# 2022–23 Scottish Premiership

The 2022–23 Scottish Premiership (known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football, and the 126th edition overall of the top national league competition, not including one cancelled due to World War II. The season began on 30 July 2022.
On 7 May, Celtic successfully defended their title, securing a ninth Premiership title and 53rd Scottish league title overall, following a 2–0 victory over Heart of Midlothian.
Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Motherwell, Rangers, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren.

## Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2021–22 season.
Promoted from the Championship
* Kilmarnock
Relegated to the Championship
* Dundee

### Stadia and locations

| Aberdeen | Celtic | Dundee United | Heart of Midlothian |
| Pittodrie Stadium | Celtic Park | Tannadice Park | Tynecastle Park |
| Capacity: 20,866 | Capacity: 60,411 | Capacity: 14,223 | Capacity: 19,852 |
| Hibernian | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | Kilmarnock |
| Easter Road | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | Rugby Park |
| Capacity: 20,421 | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | Capacity: 15,003 |
| Livingston | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | Motherwell |
| Almondvale Stadium | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | Fir Park |
| Capacity: 9,713 | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianKilmarnockLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership | Capacity: 13,677 |
| Rangers | Ross County | St Johnstone | St Mirren |
| Ibrox Stadium | Victoria Park | McDiarmid Park | St Mirren Park |
| Capacity: 50,987 | Capacity: 6,541 | Capacity: 10,696 | Capacity: 7,937 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aberdeen | Barry Robson | Graeme Shinnie | Adidas | TEXO |
| Celtic | Ange Postecoglou | Callum McGregor | Adidas | Dafabet |
| Dundee United | Jim Goodwin | Ryan Edwards | Macron | QuinnBet |
| Heart of Midlothian | Steven Naismith (interim) | Craig Gordon | Umbro | MND Scotland (Home) Stellar Omada (Away) |
| Hibernian | Lee Johnson | David Marshall | Joma | Utilita |
| Kilmarnock | Derek McInnes | Alan Power | Hummel | Brownings The Bakers |
| Livingston | David Martindale | Nicky Devlin | Joma | Phoenix Drilling Ltd |
| Motherwell | Stuart Kettlewell | Stephen O'Donnell | Macron | Paycare |
| Rangers | Michael Beale | James Tavernier | Castore | 32Red (Home and Away) Unibet (3rd) |
| Ross County | Malky Mackay | Jack Baldwin | Joma | Ross-shire Engineering |
| St Johnstone | Steven MacLean | Liam Gordon | Macron | Binn Group |
| St Mirren | Stephen Robinson | Joe Shaughnessy | Joma | Digby Brown |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Hibernian | David Gray | End of caretaker spell | 15 May 2022 | Pre-season | Lee Johnson | 19 May 2022 |
| Dundee United | Tam Courts | Mutual consent | 14 June 2022 | Pre-season | Jack Ross | 20 June 2022 |
| Motherwell | Graham Alexander | Mutual consent | 29 July 2022 | Pre-season | Steven Hammell | 29 July 2022 |
| Dundee United | Jack Ross | Sacked | 30 August 2022 | 12th | Liam Fox | 30 August 2022 |
| Rangers | Giovanni van Bronckhorst | Sacked | 21 November 2022 | 2nd | Michael Beale | 28 November 2022 |
| Aberdeen | Jim Goodwin | Sacked | 28 January 2023 | 7th | Barry Robson | 29 January 2023 |
| Motherwell | Steven Hammell | Sacked | 11 February 2023 | 11th | Stuart Kettlewell | 11 February 2023 |
| Dundee United | Liam Fox | Mutual consent | 26 February 2023 | 12th | Jim Goodwin | 1 March 2023 |
| Heart of Midlothian | Robbie Neilson | Sacked | 9 April 2023 | 4th | Steven Naismith (interim) | 10 April 2023 |
| St Johnstone | Callum Davidson | Mutual consent | 16 April 2023 | 9th | Steven MacLean | 16 April 2023 |

## Format

In the initial phase of the season, the 12 teams played a round-robin tournament whereby each team plays each one of the other teams three times. After 33 games, the league split 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 were played, with 38 matches played by each team.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 38 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 114 | 34 | +80 | 99 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Rangers | 38 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 93 | 37 | +56 | 92 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Aberdeen | 38 | 18 | 3 | 17 | 56 | 60 | −4 | 57 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | Heart of Midlothian | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 63 | 57 | +6 | 54 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Hibernian | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 57 | 59 | −2 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 6 | St Mirren | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 43 | 61 | −18 | 46 | |
| 7 | Motherwell | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 53 | 51 | +2 | 50 | |
| 8 | Livingston | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 36 | 60 | −24 | 46 | |
| 9 | St Johnstone | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 41 | 59 | −18 | 43 | |
| 10 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 11 | 7 | 20 | 37 | 62 | −25 | 40 | |
| 11 | Ross County (O) | 38 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 37 | 60 | −23 | 34 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off final |
| 12 | Dundee United (R) | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 40 | 70 | −30 | 31 | Relegation to Championship |
* ↑ Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).

