# 1952–53 in Scottish football

The 1952–53 season was the 80th season of competitive football in Scotland and the 56th season of the Scottish Football League.

## Scottish League Division A

Rangers won the title with a 1–1 draw in their last match, away to Queen of the South. Rangers equalised with 17 minutes to go and thereby won the league on goal average from Hibernian, thus preventing Hibs from winning their third title in a row.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 1 | Rangers | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 80 | 39 | 2.051 | 43 |
| 2 | Hibernian | 30 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 93 | 51 | 1.824 | 43 |
| 3 | East Fife | 30 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 72 | 48 | 1.500 | 39 |
| 4 | Heart of Midlothian | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 59 | 50 | 1.180 | 30 |
| 5 | Clyde | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 78 | 78 | 1.000 | 30 |
| 6 | St Mirren | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 52 | 58 | 0.897 | 30 |
| 7 | Dundee | 30 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 44 | 37 | 1.189 | 29 |
| 8 | Celtic | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 51 | 54 | 0.944 | 29 |
| 9 | Partick Thistle | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 55 | 63 | 0.873 | 29 |
| 10 | Queen of the South | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 43 | 61 | 0.705 | 28 |
| 11 | Aberdeen | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 64 | 68 | 0.941 | 27 |
| 12 | Raith Rovers | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 47 | 53 | 0.887 | 26 |
| 13 | Falkirk | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 53 | 63 | 0.841 | 26 |
| 14 | Airdrieonians | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 53 | 75 | 0.707 | 26 |
| 15 | Motherwell | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 57 | 80 | 0.713 | 25 |
| 16 | Third Lanark | 30 | 8 | 4 | 18 | 52 | 75 | 0.693 | 20 |
Champions: Rangers Relegated: Motherwell, Third Lanark

## Scottish League Division B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Stirling Albion | 30 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 64 | 43 | +21 | 44 | Promotion to the 1953–54 Division A |
| 2 | Hamilton Academical | 30 | 20 | 3 | 7 | 72 | 40 | +32 | 43 | Promotion to the 1953–54 Division A |
| 3 | Queen's Park | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 70 | 46 | +24 | 37 | |
| 4 | Kilmarnock | 30 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 74 | 48 | +26 | 36 | |
| 5 | Ayr United | 30 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 76 | 56 | +20 | 36 | |
| 6 | Morton | 30 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 79 | 57 | +22 | 33 | |
| 7 | Arbroath | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 52 | 57 | −5 | 33 | |
| 8 | Dundee United | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 52 | 56 | −4 | 29 | |
| 9 | Alloa Athletic | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 63 | 68 | −5 | 29 | |
| 10 | Dumbarton | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 58 | 67 | −9 | 28 | |
| 11 | Dunfermline Athletic | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 51 | 58 | −7 | 27 | |
| 12 | Stenhousemuir | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 56 | 65 | −9 | 26 | |
| 13 | Cowdenbeath | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 37 | 54 | −17 | 23 | |
| 14 | St Johnstone | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 41 | 63 | −22 | 22 | |
| 15 | Forfar Athletic | 30 | 8 | 4 | 18 | 54 | 88 | −34 | 20 | |
| 16 | Albion Rovers | 30 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 44 | 77 | −33 | 14 | |
Promoted: Stirling Albion, Hamilton Academical

## Scottish League Division C

| Section | Winner | Runner-up |
| South-West | Rangers 'A' | Partick Thistle 'A' |
| North-East | Aberdeen 'A' | Hibernian 'A' |

## Cup honours

| Competition | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
| Scottish Cup | Rangers | 1 – 0 (rep.) | Aberdeen |
| League Cup | Dundee | 2–0 | Kilmarnock |
| Junior Cup | Vale of Leven | 1–0 | Annbank United |

## Other Honours
### National

| Competition | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
| Scottish Qualifying Cup - North | Buckie Thistle | 4 – 2 * | Inverness Thistle |
| Scottish Qualifying Cup - South | Peebles Rovers | 6 – 5 * | Tarff Rovers |
| Coronation Cup | Celtic | 2 – 0 | Hibernian |

### County

| Competition | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
| Aberdeenshire Cup | Buckie Thistle | | |
| Ayrshire Cup | Kilmarnock | 5 – 0 * | Ayr United |
| East of Scotland Shield | Hibernian | 4 – 2 | Hearts |
| Fife Cup | East Fife | 1 – 1 ‡ | Raith Rovers |
| Forfarshire Cup | Brechin City | 2 – 1 | Dundee United |
| Glasgow Cup | Partick Thistle | 3 – 1 | Rangers |
| Lanarkshire Cup | Motherwell | 3 – 0 | Albion Rovers |
| Renfrewshire Cup | Morton | 2 – 0 | Babcock & Wilcox |
| Stirlingshire Cup | Dumbarton | 3 – 1 | East Stirling |
* * - aggregate over two legs
* ‡ - trophy shared

### Highland League

Top Three :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Elgin City | 28 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 84 | 37 | +47 | 47 |
| 2 | Buckie Thistle | 28 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 88 | 36 | +52 | 41 |
| 3 | Inverness Caledonian | 28 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 86 | 44 | +42 | 41 |

## Scotland national team

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Competition | Scotland scorer(s) |
| 18 November 1952 | Ninian Park, Cardiff (A) | Wales | 2–1 | BHC | Billy Liddell, Allan Brown |
| 5 November 1952 | Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) | Northern Ireland | 1–1 | BHC | Lawrie Reilly |
| 18 April 1953 | Wembley Stadium, London (A) | England | 2–2 | BHC | Lawrie Reilly (2) |
| 6 May 1953 | Hampden Park, Glasgow (H) | Sweden | 1–2 | Friendly | Bobby Johnstone |
Scotland and England shared victory in the 1953 British Home Championship.
Key:
* (H) = Home match
* (A) = Away match
* BHC = British Home Championship