dundee 38 11 6 21 36 57 21 39
10 Hamilton Academical 38 9 6 23 47 68 21 33
11 Partick Thistle (R) 38 8 9 21 31 61 30 33 Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
12 Ross County (R) 38 6 11 21 40 62 22 29 Relegation to the Championship
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Source: Soccerway BBC
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).[36]
(C) Champions; (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. Since the winners of the 2017–18 Scottish Cup, Celtic, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the Scottish Cup winners (Europa League second qualifying round) was passed to the second-placed team and the spot awarded to the second-placed team (Europa League first qualifying round) was passed to the fourth-placed team.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, 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 matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.

Leader – Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
Qualification to Premiership play-off final
Relegation to 2018–19 Scottish Championship
More information Team \ Round ...
Team \ Round 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
Celtic12121111111111111111111111111111111111
Aberdeen34312222222222233322223322333332332222
Rangers46654353334444322233332233222223223333
Hibernian23566646675333444444444444444444444444
Kilmarnock8910101112121211111111101010108886767777655555555555
Heart of Midlothian128788777757767766555555555566666666666
Motherwell911875565443555555678886666777787777777
St Johnstone61233434566676677767678888988878888888
Dundee712121112998891012121211910111010101010999891010101010910999
Hamilton Academical1154478899109898889999999101011111099999109101010
Partick Thistle1010111210111111121212101111121212121211121111111110101111111112121111111111
Ross County57999101010108898991111101112111212121212121212121211111212121212
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Source: BBC Sport

Results

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Matches 1–22

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

More information Home \ Away, ABE ...
Home \ Away ABE CEL DND HAM HOM HIB KIL MOT PAR RAN ROS STJ
Aberdeen 0–3 2–1 2–0 0–0 4–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–2 2–1 3–0
Celtic 3–0 1–0 3–1 4–1 2–2 1–1 5–1 2–0 0–0 4–0 1–1
Dundee 0–1 0–2 1–3 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 3–0 2–1 1–2 3–2
Hamilton Academical 2–2 1–4 3–0 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 1–4 3–2 0–1
Heart of Midlothian 0–0 4–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–3 0–0 1–0
Hibernian 0–1 2–2 2–1 1–3 1–0 1–1 2–2 3–1 1–2 2–1 1–2
Kilmarnock 1–3 0–2 1–1 2–2 0–1 0–3 1–0 5–1 2–1 0–2 1–2
Motherwell 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 2–1 0–1 2–0 3–0 1–2 2–0 2–0
Partick Thistle 3–4 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 3–2 2–2 2–0 1–0
Rangers 3–0 0–2 4–1 0–2 0–0 2–3 1–1 2–0 3–0 2–1 1–3
Ross County 1–2 0–1 0–2 2–1 1–2 0–1 2–2 3–2 1–1 1–3 1–1
St Johnstone 0–3 0–4 0–2 2–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 4–1 1–0 0–3 0–0
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Source: Scottish Premiership
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 every other team once (either at home or away).

More information Home \ Away, ABE ...
Home \ Away ABE CEL DND HAM HOM HIB KIL MOT PAR RAN ROS STJ
Aberdeen 0–2 1–0 3–0 3–1 4–1
Celtic 0–0 3–1 1–0 3–0 0–0
Dundee 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–4 0–4
Hamilton Academical 1–2 1–2 0–3 2–0 2–1 3–5
Heart of Midlothian 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 1–0
Hibernian 2–0 3–1 2–0 2–1 2–0
Kilmarnock 1–0 3–2 2–0 2–2 3–2 2–0
Motherwell 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 2–0
Partick Thistle 0–0 1–2 1–2 0–1 0–2
Rangers 2–0 2–3 4–0 2–0 1–2 0–1
Ross County 2–4 2–2 1–1 1–1 4–0 1–2
St Johnstone 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–3 1–4 2–0
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Source: Scottish Premiership
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.[37]

More information Home \ Away, ABE ...
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Season statistics

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Top scorers

As of matches played on 13 May 2018
More information Rank, Player ...
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Source:[1][2][38]

Hat-tricks

More information Player, For ...
PlayerForAgainstResultDateReference
Republic of Ireland Adam Rooney Aberdeen St Johnstone 3–0 30 September 2017 [39]
France Odsonne Édouard Celtic Motherwell 5–1 2 December 2017 [40]
Scotland Gary Mackay-Steven Aberdeen Hibernian 4–1 16 December 2017 [41]
England Josh Windass Rangers Hamilton Academical 5–3 18 February 2018 [42]
Switzerland Florian Kamberi Hibernian Hamilton Academical 3–1 3 April 2018 [43]
Netherlands Alex Schalk Ross County Partick Thistle 4–0 3 April 2018 [44]
Scotland Steven MacLean St Johnstone Motherwell 5–1 5 May 2018 [45]
Australia Jamie Maclaren Hibernian Rangers 5–5 13 May 2018 [46]
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Discipline

Player

More information Rank, Player ...
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Club

More information Rank, Club ...
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Attendances

These are the average attendances of the teams.

