Scottish Premiership/import

The Scottish Premiership is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Premiership was established in July 2013, after the Scottish Professional Football League was formed by a merger of the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League.
==Competition format==
Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned league champion. If points are equal, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner.
===Split===
The top flight of Scottish football has contained 12 clubs since the 2000–01 season, the longest period without change in the history of the Scottish football league system. During this period the SPL and now the SPFL have operated a "split" format. This is done to prevent the need for a 44-game schedule, based on playing each other four times. That format was used in the Scottish Premier Division, but is now considered to be too high a number of games in a league season.
A season, which runs from August until May, is divided into two phases. During the first phase, each club plays three games against every other team, either once at home and twice away or vice-versa. After this first phase of matches, by which time all clubs have played 33 games, the league splits into a 'top six' and a 'bottom six'. Each club then plays a further five matches against the other five teams in their own section. Points achieved during the first phase of 33 matches are carried forward to the second phase, but the teams compete only within their own sections during the second phase. After the first phase is completed, clubs cannot move out of their own section in the league, even if they achieve more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively.
At the beginning of each season, the SPFL 'predicts' the likely positions of each club in order to produce a fixture schedule that ensures the best possible chance of all clubs playing each other twice at home and twice away. This is known as the league seeding and is based on clubs' performance in previous years. If a club does not finish in the half where it is predicted to finish, it faces the possibility of playing an unequal number of home and away games. For example, one club sometimes plays another three times at home and once away.
===Promotion and relegation===
The bottom placed Premiership club at the end of the season is relegated, and swaps places with the winner of the Scottish Championship, provided that the winner satisfies Premiership entry criteria. With the creation of the SPFL, promotion and relegation playoffs involving the top flight were introduced for the first time in 17 years. The Scottish Football League had used playoffs between its three divisions since 2007.
==Clubs==
The clubs listed below have competed in the Scottish Premiership.
Club 	Position in 2012–13 	First season in top division	First season of current spell in top division	Last title
Aberdeen 	8th, SPL 	1905–06 	1905–06 	1984–85
Celtic 	1st (champions) SPL	1890–91 	1890–91 	2012–13
Dundee United 	6th, SPL 	1925–26 	1996–97 	1982–83
Heart of Midlothian 	10th, SPL 	1890–91 	1983–84 	1959–60
Hibernian 	7th, SPL 	1895–96 	1999–2000 	1951–52
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	4th, SPL 	2004–05 	2010–11 	—
Kilmarnock 	9th, SPL 	1899–1900 	1992–93 	1964–65
Motherwell 	2nd, SPL 	1903–04 	1985–86 	1931–32
Partick Thistle 	1st, First Division 	1897–98 	2013–14 	—
Ross County 	5th SPL 	2012–13 	2012–13 	—
St. Johnstone 	3rd, SPL 	1924–25 	2009–10 	—
St. Mirren 	11th, SPL 	1890–91 	2006–07 	—
==Stadiums==
Team 	Location 	Stadium 	Capacity
Aberdeen 	Aberdeen 	Pittodrie Stadium 	21,421
Celtic 	Glasgow 	Celtic Park 	60,355
Dundee United 	Dundee 	Tannadice Park 	14,229
Heart of Midlothian 	Edinburgh 	Tynecastle Stadium 	17,529
Hibernian 	Edinburgh 	Easter Road 	20,421
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Inverness 	Tulloch Caledonian Stadium	7,800
Kilmarnock 	Kilmarnock	Rugby Park 	18,128
Motherwell 	Motherwell	Fir Park 	13,677
Partick Thistle 	Glasgow 	Firhill Stadium 	10,102
Ross County 	Dingwall 	Global Energy Stadium 	6,541
St. Johnstone 	Perth 	McDiarmid Park 	10,696
St. Mirren 	Paisley 	St. Mirren Park 	8,023
==Records and awards==
*Highest transfer fee received: Victor Wanyama, from Celtic to Southampton, £12.5 million, 11 July 2013
Premiership
Category:Scottish Premiership
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