2018–19 Scottish Premiership

The 2018–19 Scottish Premiership (known as the Ladbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018 and the season began on 4 August 2018.[4]

Scottish Premiership
Season2018–19
Dates4 August 2018 – 19 May 2019
ChampionsCeltic
6th Premiership title
50th Scottish title
RelegatedDundee
Champions LeagueCeltic
Europa LeagueRangers
Kilmarnock
Aberdeen
Matches played228
Goals scored578 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorerAlfredo Morelos (18 goals)[1][2]
Biggest home winHibernian 6–0 Hamilton Academical[3]
(6 October 2018)
Rangers 7–1 Motherwell[3]
(11 November 2018)
Biggest away winSt Johnstone 0–6 Celtic[3]
(7 October 2018)
Highest scoringRangers 7–1 Motherwell[3]
(11 November 2018)
Longest winning run8 matches:[3]
Celtic
Longest unbeaten run16 matches:[3]
Celtic
Longest winless run12 matches:[3]
St Mirren
Longest losing run10 matches:[3]
Dundee
Highest attendance59,143[3]
Celtic 1–0 Aberdeen
(29 September 2018)
Lowest attendance1,022[3]
Livingston 2–0 Hamilton Academical
(3 April 2019)
Total attendance3,641,850[3]
Average attendance15,973 (41)[3]
All statistics correct as of 19 May 2019.

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

On 4 May 2019, Celtic won their eighth consecutive title and 50th overall after a 30 win over Aberdeen.[5]

Teams

To Premiership

St Mirren secured the Championship title and promotion to the Premiership on 14 April 2018 after a goalless draw with Livingston,[6] who were also promoted after winning the play-off final.[7]

To Championship

Ross County were relegated to the Championship on 12 May 2018 after a 1–1 draw with St Johnstone.[8] Partick Thistle were also relegated following a 3–1 aggregate defeat to Livingston in the play-off final.[7]

Stadia and locations

Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Hamilton Academical
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Dens Park New Douglas Park
Capacity: 20,866[9] Capacity: 60,411[10] Capacity: 11,506[11] Capacity: 6,018[12]
Heart of Midlothian Hibernian
Tynecastle Park Easter Road
Capacity: 20,099[13] Capacity: 20,421[14]
Kilmarnock Livingston
Rugby Park Almondvale Stadium
Capacity: 17,889[15] Capacity: 9,512[16]
Motherwell Rangers St Johnstone St Mirren
Fir Park Ibrox Stadium McDiarmid Park St Mirren Park
Capacity: 13,677[17] Capacity: 50,817[18] Capacity: 10,696[19] Capacity: 7,937[20]

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aberdeen Derek McInnes Graeme Shinnie Adidas Saltire Energy
Celtic Neil Lennon (interim) Scott Brown New Balance Dafabet
Dundee James McPake (interim) Kenny Miller Puma McEwan Fraser Legal
Hamilton Academical Brian Rice Darian MacKinnon Adidas Euro Mechanical Handling
Heart of Midlothian Craig Levein Christophe Berra Umbro Save the Children
Hibernian Paul Heckingbottom David Gray Macron Marathonbet
Kilmarnock Steve Clarke Kris Boyd Nike QTS
Livingston Gary Holt Craig Halkett FBT Tony Macaroni
Motherwell Stephen Robinson Peter Hartley Macron BetPark
Rangers Steven Gerrard James Tavernier Hummel 32Red
St Johnstone Tommy Wright Joe Shaughnessy BLK Binn Group
St Mirren Oran Kearney Stephen McGinn Joma Skyview Capital

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Rangers Jimmy Nicholl End of interim 13 May 2018[21] Pre-season Steven Gerrard 1 June 2018[22]
St Mirren Jack Ross Signed by Sunderland 25 May 2018[23] Alan Stubbs 8 June 2018[24]
Livingston David Hopkin Contract expired 31 May 2018[25] Kenny Miller 30 June 2018[26]
Kenny Miller Mutual consent 20 August 2018[27] 9th Gary Holt 23 August 2018[28]
St Mirren Alan Stubbs Sacked 3 September 2018[29] 11th Oran Kearney 7 September 2018[30]
Dundee Neil McCann 16 October 2018[31] 12th Jim McIntyre 17 October 2018[32]
Hamilton Academical Martin Canning Mutual consent 29 January 2019[33] 10th Brian Rice 31 January 2019[34]
Hibernian Neil Lennon 30 January 2019[35] 8th Eddie May (caretaker) 30 January 2019[36]
Eddie May End of caretaker spell 13 February 2019[37] 8th Paul Heckingbottom 13 February 2019[37]
Celtic Brendan Rodgers Signed by Leicester City 26 February 2019[38] 1st Neil Lennon (interim) 26 February 2019[39]
Dundee Jim McIntyre Sacked 12 May 2019[40] 12th James McPake 13 May 2019[41]

