# 2021–22 Scottish Premiership

The 2021–22 Scottish Premiership (known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football, and the 125th edition overall of the top national league competition, not including one cancelled due to World War II. Celtic claimed the league trophy back after an outstanding run with a 1–1 draw with Dundee United on 11 May enough to confirm them as champions.
Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Livingston, Motherwell, Rangers, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren.
The season began on 31 July 2021. In December, the Scottish Government imposed stadium capacity restrictions as part of its response to the new Omicron variant. As a result, the winter break was brought forward from 4 January to 27 December. The rule of five substitutions per match was also re-introduced (as used the previous season) after the winter break.

## Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2020–21 season.
Promoted from the Championship
* Heart of Midlothian
* Dundee
Relegated to the Championship
* Hamilton Academical
* Kilmarnock

### Stadia and locations

| Aberdeen | Celtic | Dundee | Dundee United |
| Pittodrie Stadium | Celtic Park | Dens Park | Tannadice Park |
| Capacity: 20,866 | Capacity: 60,411 | Capacity: 11,775 | Capacity: 14,223 |
| Heart of Midlothian | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | Hibernian |
| Tynecastle Park | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | Easter Road |
| Capacity: 20,099 | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | Capacity: 20,421 |
| Livingston | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | Motherwell |
| Almondvale Stadium | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | Fir Park |
| Capacity: 9,713 | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundeeDundee UnitedHeartsHibernianLivingstonRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticMotherwellRangersclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | Capacity: 13,677 |
| Rangers | Ross County | St Johnstone | St Mirren |
| Ibrox Stadium | Victoria Park | McDiarmid Park | St Mirren Park |
| Capacity: 50,817 | Capacity: 6,541 | Capacity: 10,696 | Capacity: 7,937 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aberdeen | Jim Goodwin | Joe Lewis | Adidas | Saltire Energy |
| Celtic | Ange Postecoglou | Callum McGregor | Adidas | Dafabet |
| Dundee | Mark McGhee | Charlie Adam | Macron | Crown Engineering Services |
| Dundee United | Tam Courts | Ryan Edwards | Macron | Eden Mill St Andrews |
| Heart of Midlothian | Robbie Neilson | Craig Gordon | Umbro | MND Scotland |
| Hibernian | David Gray (caretaker) | Paul Hanlon | Joma | Utilita |
| Livingston | David Martindale | Nicky Devlin | Joma | Phoenix Drilling Ltd |
| Motherwell | Graham Alexander | Stephen O'Donnell | Macron | Paycare |
| Rangers | Giovanni van Bronckhorst | James Tavernier | Castore | 32Red |
| Ross County | Malky Mackay | Keith Watson | Joma | Ross-shire Engineering |
| St Johnstone | Callum Davidson | 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 |
| Celtic | John Kennedy | End of interim spell | 15 May 2021 | Pre-season | Ange Postecoglou | 10 June 2021 |
| Ross County | John Hughes | End of contract | 24 May 2021 | Pre-season | Malky Mackay | 26 May 2021 |
| Dundee United | Micky Mellon | Mutual consent | 25 May 2021 | Pre-season | Tam Courts | 7 June 2021 |
| Rangers | Steven Gerrard | Signed by Aston Villa | 11 November 2021 | 1st | Giovanni van Bronckhorst | 18 November 2021 |
| Hibernian | Jack Ross | Sacked | 9 December 2021 | 7th | Shaun Maloney | 20 December 2021 |
| Aberdeen | Stephen Glass | Sacked | 13 February 2022 | 9th | Jim Goodwin | 19 February 2022 |
| Dundee | James McPake | Sacked | 16 February 2022 | 11th | Mark McGhee | 17 February 2022 |
| St Mirren | Jim Goodwin | Signed by Aberdeen | 19 February 2022 | 6th | Stephen Robinson | 22 February 2022 |
| Hibernian | Shaun Maloney | Sacked | 19 April 2022 | 7th | David Gray (caretaker) | 19 April 2022 |

## 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 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.

## League summary
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 38 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 92 | 22 | +70 | 93 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Rangers | 38 | 27 | 8 | 3 | 80 | 31 | +49 | 89 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 54 | 44 | +10 | 61 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | Dundee United | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 48 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Motherwell | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 42 | 61 | −19 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 6 | Ross County | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 47 | 61 | −14 | 41 | |
| 7 | Livingston | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 49 | |
| 8 | Hibernian | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 45 | |
| 9 | St Mirren | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 33 | 51 | −18 | 44 | |
| 10 | Aberdeen | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 41 | |
| 11 | St Johnstone (O) | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 24 | 51 | −27 | 35 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off final |
| 12 | Dundee (R) | 38 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 34 | 64 | −30 | 29 | 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

