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.
| Season | 2021–22 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 31 July 2021 – 15 May 2022 |
| Champions | Celtic 8th Premiership title 52nd Scottish title |
| Relegated | Dundee |
| Champions League | Celtic Rangers |
| Europa League | Heart of Midlothian |
| Europa Conference League | Dundee United Motherwell |
| Matches played | 228 |
| Goals scored | 563 (2.47 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Regan Charles-Cook Giorgos Giakoumakis (13 goals each) |
| Biggest home win | Celtic 7–0 St Johnstone (9 April 2022) |
| Biggest away win | Dundee 0–5 Ross County (27 October 2021) Motherwell 1–6 Rangers (31 October 2021) |
| Highest scoring | Motherwell 1–6 Rangers (31 October 2021) Heart of Midlothian 5–2 Dundee United (6 November 2021) Celtic 7–0 St Johnstone (9 April 2022) |
| Longest winning run | Rangers 9 games |
| Longest unbeaten run | Celtic 32 games |
| Longest winless run | Dundee Motherwell St Mirren 11 games |
| Longest losing run | St Johnstone 8 games |
| Highest attendance | 59,077 Celtic 3–0 Rangers (2 February 2022) |
| Lowest attendance | 500 (6 games) |
| Total attendance | 3,317,909 |
| Average attendance | 15,800 |
← 2020–21 2022–23 → | |
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.[1] 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.[2] The rule of five substitutions per match was also re-introduced (as used the previous season) after the winter break.[3]
Teams
The following teams changed division after the 2020–21 season.
Promoted from the Championship
Relegated to the Championship
Stadia and locations
| Aberdeen | Celtic | Dundee | Dundee United |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittodrie Stadium | Celtic Park | Dens Park | Tannadice Park |
| Capacity: 20,866[4] | Capacity: 60,411[5] | Capacity: 11,775[6] | Capacity: 14,223[7] |
 |  |  |  |
| Heart of Midlothian |   Location of teams in the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership | Hibernian | |
| Tynecastle Park | Easter Road | ||
| Capacity: 20,099[8] | Capacity: 20,421[9] | ||
 |  | ||
| Livingston | Motherwell | ||
| Almondvale Stadium | Fir Park | ||
| Capacity: 9,713[10] | Capacity: 13,677[11] | ||
 |  | ||
| Rangers | Ross County | St Johnstone | St Mirren |
| Ibrox Stadium | Victoria Park | McDiarmid Park | St Mirren Park |
| Capacity: 50,817[12] | Capacity: 6,541[13] | Capacity: 10,696[14] | Capacity: 7,937[15] |
 |  |  | .jpg) |
Personnel and kits
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen |  Jim Goodwin |  Joe Lewis | Adidas | Saltire Energy |
| Celtic |  Ange Postecoglou |  Callum McGregor | Adidas[16] | Dafabet |
| Dundee | Mark McGhee | Charlie Adam | Macron[17] | Crown Engineering Services[18] |
| Dundee United | Tam Courts | Ryan Edwards | Macron | Eden Mill St Andrews[19] |
| Heart of Midlothian | Robbie Neilson | Craig Gordon | Umbro | MND Scotland[20] |
| Hibernian | David Gray (caretaker) | Paul Hanlon | Joma[21] | Utilita[22] |
| Livingston | David Martindale | Nicky Devlin | Joma | Phoenix Drilling Ltd |
| Motherwell | Graham Alexander | Stephen O'Donnell | Macron | Paycare[23] |
| Rangers |  Giovanni van Bronckhorst | James Tavernier | Castore[24] | 32Red |
| Ross County | Malky Mackay | Keith Watson | Joma | Ross-shire Engineering[25] |
| St Johnstone | Callum Davidson | Liam Gordon | Macron | Binn Group |
| St Mirren |  Stephen Robinson | Joe Shaughnessy | Joma | Digby Brown[26] |
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[27] | Pre-season | Ange Postecoglou | 10 June 2021[28] |
| Ross County | John Hughes | End of contract | 24 May 2021[29] | Malky Mackay | 26 May 2021[30] | |
| Dundee United | Micky Mellon | Mutual consent | 25 May 2021[31] | Tam Courts | 7 June 2021[32] | |
| Rangers | Steven Gerrard | Signed by Aston Villa | 11 November 2021[33] | 1st | Giovanni van Bronckhorst | 18 November 2021[34] |
| Hibernian | Jack Ross | Sacked | 9 December 2021[35] | 7th | Shaun Maloney | 20 December 2021[36] |
| Aberdeen | Stephen Glass | 13 February 2022[37] | 9th | Jim Goodwin | 19 February 2022[38] | |
| Dundee | James McPake | 16 February 2022[39] | 11th | Mark McGhee | 17 February 2022[40] | |
| St Mirren | Jim Goodwin | Signed by Aberdeen | 19 February 2022[38] | 6th | Stephen Robinson | 22 February 2022[41] |
| Hibernian | Shaun Maloney | Sacked | 19 April 2022[42] | 7th | David Gray (caretaker) | 19 April 2022[42] |
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[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-Head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification, second stage group allocation or relegation).[45]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
Results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Matches 23–33
Teams play each other once, either home or away.
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.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Bottom six