## Results
### 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.

## Season statistics
### Scoring
#### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Kyogo Furuhashi | Celtic | 27 |
| 2 | Kevin van Veen | Motherwell | 25 |
| 3 | Lawrence Shankland | Heart of Midlothian | 24 |
| 4 | Duk | Aberdeen | 16 |
| 4 | Bojan Miovski | Aberdeen | 16 |
| 4 | James Tavernier | Rangers | 16 |
| 7 | Antonio Čolak | Rangers | 14 |
| 8 | Josh Ginnelly | Heart of Midlothian | 12 |
| 8 | Kevin Nisbet | Hibernian | 12 |
| 8 | Fashion Sakala | Rangers | 12 |

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Score | Date |
| Kyogo Furuhashi | Celtic | Dundee United | 9–0 (A) | 28 August 2022 |
| Liel Abada | Celtic | Dundee United | 9–0 (A) | 28 August 2022 |
| Kevin van Veen | Motherwell | Ross County | 5–0 (A) | 4 October 2022 |
| James Forrest | Celtic | Hibernian | 6–1 (H) | 15 October 2022 |
| Lawrence Shankland | Heart of Midlothian | Celtic | 3–4 (H) | 22 October 2022 |
| Kevin Nisbet | Hibernian | Motherwell | 3–2 (A) | 8 January 2023 |
| Josh Campbell | Hibernian | Aberdeen | 6–0 (H) | 28 January 2023 |
| Lawrence Shankland | Heart of Midlothian | Ross County | 6–1 (H) | 22 April 2023 |
| Jordan White | Ross County | Dundee United | 3–1 (A) | 13 May 2023 |

#### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Joe Hart | Celtic | 16 |
| 2 | Kelle Roos | Aberdeen | 13 |
| 3 | David Marshall | Hibernian | 11 |
| 3 | Liam Kelly | Motherwell | 11 |
| 5 | Trevor Carson | St Mirren | 10 |
| 6 | Ross Laidlaw | Ross County | 9 |
| 7 | Allan McGregor | Rangers | 8 |
| 8 | Shamal George | Livingston | 7 |
| 9 | Sam Walker | Kilmarnock | 6 |
| 9 | Remi Matthews | St Johnstone | 6 |
Source:

### Attendances

These are the average attendances of the teams.
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Celtic | 1,116,725 | 59,621 | 58,295 | 58,775 | +1.6%$^†$ |
| 2 | Rangers | 933,207 | 50,104 | 46,961 | 49,116 | −0.3%$^†$ |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 351,978 | 18,980 | 18,081 | 18,525 | +6.6%$^†$ |
| 4 | Hibernian | 331,926 | 20,179 | 13,930 | 17,469 | +12.8%$^†$ |
| 5 | Aberdeen | 297,087 | 18,666 | 13,014 | 15,636 | +20.9%$^†$ |
| 6 | Dundee United | 179,768 | 12,599 | 7,430 | 9,461 | +23.7%$^†$ |
| 7 | Kilmarnock | 123,253 | 9,162 | 4,463 | 6,487 | +30.1%$^†$ |
| 8 | St Mirren | 121,610 | 7,937 | 4,557 | 6,400 | +29.7%$^†$ |
| 9 | Motherwell | 112,080 | 8,610 | 4,131 | 5,898 | +4.4%$^†$ |
| 10 | St Johnstone | 101,081 | 7,758 | 2,899 | 5,320 | +18.1%$^†$ |
| 11 | Ross County | 82,978 | 6,690 | 2,568 | 4,367 | +7.7%$^†$ |
| 12 | Livingston | 75,748 | 9,672 | 1,283 | 3,986 | +8.9%$^†$ |
| | League total | 3,826,451 | 59,621 | 1,283 | 16,782 | +6.2%$^†$ |
Source:
* ↑ Club was playing in the Scottish Championship in the previous season.

## Awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club |
| August | Ange Postecoglou | Celtic | Kyogo Furuhashi | Celtic |
| September/October | Ange Postecoglou | Celtic | Antonio Čolak | Rangers |
| November | David Martindale | Livingston | Sead Hakšabanović | Celtic |
| December | Michael Beale | Rangers | Kyogo Furuhashi | Celtic |
| January | Robbie Neilson | Heart of Midlothian | Kevin Nisbet | Hibernian |
| February | Stuart Kettlewell | Motherwell | Reo Hatate | Celtic |
| March | Barry Robson | Aberdeen | Duk | Aberdeen |
| April | Barry Robson | Aberdeen | Kevin van Veen | Motherwell |
The SPFL Premiership manager of the year was Ange Postecoglou of Celtic.
The SPFL Premiership player of the year was Kyogo Furuhashi of Celtic.

## Premiership play-offs

The quarter-finals were contested by the teams placed third and fourth in the 2022–23 Scottish Championship. The winners advanced to the semi-finals to face the team placed second in the Championship. The final was contested by the semi-final winners and the team placed eleventh in the Premiership, with the winners securing a place in the 2023–24 Scottish Premiership.

### Qualified teams

| Team | Rank |
| Ross County | 1 |
| Ayr United | 2 |
| Queen's Park | 3 |
| Partick Thistle | 4 |