2017–18 Scottish Premiership

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. The season began on 5 August 2017. Celtic were the defending champions.

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.

On 29 April 2018, Celtic won their seventh consecutive title and 49th overall after a 5–0 win at home to Rangers.

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

To Premiership Promoted from Scottish Championship Hibernian

From Premiership Relegated to Scottish Championship Inverness Caledonian Thistle

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 Hibernian Tynecastle ParkHearts played their first four home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium, while the main stand at Tynecastle was being rebuilt. Easter Road Capacity: 20,099 Capacity: 20,421 Kilmarnock Motherwell Rugby Park Fir Park Capacity: 17,889 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 Puma McEwan Fraser LegalHamilton Academical Adidas SuperSeal (H), NetBet (A)Heart of Midlothian Umbro Save the ChildrenHibernian Neil Lennon David Gray Macron MarathonbetKilmarnock Nike QTSMotherwell Macron McEwan Fraser LegalPartick Thistle Joma Just Employment LawRangers (interim) Puma 32RedRoss County Steven Ferguson and 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 Dundee End of interim 20 May 2017 Pre-season 1 June 2017 Kilmarnock 20 May 2017 5 June 2017 Heart of Midlothian Sacked 1 August 2017 28 August 2017 Ross County 25 September 2017 10th 28 September 2017 Kilmarnock Resigned 1 October 2017 12th 14 October 2017 Rangers Sacked 26 October 2017 4th (interim) 26 October 2017 Rangers End of interim 22 December 2017 3rd 22 December 2017 Ross County Resigned 1 March 2018 12th and 2 March 2018 Rangers Sacked 1 May 2018 3rd (interim) 1 May 2018

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.

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 first qualifying round Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round Qualification to Premiership play-off final Relegation to 2018–19 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 1 2 1 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 1Aberdeen 3 4 3 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 2Rangers 4 6 6 5 4 3 5 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 Hibernian 2 3 5 6 6 6 4 6 6 7 5 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4Kilmarnock 8 9 10 10 11 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 8 8 8 6 7 6 7 7 7 7 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5Heart of Midlothian 12 8 7 8 8 7 7 7 7 5 7 7 6 7 7 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6Motherwell 9 11 8 7 5 5 6 5 4 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 7 8 8 8 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7St Johnstone 6 1 2 3 3 4 3 4 5 6 6 6 7 6 6 7 7 7 6 7 6 7 8 8 8 8 9 8 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8Dundee 7 12 12 11 12 9 9 8 8 9 10 12 12 12 11 9 10 11 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 9 10 10 10 10 10 9 10 9 9 9Hamilton Academical 11 5 4 4 7 8 8 9 9 10 9 8 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 11 11 10 9 9 9 9 9 10 9 10 10 10Partick Thistle 10 10 11 12 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 10 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 11 12 11 11 11 11 10 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 11 11 11 11 11Ross County 5 7 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 8 8 9 8 9 9 11 11 10 11 12 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 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 Kris BoydKilmarnock182 Alfredo MorelosRangers143 Josh WindassRangers134 Kyle LaffertyHeart of Midlothian125 Alex SchalkRoss County116 Scott SinclairCeltic10

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Reference Adam Rooney Aberdeen St Johnstone 3–0 30 September 2017 Odsonne Édouard Celtic Motherwell 5–1 2 December 2017 Gary Mackay-Steven Aberdeen Hibernian 4–1 16 December 2017 Josh Windass Rangers Hamilton Academical 5–3 18 February 2018 Florian Kamberi Hibernian Hamilton Academical 3–1 3 April 2018 Alex Schalk Ross County Partick Thistle 4–0 3 April 2018 Steven MacLean St Johnstone Motherwell 5–1 5 May 2018 Jamie Maclaren Hibernian Rangers 5–5 13 May 2018

Discipline

Player

Yellow cards

RankPlayerClubCards1 Graeme ShinnieAberdeen15 John McGinnHibernian3 Murray DavidsonSt Johnstone144 Kyle LaffertyHeart of Midlothian12 Carl McHughMotherwell6 John SouttarHeart of Midlothian10

Red cards

RankPlayerClubCards1 Ryan JackRangers42 Darren O'DeaDundee2338 players1

Club

Yellow cards

RankClubCards1Heart of Midlothian862Hamilton Academical823Rangers81

Red cards

RankClubCards1Hamilton Academical92Heart of Midlothian5MotherwellRangers5St Johnstone4

Attendances These are the average attendances of the teams.

Awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthRef.ManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Tommy Wright St Johnstone Michael O'Halloran St Johnstone September Brendan RodgersCeltic Louis MoultMotherwellOctober Neil LennonHibernian Kieran TierneyCelticNovember Martin CanningHamilton Academical David TempletonHamilton AcademicalDecember Steve ClarkeKilmarnock Kris BoydKilmarnockJanuaryNo awards due to winter breakFebruary Steve ClarkeKilmarnock Josh WindassRangersMarch Steve ClarkeKilmarnock Stephen O'DonnellKilmarnock Annual awards Award Winner Club William Hill Premiership Player of the Year Scott Brown Celtic PFA Scotland Premiership Player of the Year Scott Brown Celtic PFA Scotland SPFL Young Player of the Year Kieran Tierney Celtic PFA Scotland SPFL Manager of the Year Jack Ross St Mirren PFA Scotland Goal of the Season Kieran Tierney Celtic SFWA Player of the Year Scott Brown Celtic PFA Scotland Team of the Year Goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin(Heart of Midlothian) Defenders James Tavernier(Rangers) Christophe Berra(Heart of Midlothian) Scott McKenna(Aberdeen) Kieran Tierney(Celtic) Midfielders James Forrest(Celtic) John McGinn(Hibernian) Scott Brown(Celtic) Forwards Dylan McGeouch(Hibernian) Jordan Jones(Kilmarnock) Kris Boyd(Kilmarnock)

Premiership play-offs The quarter-final was 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 played 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

Semi-final

First leg

Second leg

Final

First leg

Second leg

Livingston were promoted to the Premiership.

Broadcasting

Live Matches The SPFL permitted Sky Sports and BT Sport to show up to six live home matches between the broadcasters from each club - although this was only four for Rangers and Celtic. Sky Sports and BT Sport's deals allowed them to broadcast 30 games each (and the play-offs for BT). The deal roughly provided £21m to SPFL per season.

Highlights Sky Sports held the rights to Saturday night highlights - however, they did not broadcast a dedicated programme and instead merely showed the goals of the Premiership matches on Sky Sports News in their Goals Express programme primarily focused on goals from the English Football League. Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba had the rights to broadcast the repeat in full of 38 Saturday 3pm matches "as live" at 5.30pm. The main Premiership highlights programme was BBC Scotland's Sportscene programme, hosted on Sundays, which showed in depth highlights of all six Premiership matches every weekend. STV showed the goals from 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 uploaded 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 Nine in a row

References

External links Official website