# 2014–15 Scottish Premiership

The 2014–15 Scottish Premiership was the second season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The season began on 9 August 2014 and ended on the 31 May 2015. Celtic were the defending champions.
Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Hamilton Academical, Inverness CT, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren. Due to the relegation of Edinburgh-based teams Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian in 2014, this season marked the first time in football history in which a capital city had no representatives in the top league.
On 2 May, Celtic clinched their fourth title in a row after Aberdeen lost 1–0 away at Dundee United, leaving Celtic 11 points clear with three games to play.

## Teams

Dundee were promoted from the Scottish Championship. Heart of Midlothian were relegated from the Scottish Premiership.
Hibernian finished in the play-off position in the Scottish Premiership. They lost to Hamilton Academical who took the final place in the second edition of the competition, a result which left the Scottish capital Edinburgh without a club in the top flight of Scottish football for the 2014–15 season.

### Stadiums by capacity and locations

| Aberdeen | Celtic | Dundee | Dundee United |
| Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen | Celtic Park, Glasgow | Dens Park, Dundee | Tannadice Park, Dundee |
| Capacity: 20,897 | Capacity: 60,355 | Capacity: 11,506 | Capacity: 14,229 |
| Hamilton Academical | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | Inverness Caledonian Thistle |
| New Douglas Park, Hamilton | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | Caledonian Stadium, Inverness |
| Capacity: 6,078 | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | Capacity: 7,800 |
| Kilmarnock | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | Motherwell |
| Rugby Park, Kilmarnock | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | Fir Park, Motherwell |
| Capacity: 18,128 | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | AberdeenDundee UtdDundeeInverness Caledonian ThistleKilmarnockRoss CountySt. JohnstoneSt MirrenCelticHamiltonMotherwellPartick Thistleclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Premiership | Capacity: 13,677 |
| Partick Thistle | Ross County | St Johnstone | St Mirren |
| Firhill Stadium, Glasgow | Victoria Park, Dingwall | McDiarmid Park, Perth | St Mirren Park, Paisley |
| Capacity: 10,102 | Capacity: 6,541 | Capacity: 10,696 | Capacity: 8,023 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aberdeen | Derek McInnes | Russell Anderson | Adidas | Saltire Energy |
| Celtic | Ronny Deila | Scott Brown | Nike | Magners |
| Dundee | Paul Hartley | Kevin Thomson | Puma | Hangar Records |
| Dundee United | Jackie McNamara | Seán Dillon | Nike | Calor |
| Hamilton Academical | Martin Canning | Martin Canning | 1874 Accies, Nike | M&H Logistics (H), Life Skills Centres (A) |
| Inverness CT | John Hughes | Richie Foran | Erreà | Subway |
| Kilmarnock | Gary Locke | Manuel Pascali | Erreà | QTS |
| Motherwell | Ian Baraclough | Keith Lasley | Macron | Cash Converters |
| Partick Thistle | Alan Archibald | Sean Welsh | Joma | macb |
| Ross County | Jim McIntyre | Richard Brittain | Carbrini | Stanley CRC Evans Offshore |
| St Johnstone | Tommy Wright | Dave Mackay | Joma | GS Brown Construction |
| St Mirren | Gary Teale | Steven Thompson | Carbrini | JD Sports |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| St Mirren | Danny Lennon | End of contract | 12 May 2014 | Pre-season | Tommy Craig | 13 May 2014 |
| Celtic | Neil Lennon | Resigned | 22 May 2014 | Pre-season | Ronny Deila | 6 June 2014 |
| Ross County | Derek Adams | Sacked | 28 August 2014 | 12th | Jim McIntyre | 9 September 2014 |
| Motherwell | Stuart McCall | Resigned | 2 November 2014 | 11th | Ian Baraclough | 13 December 2014 |
| St Mirren | Tommy Craig | Sacked | 9 December 2014 | 11th | Gary Teale | 29 January 2015 |
| Hamilton Academical | Alex Neil | Signed by Norwich City | 9 January 2015 | 3rd | Martin Canning | 23 January 2015 |
| Kilmarnock | Allan Johnston | Resigned | 6 February 2015 | 8th | Gary Locke | 6 February 2015 (interim) |

## Tournament format and regulations
### Basic

In the initial phase of the season, the 12 teams played a round-robin tournament whereby each team played 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.

