The 2013–14 Scottish Premiership was the first season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The season began on 2 August 2013 and concluded on 11 May 2014. This was the first season of the competition being part of the newly formed Scottish Professional Football League after the merger of the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. This season also featured the introduction of an end of season play-off between the 11th-placed team in the top flight and the teams placed 2nd–4th in the Scottish Championship, to determine whether a second team will be relegated from the league.
Twelve teams contested the league. Partick Thistle (champions) were promoted from the 2012–13 First Division, replacing Dundee (relegated). Heart of Midlothian were deducted 15 points (one-third of the previous season's total) for entering administration during the close season.
On 26 March, Celtic clinched their third title in a row and 45th in total after a 5–1 away win against Partick Thistle. It is the earliest that the title has been won since the 1928–29 season, when Rangers won it on 16 March, until the 2020–21 Season when Rangers won the title on 7 March.
Teams
Dundee were relegated from the 2012–13 Scottish Premier League. Partick Thistle, who won the 2012–13 Scottish First Division, were promoted.
Stadia and locations Team Stadium CapacityAberdeenPittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen 21,421CelticCeltic Park, Glasgow 60,355Dundee UnitedTannadice Park, Dundee 14,229Heart of MidlothianTynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh 17,529HibernianEaster Road, Edinburgh 20,421Inverness Caledonian ThistleCaledonian Stadium, Inverness 7,800KilmarnockRugby Park, Kilmarnock 18,128MotherwellFir Park, Motherwell 13,677Partick ThistleFirhill Stadium, Glasgow 10,102Ross CountyVictoria Park, Dingwall 6,541St JohnstoneMcDiarmid Park, Perth 10,696St MirrenSt Mirren Park, Paisley 8,023
Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorAberdeen Adidas Team RecruitmentCeltic Nike MagnersDundee United Nike CalorHeart of Midlothian Adidas Wonga.comHibernian Nike Crabbie'sInverness CT Erreà Orion GroupKilmarnock Killie 1869 QTSMotherwell Puma Cash ConvertersPartick Thistle Joma macbRoss County Diadora Stanley CRC Evans OffshoreSt Johnstone Joma GS Brown ConstructionSt Mirren Diadora Blacks Outdoor Retail
Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment St Johnstone Signed by Millwall 6 June 2013 Pre-season 10 June 2013 Kilmarnock Sacked 11 June 2013 25 June 2013 Hibernian Resigned 1 November 2013 7th 12 November 2013 Inverness CT Signed by Hibernian 12 November 2013 2nd 4 December 2013
League table
Results
Matches 1–22 Teams play each other twice, once at home, once away.
Matches 23–33 Teams play every other team once (either at home or away).
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
Bottom six
Season statistics Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster set a new Scottish league record for length of time played without conceding a goal, which had been previously set by Bobby Clark in 1970–71. Forster's streak ended at 1,256 minutes.
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Kris CommonsCeltic272 Kris BoydKilmarnock22 John SuttonMotherwell224 Anthony StokesCeltic20 Stevie MaySt Johnstone 206 Billy MckayInverness CT187 Niall McGinnAberdeen13 Steven ThompsonSt Mirren139 Lionel AinsworthMotherwell11 Nadir ÇiftçiDundee United11 Kris DoolanPartick Thistle11 Callum PatersonHeart of Midlothian11
Assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Kallum HigginbothamPartick Thistle102 Emilio IzaguirreCeltic9 Lionel AinsworthMotherwell94 Anthony StokesCeltic8 Iain VigursMotherwell86 Kris CommonsCeltic77 Ryan GauldDundee United6 Paul CairneyHibernian6 Georgios SamarasCeltic6
Premiership play-offs For the first time since the 1996–97 season, promotion and relegation involving a place in the top division of the Scottish football league system was determined in part by a play-off system. The previous system used was a straight head-to-head between the team that had finished 9th (second bottom) in the Premier Division and the runner-up in the First Division. The new system involved the teams from second to fourth place in the Championship, with the first contest between the third and fourth place teams. The winner progressed to a tie with the second place Championship team. The winner of that second tie then progressed to the promotion and relegation deciding playoff against the 11th place team in the Premiership.
Quarter-final
First leg
Second leg
Falkirk won 4–3 on aggregate, advanced to Semi-final.
Semi-final
First leg
Second leg
Hamilton Academical won 2–1 on aggregate, advanced to Final.
Final
First leg
Second leg
2–2 on aggregate. Hamilton Academical won 4–3 on penalties, earning promotion to the Premiership. Hibernian were relegated to the Championship. Awards Annual awards Award Winner Club SPL Player of the Year Kris Commons Celtic SPL Young Player of the Year Andy Robertson Dundee United PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year Kris Commons Celtic PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year Andy Robertson Dundee United PFA Scotland Team of the Year Goalkeeper Fraser Forster (Celtic) Defence Graeme Shinnie (Inverness Caledonian Thistle) Virgil van Dijk (Celtic) Mark Reynolds (Aberdeen) Andy Robertson (Dundee United) Midfield Stuart Armstrong (Dundee United) Peter Pawlett (Aberdeen) Kris Commons (Celtic) Forwards Stevie May (St Johnstone) Kris Boyd (Kilmarnock) Nadir Çiftçi (Dundee United)
Attendances
Source:
# Football club Average attendance 1 Celtic FC 47,079 2 Heart of Midlothian FC 14,123 3 Aberdeen FC 12,918 4 Hibernian FC 11,027 5 Dundee United FC 7,599 6 Motherwell FC 5,175 7 Partick Thistle FC 5,001 8 St. Mirren FC 4,511 9 Kilmarnock FC 4,250 10 St. Johnstone FC 3,806 11 Ross County FC 3,787 12 Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC 3,558
See also Nine in a row
References
External links Official Site