Format

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 every other team 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

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Celtic (C) 38 27 6 5 77 20 +57 87 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Rangers 38 23 9 6 82 27 +55 78 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
3 Kilmarnock 38 19 10 9 50 31 +19 67
4 Aberdeen 38 20 7 11 57 44 +13 67
5 Hibernian 38 14 12 12 51 39 +12 54
6 Heart of Midlothian 38 15 6 17 42 50 8 51
7 St Johnstone 38 15 7 16 38 48 10 52
8 Motherwell 38 15 6 17 46 56 10 51
9 Livingston 38 11 11 16 42 44 2 44
10 Hamilton Academical 38 9 6 23 28 75 47 33
11 St Mirren (O) 38 8 8 22 34 66 32 32 Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
12 Dundee (R) 38 5 6 27 31 78 47 21 Relegation to the Championship
Source: Soccerway BBC SPFL
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).[42]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (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 2018–19 Scottish Cup, Celtic, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the Scottish Cup winners (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 for Champions League first qualifying round
Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
Qualification for Premiership play-off final
Relegation to 2019–20 Championship
Team \ Round 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
Celtic36222653232211231111111111111111111111
Rangers73474266554332122222232222222222222222
Kilmarnock44637544323444313343323444444433344333
Aberdeen65588777788766766434444333333344433444
Hibernian22365322665687888878887788666666555555
Hearts11111111111123444555565555555555666666
St Johnstone1010856888877555555786656666778787777777
Motherwell1212119910101010109999999999999977887878888888
Livingston99743435446878677667778899999999999999
Hamilton Academical118910119999910101010101010101010101010101011111010101010101010101010
St Mirren57101110111111111111111111111112111111111212121212121212121111111111111111
Dundee811121212121212121212121212121211121212121111111110101111111212121212121212

Updated: 19 May 2019

Results

Matches 1–22

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

Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN HAM HOM HIB KIL LIV MOT RAN STJ STM
Aberdeen 3–4 5–1 3–0 2–0 1–0 0–2 3–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 4–1
Celtic 1–0 3–0 1–0 5–0 4–2 5–1 3–1 3–0 1–0 2–0 4–0
Dundee 0–1 0–5 4–0 0–3 0–3 1–2 0–0 1–3 1–1 0–2 1–1
Hamilton Academical 0–3 0–3 0–2 1–4 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–4 1–2 3–0
Heart of Midlothian 2–1 1–0 1–2 2–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–0 1–2 2–1 4–1
Hibernian 1–1 2–0 2–2 6–0 0–1 3–2 1–1 3–0 0–0 0–1 2–2
Kilmarnock 1–2 2–1 3–1 1–1 0–1 3–0 2–0 3–1 2–1 2–0 2–1
Livingston 1–2 0–0 4–0 1–0 5–0 2–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 3–1
Motherwell 3–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 3–3 0–1 0–1
Rangers 0–1 1–0 4–0 1–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 3–0 7–1 5–1 2–0
St Johnstone 1–1 0–6 1–0 4–0 2–2 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 2–0
St Mirren 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–3 2–0 0–1 1–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–1
Source: SPFL
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 each other once.

Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN HAM HOM HIB KIL LIV MOT RAN STJ STM
Aberdeen 0–2 0–0 1–1 3–1 2–4 2–2
Celtic 0–0 3–0 2–0 0–0 4–1 2–1
Dundee 0–2 0–1 0–1 2–4 2–2 0–1
Hamilton Academical 1–1 1–0 0–5 2–1 1–1
Heart of Midlothian 2–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–1
Hibernian 1–2 2–0 0–0 2–0 1–1
Kilmarnock 0–1 5–0 1–2 0–0 2–0
Livingston 1–2 2–0 1–2 1–0 0–3 3–1
Motherwell 3–0 2–1 3–0 0–3 3–0
Rangers 4–0 3–0 1–1 0–0 4–0
St Johnstone 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–2 1–0
St Mirren 0–2 2–1 1–3 0–1 1–0 1–2
Source: SPFL
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.[43]

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 19 May 2019[1][2]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Alfredo Morelos Rangers 18
2 Sam Cosgrove Aberdeen 17
3 Odsonne Édouard Celtic 15
David Turnbull Motherwell
5 James Tavernier Rangers 14
6 James Forrest Celtic 11
Eamonn Brophy Kilmarnock
Scott Arfield Rangers
9 Steven Naismith Heart of Midlothian 10

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Score Date
Steven Naismith Hearts St Mirren 4–1 (H) 1 September 2018
James Forrest4 Celtic St Johnstone 0–6 (A) 7 October 2018
Kenny Miller Dundee Hamilton Academical 4–0 (H) 5 December 2018
Scott Sinclair Celtic Aberdeen 3–4 (A) 26 December 2018
Scott Arfield Rangers Motherwell 0–3 (A) 7 April 2019
Cody Cooke St Mirren Dundee 2–3 (A) 18 May 2019

Note

4 Player scored four goals; (H) = Home, (A) = Away

Attendances

These are the average attendances of the teams.

