The 2018–19 Scottish Premiership (known as the Ladbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018 and the season began on 4 August 2018.
Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Hamilton Academical, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Motherwell, Rangers, St Johnstone and St Mirren.
On 4 May 2019, Celtic won their eighth consecutive title and 50th overall after a 3–0 win over Aberdeen.
Teams
To Premiership
St Mirren secured the Championship title and promotion to the Premiership on 14 April 2018 after a goalless draw with Livingston, who were also promoted after winning the play-off final.
To Championship
Ross County were relegated to the Championship on 12 May 2018 after a 1–1 draw with St Johnstone. Partick Thistle were also relegated following a 3–1 aggregate defeat to Livingston in the play-off final.
Stadia and locations AberdeenCelticDundeeHamilton AcademicalPittodrie StadiumCeltic ParkDens ParkNew Douglas ParkCapacity: 20,866Capacity: 60,411Capacity: 11,775Capacity: 6,018Heart of MidlothianHibernianTynecastle ParkEaster RoadCapacity: 20,099Capacity: 20,421KilmarnockLivingstonRugby ParkAlmondvale StadiumCapacity: 17,889Capacity: 9,512MotherwellRangersSt JohnstoneSt MirrenFir ParkIbrox StadiumMcDiarmid ParkSt Mirren ParkCapacity: 13,677Capacity: 50,817Capacity: 10,696Capacity: 7,937
Personnel and kits
TeamManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsorAberdeen AdidasSaltire EnergyCeltic (interim) New BalanceDafabetDundee (interim) PumaMcEwan Fraser LegalHamilton Academical AdidasEuro Mechanical HandlingHeart of Midlothian UmbroSave the ChildrenHibernian MacronMarathonbetKilmarnock NikeQTSLivingston FBTTony MacaroniMotherwell MacronBetParkRangers Hummel32RedSt Johnstone BLKBinn GroupSt Mirren JomaSkyview Capital
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Rangers End of interim 13 May 2018 Pre-season 1 June 2018 St Mirren Signed by Sunderland 25 May 2018 8 June 2018 Livingston Contract expired 31 May 2018 30 June 2018 Mutual consent 20 August 2018 9th 23 August 2018 St Mirren Sacked 3 September 2018 11th 7 September 2018 Dundee 16 October 2018 12th 17 October 2018 Hamilton Academical Mutual consent 29 January 2019 10th 31 January 2019 Hibernian 30 January 2019 8th Eddie May (caretaker) 30 January 2019 Eddie May End of caretaker spell 13 February 2019 8th 13 February 2019 Celtic Signed by Leicester City 26 February 2019 1st (interim) 26 February 2019 Dundee Jim McIntyre Sacked 12 May 2019 12th 13 May 2019
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 every other team in their section once. The league attempts to balance the fixture list so that teams in the same section have played 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
Positions by round The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.
Leader – Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round Qualification for Premiership play-off final Relegation to 2019–20 Championship
Team \ Round1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Celtic 3 6 2 2 2 6 5 3 2 3 2 2 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rangers 7 3 4 7 4 2 6 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2Kilmarnock 4 4 6 3 7 5 4 4 3 2 3 4 4 4 3 1 3 3 4 3 3 2 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 3Aberdeen 6 5 5 8 8 7 7 7 7 8 8 7 6 6 7 6 6 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 4Hibernian 2 2 3 6 5 3 2 2 6 6 5 6 8 7 8 8 8 8 7 8 8 8 7 7 8 8 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5Hearts 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6St Johnstone 10 10 8 5 6 8 8 8 8 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 8 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 8 7 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7Motherwell 12 12 11 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 7 8 8 7 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8Livingston 9 9 7 4 3 4 3 5 4 4 6 8 7 8 6 7 7 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9Hamilton Academical 11 8 9 10 11 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10St Mirren 5 7 10 11 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11Dundee 8 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
Updated: 19 May 2019
Results
Matches 1–22 Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away.
Matches 23–33 Teams play each other once.
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.
Top six
Bottom six
Season statistics Scoring
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Alfredo MorelosRangers182 Sam Cosgrove Aberdeen173 Odsonne Édouard Celtic15 David Turnbull Motherwell5 James Tavernier Rangers146 James ForrestCeltic11 Eamonn Brophy Kilmarnock Scott Arfield Rangers9 Steven NaismithHeart of Midlothian10
Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstScore Date Steven NaismithHeartsSt Mirren4–1 (H)1 September 2018 James Forrest4CelticSt Johnstone0–6 (A)7 October 2018 Kenny MillerDundeeHamilton Academical4–0 (H)5 December 2018 Scott SinclairCelticAberdeen3–4 (A)26 December 2018 Scott ArfieldRangersMotherwell0–3 (A)7 April 2019 Cody CookeSt MirrenDundee2–3 (A)18 May 2019
Note
4 Player scored four goals; (H) = Home, (A) = Away
Attendances These are the average attendances of the teams.
Awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthRef.ManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Craig Levein Hearts Tony Watt St Johnstone September Gary Holt Livingston Steven Naismith HeartsOctober Brendan Rodgers Celtic James Forrest CelticNovember Tommy Wright St Johnstone Ryan Christie CelticDecember Derek McInnes Aberdeen Sam Cosgrove AberdeenJanuaryWinter BreakFebruary Stephen Robinson Motherwell Jake Hastie MotherwellMarch Paul Heckingbottom Hibernian Odsonne Édouard CelticApril Steven Gerrard Rangers Scott Arfield Rangers Annual awards Award Winner Club William Hill Premiership Player of the Year James Forrest Celtic PFA Scotland Premiership Player of the Year James Forrest Celtic PFA Scotland SPFL Young Player of the Year Ryan Kent Rangers PFA Scotland SPFL Manager of the Year Steve Clarke Kilmarnock PFA Scotland Goal of the Season Alfredo Morelos Rangers SFWA Player of the Year James Forrest Celtic PFA Scotland Team of the Year Goalkeeper Allan McGregor(Rangers) Defenders James Tavernier(Rangers) Kristoffer Ajer(Celtic) Dedryck Boyata(Celtic) Craig Halkett(Livingston) Midfielders Callum McGregor(Celtic) Scott Brown(Celtic) Graeme Shinnie(Aberdeen) Forwards James Forrest(Celtic) Alfredo Morelos(Rangers) Ryan Kent(Rangers)
Premiership play-offs The quarter-final was contested by Ayr United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle advancing to the semi-final where they lost to Dundee United. Dundee United faced St Mirren in the final, with the Saints securing the last place in the 2019–20 Premiership after victory in a penalty shoot-out.
Quarter-final First leg
Second leg
Semi-final First leg
Second leg
Final First leg
Second leg
Broadcasting
Live Matches The SPFL allows Sky Sports and BT Sport to broadcast up to six live home matches (combined) for each club, although this is only four for Celtic and Rangers. The TV deal allows the broadcasters to show 30 games each (and the play-offs for BT Sport) and provides approximately £21m to the SPFL per season.
Highlights Sky Sports hold the rights to Saturday night highlights and show the Premiership goals on Sky Sports News in their Goals Express programme. Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba can broadcast in full the repeat of 38 Saturday 3pm matches "as live" at 5.30pm. The main Premiership highlights programme is BBC Scotland's Sportscene programme, which shows in-depth highlights of all six Premiership matches every weekend. STV show the goals on Monday nights during the Sport section of their News at Six programme. The SPFL also uploads the goals from every Premiership match onto its YouTube channel — available from 6pm on a Sunday for UK and Ireland viewers and 10pm on a Saturday for those worldwide.
See also Nine in a row
References
External links Official website