2015–16 Scottish Premiership

Scottish Premiership
Season 2015–16
Dates 1 August 2015 – 22 May 2016
Champions Celtic
3rd Premiership title
47th Scottish title
Relegated Dundee United
Champions League Celtic
Europa League Aberdeen
Heart of Midlothian
Matches played 228
Goals scored 650 (2.85 per match)
Top goalscorer Leigh Griffiths
(31 goals)
Biggest home win Celtic 8–1 Hamilton Academical
(19 January 2016)
Biggest away win Kilmarnock 0–4 Dundee
(1 August 2015)
Kilmarnock 0–4 Ross County
(22 August 2015)
Aberdeen 1–5 St Johnstone
(3 October 2015)
Partick Thistle 0–4 Heart of Midlothian
(31 October 2015)
Kilmarnock 0–4 Aberdeen
(19 December 2015)
Highest scoring Celtic 8–1 Hamilton Academical
(19 January 2016)
Longest winning run 8 matches:
Aberdeen
Longest unbeaten run 12 matches:
Aberdeen
Longest winless run 10 matches:
Dundee United
Longest losing run 5 matches:
Partick Thistle
Highest attendance 49,050
Celtic 7–0 Motherwell
(15 May 2016)
Lowest attendance 1,516
Hamilton Academical 0–1 Inverness CT
(11 May 2016)
Total attendance 2,237,437
Average attendance 9,644 (838)
2016–17 →
All statistics correct as of 15 May 2016.

The 2015–16 Scottish Premiership (known as the Ladbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The season began on 1 August 2015. Celtic were the defending champions.

Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Hamilton Academical, Heart of Midlothian, Inverness CT, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Ross County and St Johnstone.

Teams

Promoted from Scottish Championship

Relegated from Scottish Premiership

Stadia and locations

Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Dens Park Tannadice Park
Capacity: 20,897 Capacity: 60,355 Capacity: 11,506 Capacity: 14,229
Hamilton Academical
Heart of Midlothian
New Douglas Park Tynecastle Stadium
Capacity: 6,078 Capacity: 17,529
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock
Caledonian Stadium Rugby Park
Capacity: 7,800 Capacity: 18,128
Motherwell Partick Thistle Ross County St Johnstone
Fir Park Firhill Stadium Victoria Park McDiarmid Park
Capacity: 13,677 Capacity: 10,102 Capacity: 6,541 Capacity: 10,696

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aberdeen Derek McInnes Ryan Jack Adidas Saltire Energy
Celtic Ronny Deila Scott Brown New Balance Magners
Dundee Paul Hartley James McPake Puma Kilmac Energy
Dundee United Gordon Young (interim) Seán Dillon Nike Calor
Hamilton Academical Martin Canning Michael McGovern Adidas Nevis (H), Scotia Aid (A)
Heart of Midlothian Robbie Neilson Alim Öztürk Puma Save the Children
Inverness CT John Hughes Richie Foran Carbrini Subway
Kilmarnock Lee Clark Mark Connolly Erreà QTS
Motherwell Mark McGhee Keith Lasley Macron Cash Converters
Partick Thistle Alan Archibald Abdul Osman Joma Kingsford Capital Management
Ross County Jim McIntyre Andrew Davies Carbrini Stanley CRC Evans Offshore
St Johnstone Tommy Wright Dave Mackay Joma Invest in Perth

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Motherwell Ian Baraclough Sacked 23 September 2015 10th Mark McGhee 13 October 2015
Dundee United Jackie McNamara 26 September 2015 11th Mixu Paatelainen 14 October 2015
Kilmarnock Gary Locke Resigned 30 January 2016 11th Lee McCulloch (interim) 30 January 2016
Kilmarnock Lee McCulloch End of interim 15 February 2016 10th Lee Clark 15 February 2016
Dundee United Mixu Paatelainen Sacked 4 May 2016 12th Gordon Young (interim) 4 May 2016

Tournament format and regulations

Basic

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.

Promotion and relegation

Heart of Midlothian were promoted as 2014–15 Scottish Championship winners. On 2 May, bottom club Dundee United were defeated 2–1 away to their city rivals Dundee, a defeat which confined them to relegation of the Championship. Craig Wighton, a local Dundee fan, scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute of the game. The champion of that league will be promoted to the Premiership for the 2016–17 season. The team that finishes 11th in the Premiership will play the winner of the Championship playoffs (teams that finish 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Championship) in two playoff games, with the winner securing a Premiership spot for the 2016–17 season.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic (C) 38 26 8 4 93 31 +62 86 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Aberdeen 38 22 5 11 62 48 +14 71 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3 Heart of Midlothian 38 18 11 9 59 40 +19 65
4 St Johnstone 38 16 8 14 58 55 +3 56
5 Motherwell 38 15 5 18 47 63 −16 50
6 Ross County 38 14 6 18 55 61 −6 48
7 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 38 14 10 14 54 48 +6 52
8 Dundee 38 11 15 12 53 57 −4 48
9 Partick Thistle 38 12 10 16 41 50 −9 46
10 Hamilton Academical 38 11 10 17 42 63 −21 43
11 Kilmarnock (O) 38 9 9 20 41 64 −23 36 Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
12 Dundee United (R) 38 8 7 23 45 70 −25 28 Relegation to the Championship
Source: SPFL Archive
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification and second stage group allocation).
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
  2. Dundee United were deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player in their win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 6 May 2016.