### Promotion and relegation

The team that finished 12th (St Mirren) was relegated to the Championship, while the champion of that league (Heart of Midlothian) was promoted to the Premiership for the 2015–16 season. The team that finished 11th in the Premiership (Motherwell) played the winner of the Championship playoffs (Rangers) in two playoff games, with the winner (Motherwell) securing a Premiership spot for the 2015–16 season.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 38 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 84 | 17 | +67 | 92 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Aberdeen | 38 | 23 | 6 | 9 | 57 | 33 | +24 | 75 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 52 | 42 | +10 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 4 | St Johnstone | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 57 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Dundee United | 38 | 17 | 5 | 16 | 58 | 56 | +2 | 56 | |
| 6 | Dundee | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 46 | 57 | −11 | 45 | |
| 7 | Hamilton Academical | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 50 | 53 | −3 | 53 | |
| 8 | Partick Thistle | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 46 | |
| 9 | Ross County | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 46 | 63 | −17 | 44 | |
| 10 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 44 | 59 | −15 | 41 | |
| 11 | Motherwell (O) | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 38 | 63 | −25 | 36 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off final |
| 12 | St Mirren (R) | 38 | 9 | 3 | 26 | 30 | 66 | −36 | 30 | Relegation to the Championship |
* ↑ Inverness Caledonian Thistle qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League by winning the 2014–15 Scottish Cup.
* ↑ Teams in the bottom six at the time of the split (33 games) cannot pass teams in the top six

## Results
### Matches 1–22

Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | DND | DUN | HAM | INV | KIL | MOT | PAR | ROS | STJ | STM |
| Aberdeen | | 1–2 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Celtic | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 6–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| Dundee | 2–3 | 1–1 | | 1–4 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Dundee United | 0–2 | 2–1 | 6–2 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Hamilton Academical | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Kilmarnock | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Motherwell | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Partick Thistle | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Ross County | 0–1 | 0–5 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| St Johnstone | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 1–2 |
| St Mirren | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | |

### Matches 23–33

Teams played every other team once (either at home or away).
| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | DND | DUN | HAM | INV | KIL | MOT | PAR | ROS | STJ | STM |
| Aberdeen | | | | 1–0 | | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | | 3–0 |
| Celtic | 4–0 | | | 3–0 | 4–0 | | 4–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | | | |
| Dundee | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | | 1–0 | | | |
| Dundee United | | | | | 1–0 | | | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | |
| Hamilton Academical | 0–3 | | | | | 0–2 | 0–0 | | | 2–2 | 1–1 | |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | | 3–3 | | | 1–1 | 2–0 | |
| Kilmarnock | 1–2 | | | 3–2 | | | | 1–2 | 2–2 | | | 1–0 |
| Motherwell | | | 0–1 | | 4–0 | 2–1 | | | | | 1–1 | 5–0 |
| Partick Thistle | | | | | 5–0 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Ross County | | 0–1 | 1–0 | | | | 2–1 | 3–2 | | | 1–0 | |
| St Johnstone | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | | | | 0–0 | | | | | 2–0 |
| St Mirren | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | | | 0–3 | | |

### Matches 34–38

After 33 matches, the league split into two sections of six teams each, with teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches were determined upon the league table at the time of the split.

## Top scorers

    As of 24 May 2015
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Adam Rooney | Aberdeen | 18 |
| 2 | Leigh Griffiths | Celtic | 14 |
| 2 | Nadir Çiftçi | Dundee United | 14 |
| 4 | Greg Stewart | Dundee | 13 |
| 5 | Anthony Andreu | Hamilton Academical | 12 |
| 5 | John Sutton | Motherwell | 12 |
| 7 | Ali Crawford | Hamilton Academical | 11 |
| 8 | Billy McKay | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 10 |
| 8 | Liam Boyce | Ross County | 10 |
| 8 | Kris Commons | Celtic | 10 |

## Premiership play-offs
### Quarter-final
#### Second leg

Rangers won 3–2 on aggregate.

### Semi-final
#### Second leg

Rangers won 2–1 on aggregate.

### Final
#### Second leg

Motherwell won 6–1 on aggregate.