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Celtic 1,097,782 59,143 54,563 57,778 +0.1%
2 Rangers 941,720 50,130 48,729 49,564 +0.8%
3 Hibernian 337,078 20,200 15,096 17,740 −2.1%
4 Heart of Midlothian 333,724 19,967 15,147 17,564 −4.7%
5 Aberdeen 283,567 20,027 12,252 14,924 −5.4%
6 Kilmarnock 130,999 12,374 4,143 6,894 +27.9%
7 Dundee 114,469 8,578 4,426 6,024 +1.3%
8 Motherwell 103,518 9,545 3,662 5,448 0.0%
9 St Mirren[lower-alpha 1] 101,680 7,288 4,001 5,351 +20.3%
10 St Johnstone 73,937 7,086 1,946 3,891 +2.2%
11 Livingston[lower-alpha 1] 69,616 9,246 1,022 3,664 +171.8%
12 Hamilton Academical 53,760 5,827 1,135 2,829 −8.6%
League total 3,641,850 59,143 1,022 15,973 +0.3%

Updated to games played on 19 May 2019
Source: [3][44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49][50] [51][52] [53] [54] [55]

  1. Club was playing in the Scottish Championship in the previous season.

Awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref.
Manager Club Player Club
August Craig Levein Hearts Tony Watt St Johnstone [56]
September Gary Holt Livingston Steven Naismith Hearts
October Brendan Rodgers Celtic James Forrest Celtic
November Tommy Wright St Johnstone Ryan Christie Celtic
December Derek McInnes Aberdeen Sam Cosgrove Aberdeen
January Winter Break
February Stephen Robinson Motherwell Jake Hastie Motherwell
March Paul Heckingbottom Hibernian Odsonne Édouard Celtic
April Steven Gerrard Rangers Scott Arfield Rangers

Premiership play-offs

The quarter-final was contested by Ayr United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle advancing to the semi-final where they lost to Dundee United. Dundee United faced St Mirren in the final, with the Saints securing the last place in the 2019–20 Premiership after victory in a penalty shoot-out.[57]

First leg

7 May 2019 Ayr United 1–3 Inverness Caledonian Thistle Ayr
19:45 Rose  65' BBC Report Trafford  33'
White  51', 76' (pen.)
Stadium: Somerset Park
Attendance: 2,171
Referee: Alan Muir

Second leg

First leg

Second leg

17 May 2019 Dundee United 3–0
(4–0 agg.)
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Dundee
19:45
Report Stadium: Tannadice Park
Attendance: 8,504
Referee: Kevin Clancy

First leg

23 May 2019 Dundee United 0–0 St Mirren Dundee
19:45 Report Stadium: Tannadice Park
Attendance: 11,062
Referee: Bobby Madden

Second leg

26 May 2019 St Mirren 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(1–1 agg.)
(2–0 p)
Dundee United Paisley
15:00
Report
Stadium: St Mirren Park
Attendance: 7,732
Referee: John Beaton
Penalties

Broadcasting

Live Matches

The SPFL allows Sky Sports and BT Sport to broadcast up to six live home matches (combined) for each club, although this is only four for Celtic and Rangers. The TV deal allows the broadcasters to show 30 games each (and the play-offs for BT Sport) and provides approximately £21m to the SPFL per season.[58]

Highlights

Sky Sports hold the rights to Saturday night highlights and show the Premiership goals on Sky Sports News in their Goals Express programme. Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba can broadcast in full the repeat of 38 Saturday 3pm matches "as live" at 5.30pm. The main Premiership highlights programme is BBC Scotland's Sportscene programme, which shows in-depth highlights of all six Premiership matches every weekend. STV show the goals on Monday nights during the Sport section of their News at Six programme. 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.

References

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  13. McLean, David (21 June 2017). "Demolition of Tynecastle main stand nears completion". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
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  34. "Brian Rice: Hamilton appoint former St Mirren assistant as new head coach". BBC Sport. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
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