Results

Matches 1–22

Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away.

Home \ Away ABE CEL DND DUN HAM HOM INV KIL MOT PAR ROS STJ
Aberdeen 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 1–1 0–0 3–1 1–5
Celtic 3–1 6–0 5–0 8–1 0–0 4–2 0–0 1–2 1–0 2–0 3–1
Dundee 0–2 0–0 2–1 4–0 1–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 1–1 3–3 2–1
Dundee United 0–1 1–3 2–2 1–2 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–3 0–1 1–0 1–2
Hamilton Academical 1–1 1–2 1–1 4–0 3–2 3–4 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–3 2–4
Heart of Midlothian 1–3 2–2 1–1 3–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 3–0 2–0 4–3
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2–1 1–3 1–1 2–2 0–2 2–0 2–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–1
Kilmarnock 0–4 2–2 0–4 1–1 1–2 2–2 2–0 0–1 2–5 0–4 2–1
Motherwell 1–2 0–1 3–1 0–2 3–3 2–2 1–3 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–0
Partick Thistle 0–2 0–2 0–1 3–0 1–1 0–4 2–1 2–2 1–0 1–0 2–0
Ross County 2–0 1–4 5–2 2–1 2–0 1–2 1–2 3–2 3–0 1–0 2–3
St Johnstone 3–4 0–3 1–1 2–1 4–1 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–1
Source: Scottish Premiership
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Teams play every other team once (either at home or away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL DND DUN HAM HOM INV KIL MOT PAR ROS STJ
Aberdeen 2–1 1–0 3–0 2–1 1–1
Celtic 0–0 3–1 3–0 2–0 3–1
Dundee 0–1 1–1 2–2 5–2 2–0
Dundee United 0–1 1–4 2–2 2–1 0–2 5–1
Hamilton Academical 1–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–2
Heart of Midlothian 2–1 1–0 6–0 1–0 0–3
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3–1 0–1 0–0 1–2 0–0
Kilmarnock 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–2 3–0
Motherwell 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–2 3–1 1–2
Partick Thistle 1–2 1–2 2–4 1–0 0–0
Ross County 2–3 0–3 2–1 0–3 0–3 1–0
St Johnstone 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 1–1
Source: Scottish Premiership
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

After 33 matches, the league splits 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 are determined upon the league table at the time of the split.

Top scorers

As of matches played on 15 May 2016
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Leigh Griffiths Celtic 31
2 Kane Hemmings Dundee 21
3 Adam Rooney Aberdeen 20
4 Louis Moult Motherwell 15
Liam Boyce Ross County
6 Kris Doolan Partick Thistle 14
Steven MacLean St Johnstone
8 Billy Mckay Dundee United 12
Juanma Hearts
10 Miles Storey Inverness CT 11

Awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref.
Manager Club Player Club
August Derek McInnes Aberdeen Leigh Griffiths Celtic
September Derek McInnes Aberdeen Niall McGinn Aberdeen
October Ronny Deila Celtic Leigh Griffiths Celtic
November Alan Archibald Partick Thistle Michael O'Halloran St Johnstone
December Mark McGhee Motherwell Liam Boyce Ross County
January Ronny Deila Celtic Kane Hemmings Dundee
February Mixu Paatelainen Dundee United Paul Paton Dundee United
March Mark McGhee Motherwell Jackson Irvine Ross County
April John Hughes Inverness CT Patrick Roberts Celtic

Premiership play-offs

The quarter-finals were contested between the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the Scottish Championship; Hibernian and Raith Rovers. Hibernian, the winners, advanced to the semi-finals to face the 2nd placed team in the Championship; Falkirk. Falkirk, the winners, advanced to the final to play-off against the 11th placed team in the Premiership, Kilmarnock, with the winners securing a place in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership.

Quarter-final

First leg

4 May 2016 Raith Rovers 1–0 Hibernian Stark's Park, Kirkcaldy
19:45 Panayiotou 75' BBC Report Attendance: 5,330
Referee: Kevin Clancy

Second leg

7 May 2016 Hibernian 2–0
(2–1 agg.) 		Raith Rovers Easter Road, Edinburgh
12:30 McGinn 8'
McGregor 12' 		BBC Report Attendance: 11,133
Referee: John McKendrick

Semi-final

First leg

10 May 2016 Hibernian 2–2 Falkirk Easter Road, Edinburgh
19:45 Henderson 57'
McGregor 66' 		BBC Report Miller 34'
McHugh 80' 		Attendance: 11,830
Referee: Alan Muir

Second leg

13 May 2016 Falkirk 3–2
(5–4 agg.) 		Hibernian Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
19:45 Alston 13'
Leahy 79'
McHugh 90' 		BBC Report Keatings 31' (pen), 34' Attendance: 7,851
Referee: Craig Thomson

Final

First leg

19 May 2016 Falkirk 1–0 Kilmarnock Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
19:45 Vaulks 90+1' BBC Report Attendance: 7,636
Referee: John Beaton

Second leg

22 May 2016 Kilmarnock 4–0
(4–1 agg.) 		Falkirk Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
15:00 Kiltie 3', 62'
Addison 8'
Boyd 65' 		BBC Report Attendance: 11,013
Referee: Willie Collum

See also