2016–17 Scottish Premiership

The 2016–17 Scottish Premiership (known as the Ladbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 17 June 2016. The season began on 6 August 2016. Celtic were the defending champions.

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

On 2 April 2017, Celtic won their sixth consecutive title and 48th overall after a 5–0 win away to Hearts, with eight matches still to play and would go on to complete the season unbeaten.

Teams The following teams have changed division since the 2015–16 season.

To Premiership Promoted from Scottish Championship Rangers

From Premiership Relegated to Scottish Championship Dundee United

Stadia and locations Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Hamilton Academical Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Dens Park New Douglas Park Capacity: 20,866 Capacity: 60,411 Capacity: 11,506 Capacity: 5,510 Heart of Midlothian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Tynecastle Stadium Caledonian Stadium Capacity: 17,480 Capacity: 7,512 Kilmarnock Motherwell Rugby Park Fir Park Capacity: 17,891 Capacity: 13,677 Partick Thistle Rangers Ross County St Johnstone Firhill Stadium Ibrox Stadium Victoria Park McDiarmid Park Capacity: 10,102 Capacity: 50,817 Capacity: 6,541 Capacity: 10,696

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorAberdeen Adidas Saltire EnergyCeltic New Balance DafabetDundee (interim) Puma McEwan Fraser LegalHamilton Academical Adidas SuperSeal (H), NetBet (A)Heart of Midlothian Puma Save the ChildrenInverness CT Carbrini McEwan Fraser LegalKilmarnock (interim) Nike QTSMotherwell Stephen Robinson Macron MotorpointPartick Thistle Joma Kingsford Capital ManagementRangers Puma 32RedRoss County Macron Stanley CRC Evans OffshoreSt Johnstone Joma Alan Storrar Cars

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Celtic Resigned 15 May 2016 Pre-season 20 May 2016 Inverness CT 20 May 2016 30 May 2016 Heart of Midlothian Signed by MK Dons 2 December 2016 2nd 5 December 2016 Rangers Resigned 10 February 2017 3rd 13 March 2017 Kilmarnock Signed by Bury 15 February 2017 6th (interim) 15 February 2017 Motherwell Sacked 28 February 2017 10th Stephen Robinson 28 February 2017 Dundee 17 April 2017 11th (interim) 18 April 2017

a.Initially interim, made permanent 15 March 2017

Format

In the initial phase of the season, each of the twelve teams play the other eleven teams three times. After 33 rounds, the league splits into two sections, a top six and a bottom six, with each team playing all the other teams in their section once. The league attempts to balance the fixture list so that teams in the same section have played 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

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 second qualifying round Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round Qualification to Premiership play-off final Relegation to 2017–18 Scottish Championship

Team \ Round1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Celtic 3 5 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Aberdeen 7 9 4 7 7 4 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2Rangers 6 1 1 2 3 5 7 5 4 5 5 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3St Johnstone 8 2 7 9 5 3 4 4 5 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4Heart of Midlothian 9 11 5 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5Partick Thistle 2 3 8 11 12 12 12 12 11 11 9 7 8 11 12 11 12 12 9 6 7 6 7 9 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6Ross County 11 8 3 4 4 7 6 7 8 7 10 11 12 8 8 7 7 6 6 8 6 7 8 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 7 8 7 7Kilmarnock 10 6 10 10 10 9 11 11 9 8 7 8 7 9 11 6 6 7 8 10 10 8 9 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 7 8 8Motherwell 4 7 9 8 8 6 5 6 6 9 11 9 10 6 6 9 9 8 10 7 9 10 6 6 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 10 11 11 10 9 9Dundee 1 4 6 5 6 8 9 10 12 12 12 12 11 12 7 10 10 10 7 9 8 9 10 10 6 6 7 8 8 8 9 9 11 9 9 9 10 10Hamilton Academical 5 10 11 6 9 10 10 9 10 10 8 10 9 10 10 8 8 9 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 11 11 12 11 11 10 9 10 10 11 11 11Inverness Caledonian Thistle 12 12 12 12 11 11 8 8 7 6 6 6 6 7 9 12 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 12 12 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 Source: BBC Sport

Results

Matches 1–22 Teams play each other twice, once at home and 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 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

Bottom six

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals1 Liam BoyceRoss County232 Scott SinclairCeltic213 Moussa DembéléCeltic174 Stuart ArmstrongCeltic15 Louis MoultMotherwell6 Kris DoolanPartick Thistle147 Adam RooneyAberdeen12 Leigh GriffithsCeltic Jamie WalkerHearts10 Kenny MillerRangers11

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date Reference Liam BoyceRoss CountyInverness Caledonian Thistle3–2 (A)13 August 2016 Moussa DembéléCelticRangers5–1 (H)10 September 2016 Louis Moult4MotherwellHamilton Academical4–2 (H)17 September 2016 Moussa DembéléCelticSt Johnstone5–2 (A)5 February 2017 Adam RooneyAberdeenMotherwell7–2 (H)15 February 2017 Andrew ConsidineAberdeenDundee7–0 (A)31 March 2017 Scott SinclairCelticHeart of Midlothian5–0 (A)2 April 2017 Liam Boyce4Ross CountyInverness Caledonian Thistle4–0 (H)28 April 2017 Scott WrightAberdeenPartick Thistle6–0 (A)21 May 2017 Notes (H) – Home; (A) – Away 4 Player scored 4 goals

Awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthRef.ManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Brendan RodgersCeltic Liam BoyceRoss County September Richie ForanInverness CT Moussa DembéléCelticOctober Brendan RodgersCeltic Adam BartonPartick ThistleNovember Robbie NeilsonHeart of Midlothian Bjørn JohnsenHeart of MidlothianDecember Brendan RodgersCeltic Stuart ArmstrongCelticJanuaryNo awards due to winter breakFebruary Paul HartleyDundee Moussa DembéléCelticMarch Derek McInnesAberdeen Stuart ArmstrongCelticApril Brendan RodgersCeltic Liam BoyceRoss County Annual awards Award Winner Club Ladbrokes Premiership Player of the Year Scott Brown Celtic PFA Scotland Premiership Player of the Year Scott Sinclair Celtic PFA Scotland SPFL Young Player of the Year Kieran Tierney Celtic PFA Scotland SPFL Manager of the Year Brendan Rodgers Celtic PFA Scotland Goal of the Season Moussa Dembélé Celtic SFWA Player of the Year Scott Sinclair Celtic PFA Scotland Team of the Year Goalkeeper Joe Lewis(Aberdeen) Defenders Shay Logan(Aberdeen) Mikael Lustig(Celtic) Liam Lindsay(Partick Thistle) Kieran Tierney(Celtic) Midfielders Stuart Armstrong(Celtic) Scott Brown(Celtic) Kenny McLean(Aberdeen) Forwards Jonny Hayes(Aberdeen) Moussa Dembélé(Celtic) Scott Sinclair(Celtic)

Premiership play-offs The quarter-final was contested between the 3rd and 4th placed teams (Dundee United and Greenock Morton) in the Scottish Championship. After defeating Greenock Morton 5–1 over two legs, Dundee United advanced to the semi-finals to face the 2nd placed team (Falkirk) in the Championship. Dundee United progressed to the play-off final following a 4–3 aggregate victory, but then lost 1–0 on aggregate to Hamilton Academical in the final. Hamilton therefore retained their place in the Premiership for the 2017–18 season.

Quarter-final First leg

Second leg

Semi-final

First leg

Second leg

Final

First leg

Second leg

Attendances

These are the average attendances of the teams.

See also Nine in a row

References

External links Official website