More information Pos, Team ...
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Celtic 1,096,356 59,259 53,883 57,702 +5.6%
2 Rangers 934,298 50,215 47,272 49,173 +0.6%
3 Heart of Midlothian 331,725 32,852 15,357 18,429 +12.9%
4 Hibernian 344,355 20,193 15,459 18,123 +17.7%
5 Aberdeen 299,734 20,528 13,531 15,775 +24.8%
6 Dundee 113,000 9,193 4,863 5,947 −7.5%
7 Motherwell 108,969 9,974 3,196 5,448 +21.5%
8 Kilmarnock 102,424 11,490 3,337 5,390 +8.6%
9 Ross County 86,260 6,590 3,021 4,540 +10.7%
10 Partick Thistle 84,393 8,264 2,452 4,441 +3.7%
11 St Johnstone 72,371 6,887 2,037 3,809 −13.3%
12 Hamilton Academical 58,807 5,406 1,272 3,095 +22.3%
League total 3,632,642 59,259 1,272 15,932 +14.1%
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Updated to games played on 13 May 2018
Source: [49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]

Awards

Premiership play-offs

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The quarter-final will be contested between the third and fourth-placed teams (Dundee United and Dunfermline Athletic) in the Scottish Championship, with the winners advancing to the semi-final to face the second-placed Championship side (Livingston). The last remaining Championship team will play-off against the eleventh-placed Premiership team in the final, with the winners securing the last place in the 2018–19 Scottish Premiership.

Quarter-final

First leg

Second leg

4 May 2018 Dundee United 2–1
(2–1 agg.)
Dunfermline Athletic Dundee
19:45 McDonald 57'
Stanton 70'
BBC Report McManus 14' Stadium: Tannadice Park
Attendance: 7,994
Referee: Willie Collum

Semi-final

First leg

7 May 2018 Dundee United 2–3 Livingston Dundee
19:45 Mikkelsen 3'
Ralston 28'
BBC Report De Vita 2'
Mullin 77'
Pittman 80'
Stadium: Tannadice Park
Attendance: 5,610
Referee: Nick Walsh

Second leg

11 May 2018 Livingston 1–1
(4–3 agg.)
Dundee United Livingston
19:45 Lithgow 6' BBC Report Fraser 21' Stadium: Almondvale Stadium
Attendance: 4,508
Referee: Don Robertson

Final

First leg

17 May 2018 Livingston 2–1 Partick Thistle Livingston
19:45 Jacobs 13'
Pittman 74'
BBC Report Doolan 10' Stadium: Almondvale Stadium
Attendance: 5,469
Referee: Craig Thomson

Second leg

20 May 2018 Partick Thistle 0–1
(1–3 agg.)
Livingston Glasgow
15:30 Report Jacobs 46' Stadium: Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 7,122
Referee: John Beaton

Livingston were promoted to the Premiership.

Broadcasting

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Live Matches

The SPFL permits Sky Sports and BT Sport to show up to six live home matches between the broadcasters from each club - although this is only four for Rangers and Celtic. Sky Sports and BT Sport's deal allows them to broadcast 30 games each (and the play-offs for BT). The deal roughly provides £21m to SPFL per season.[62]

Highlights

Sky Sports hold the rights to Saturday night highlights - however, they do not broadcast a dedicated programme and instead merely show the goals of the Premiership matches on Sky Sports News in their Goals Express programme - which primarily is focused on goals from the English Football League. Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba has the rights to broadcast the repeat in full of 38 Saturday 3pm matches "as live" at 5.30pm. The main Premiership highlights programme is BBC Scotland's Sportscene programme hosted on a Sunday which shows in depth highlights of all six Premiership matches every weekend. STV show the goals the weekend matches on Monday nights during the Sport section of their News at Six programme as well as during their weeknight football-debate show on STV2. The SPFL also uploads the goals from every Premiership match onto its YouTube channel - available from 6pm on a Sunday for UK and Ireland viewers and 10pm on a Saturday for those worldwide.

See also

References

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