    As of matches played on 15 May 2022

#### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Giorgos Giakoumakis | Celtic | 13 |
| 1 | Regan Charles-Cook | Ross County | 13 |
| 3 | Kyogo Furuhashi | Celtic | 12 |
| 4 | Lewis Ferguson | Aberdeen | 11 |
| 4 | Bruce Anderson | Livingston | 11 |
| 4 | Alfredo Morelos | Rangers | 11 |
| 7 | Christian Ramirez | Aberdeen | 10 |
| 7 | Liel Abada | Celtic | 10 |
| 7 | Jota | Celtic | 10 |
| 7 | Liam Boyce | Heart of Midlothian | 10 |
| 7 | Tony Watt | Motherwell, Dundee United | 10 |
| 7 | Kemar Roofe | Rangers | 10 |

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Score | Date |
| Kyogo Furuhashi | Celtic | Dundee | 6–0 (H) | 8 August 2021 |
| David Turnbull | Celtic | St Mirren | 6–0 (H) | 21 August 2021 |
| Fashion Sakala | Rangers | Motherwell | 1–6 (A) | 31 October 2021 |
| Giorgos Giakoumakis | Celtic | Dundee | 3–2 (H) | 20 February 2022 |
| Giorgos Giakoumakis | Celtic | Ross County | 4–0 (H) | 19 March 2022 |
| Kemar Roofe | Rangers | St Mirren | 0–4 (A) | 10 April 2022 |
| James Scott | Hibernian | St Johnstone | 4–0 (H) | 15 May 2022 |

#### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean Sheets |
| 1 | Joe Hart | Celtic | 19 |
| 2 | Craig Gordon | Heart of Midlothian | 14 |
| 3 | Allan McGregor | Rangers | 12 |
| 4 | Matt Macey | Hibernian | 11 |
| 4 | Jak Alnwick | St Mirren | 11 |
| 6 | Zander Clark | St Johnstone | 10 |
| 7 | Benjamin Siegrist | Dundee United | 9 |
Source:

### Attendances

These are the average attendances of the teams. Games with restricted attendances are not included in these figures.
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Celtic | 1,040,998 | 59,077 | 56,052 | 57,833 | −0.2%$^†$ |
| 2 | Rangers | 837,477 | 50,023 | 47,561 | 49,263 | +0.1%$^†$ |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 295,570 | 19,041 | 15,527 | 17,386 | +3.8%$^†$ |
| 4 | Hibernian | 278,877 | 20,419 | 13,227 | 15,493 | −7.4%$^†$ |
| 5 | Aberdeen | 219,921 | 18,719 | 6,295 | 12,937 | −6.5%$^†$ |
| 6 | Dundee United | 130,017 | 12,806 | 4,519 | 7,648 | −10.0%$^†$ |
| 7 | Dundee | 114,816 | 11,273 | 4,621 | 6,379 | +20.9%$^†$ |
| 8 | Motherwell | 96,037 | 8,446 | 3,587 | 5,649 | +1.3%$^†$ |
| 9 | St Mirren | 88,803 | 6,596 | 3,016 | 4,934 | −8.2%$^†$ |
| 10 | St Johnstone | 76,558 | 7,319 | 2,249 | 4,503 | +10.1%$^†$ |
| 11 | Ross County | 72,955 | 6,698 | 2,224 | 4,053 | −13.1%$^†$ |
| 12 | Livingston | 65,880 | 8,922 | 1,319 | 3,660 | +3.3%$^†$ |
| | League total | 3,317,909 | 59,077 | 1,319 | 15,800 | +3.2%$^†$ |
Source:
* 1 2 Club was playing in the Scottish Championship in the last season with attendances.

## Awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club |
| August | Robbie Neilson | Hearts | Martin Boyle | Hibernian |
| September | Graham Alexander | Motherwell | Ian Harkes | Dundee United |
| October | Ange Postecoglou | Celtic | Jota | Celtic |
| November | Graham Alexander | Motherwell | Jota | Celtic |
| December | Giovanni van Bronckhorst | Rangers | Alfredo Morelos | Rangers |
| January | Ange Postecoglou | Celtic | Regan Charles-Cook | Ross County |
| February | Ange Postecoglou | Celtic | Bruce Anderson | Livingston |
| March | Ange Postecoglou | Celtic | Giorgos Giakoumakis | Celtic |
| April | Ange Postecoglou | Celtic | Jota | Celtic |

## Premiership play-offs

The quarter-finals were contested by the teams placed third and fourth in the 2021–22 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 2022–23 Scottish Premiership.

### Qualified teams

| Team | Rank |
| St Johnstone | 1 |
| Arbroath | 2 |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 3 |
| Partick Thistle | 4 |

### Final
#### First leg
#### Second leg
## Broadcasting
### Live matches (UK and Ireland)

Sky Sports has exclusive rights to the Scottish Premiership and will show up to 48 matches, and the Premiership play-off final. BBC Scotland will broadcast the Premiership quarter-final and semi-final play-off ties.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, clubs will continue to stream matches (not broadcast on Sky) to fans on a pay-per-view or "virtual season ticket" basis, whilst capacities in stadia are limited due to social distancing restrictions.

### Highlights

Highlights are broadcast on BBC Scotland's flagship Sportscene programme on both Saturdays and Sundays. Sky Sports also show highlights.
Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba has rights to broadcast repeats in full of 38 Saturday 3 pm matches "as live" at 5.30 pm.
The SPFL also uploads the goals from every Premiership match onto its YouTube channel.