2022–23 Scottish Premiership

Scottish Premiership
Season2022–23
Dates30 July 2022 – 28 May 2023
ChampionsCeltic
9th Premiership title
53rd Scottish title
RelegatedDundee United
Champions LeagueCeltic
Rangers
Europa LeagueAberdeen
Europa Conference LeagueHeart of Midlothian
Hibernian
Matches played228
Goals scored670 (2.94 per match)
Top goalscorerKyogo Furuhashi
(27 goals)
Biggest home winHibernian 6–0 Aberdeen
(28 January 2023)
Biggest away winDundee United 0–9 Celtic
(28 August 2022)
Highest scoringDundee United 0–9 Celtic
(28 August 2022)
Longest winning runCeltic
12 games
Longest unbeaten runCeltic
27 games
Longest winless runDundee United
Motherwell
11 games
Longest losing runDundee United
St Johnstone
6 games
Highest attendance59,621
Celtic 3–2 Rangers (8 April 2023)
Lowest attendance1,283
Livingston 2–1 Ross County (18 March 2023)
Total attendance3,826,451
Average attendance16,782

The 2022–23 Scottish Premiership (known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football, and the 126th edition overall of the top national league competition, not including one cancelled due to World War II. The season began on 30 July 2022.

On 7 May, Celtic successfully defended their title, securing a ninth Premiership title and 53rd Scottish league title overall, following a 2–0 victory over Heart of Midlothian.

Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Motherwell, Rangers, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren.

Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2021–22 season.

Promoted from the Championship

Relegated to the Championship

Stadia and locations

Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Heart of Midlothian
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Tannadice Park Tynecastle Park
Capacity: 20,866 Capacity: 60,411 Capacity: 14,223 Capacity: 19,852
Hibernian
Kilmarnock
Easter Road Rugby Park
Capacity: 20,421 Capacity: 15,003
Livingston Motherwell
Almondvale Stadium Fir Park
Capacity: 9,713 Capacity: 13,677
Rangers Ross County St Johnstone St Mirren
Ibrox Stadium Victoria Park McDiarmid Park St Mirren Park
Capacity: 50,987 Capacity: 6,541 Capacity: 10,696 Capacity: 7,937

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aberdeen Barry Robson Graeme Shinnie Adidas TEXO
Celtic Ange Postecoglou Callum McGregor Adidas Dafabet
Dundee United Jim Goodwin Ryan Edwards Macron QuinnBet
Heart of Midlothian Steven Naismith (interim) Craig Gordon Umbro MND Scotland (Home)
Stellar Omada (Away)
Hibernian Lee Johnson David Marshall Joma Utilita
Kilmarnock Derek McInnes Alan Power Hummel Brownings The Bakers
Livingston David Martindale Nicky Devlin Joma Phoenix Drilling Ltd
Motherwell Stuart Kettlewell Stephen O'Donnell Macron Paycare
Rangers Michael Beale James Tavernier Castore 32Red (Home and Away)
Unibet (3rd)
Ross County Malky Mackay Jack Baldwin Joma Ross-shire Engineering
St Johnstone Steven MacLean Liam Gordon Macron Binn Group
St Mirren Stephen Robinson Joe Shaughnessy Joma Digby Brown

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Hibernian David Gray End of caretaker spell 15 May 2022 Pre-season Lee Johnson 19 May 2022
Dundee United Tam Courts Mutual consent 14 June 2022 Jack Ross 20 June 2022
Motherwell Graham Alexander 29 July 2022 Steven Hammell 29 July 2022
Dundee United Jack Ross Sacked 30 August 2022 12th Liam Fox 30 August 2022
Rangers Giovanni van Bronckhorst 21 November 2022 2nd Michael Beale 28 November 2022
Aberdeen Jim Goodwin 28 January 2023 7th Barry Robson 29 January 2023
Motherwell Steven Hammell 11 February 2023 11th Stuart Kettlewell 11 February 2023
Dundee United Liam Fox Mutual consent 26 February 2023 12th Jim Goodwin 1 March 2023
Heart of Midlothian Robbie Neilson Sacked 9 April 2023 4th Steven Naismith (interim) 10 April 2023
St Johnstone Callum Davidson Mutual consent 16 April 2023 9th Steven MacLean 16 April 2023

Format

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

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic (C) 38 32 3 3 114 34 +80 99 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Rangers 38 29 5 4 93 37 +56 92 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3 Aberdeen 38 18 3 17 56 60 −4 57 Qualification for the Europa League play-off round
4 Heart of Midlothian 38 15 9 14 63 57 +6 54 Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round
5 Hibernian 38 15 7 16 57 59 −2 52 Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
6 St Mirren 38 12 10 16 43 61 −18 46
7 Motherwell 38 14 8 16 53 51 +2 50
8 Livingston 38 13 7 18 36 60 −24 46
9 St Johnstone 38 12 7 19 41 59 −18 43
10 Kilmarnock 38 11 7 20 37 62 −25 40
11 Ross County (O) 38 9 7 22 37 60 −23 34 Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
12 Dundee United (R) 38 8 7 23 40 70 −30 31 Relegation to the Championship
Source:
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).
(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).

Results

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.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Kyogo Furuhashi Celtic 27
2 Kevin van Veen Motherwell 25
3 Lawrence Shankland Heart of Midlothian 24
4 Duk Aberdeen 16
Bojan Miovski Aberdeen
James Tavernier Rangers
7 Antonio Čolak Rangers 14
8 Josh Ginnelly Heart of Midlothian 12
Kevin Nisbet Hibernian
Fashion Sakala Rangers

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Score Date Ref.
Kyogo Furuhashi Celtic Dundee United 9–0 (A) 28 August 2022
Liel Abada
Kevin van Veen Motherwell Ross County 5–0 (A) 4 October 2022
James Forrest Celtic Hibernian 6–1 (H) 15 October 2022
Lawrence Shankland Heart of Midlothian Celtic 3–4 (H) 22 October 2022
Kevin Nisbet Hibernian Motherwell 3–2 (A) 8 January 2023
Josh Campbell Aberdeen 6–0 (H) 28 January 2023
Lawrence Shankland Heart of Midlothian Ross County 6–1 (H) 22 April 2023
Jordan White Ross County Dundee United 3–1 (A) 13 May 2023

Most assists

Rank Player Club Assists
1 Matt O'Riley Celtic 12
2 Jota Celtic 11
3 Aaron Mooy Celtic 10
4 Borna Barišić Rangers 9
James Tavernier Rangers
6 Leighton Clarkson Aberdeen 8
Reo Hatate Celtic
Ryan Kent Rangers
9 Élie Youan Hibernian 7
Daniel Armstrong Kilmarnock
Blair Spittal Motherwell
Fashion Sakala Rangers

Source:

Clean sheets

Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1 Joe Hart Celtic 16
2 Kelle Roos Aberdeen 13
3 David Marshall Hibernian 11
Liam Kelly Motherwell
5 Trevor Carson St Mirren 10
6 Ross Laidlaw Ross County 9
7 Allan McGregor Rangers 8
8 Shamal George Livingston 7
9 Sam Walker Kilmarnock 6
Remi Matthews St Johnstone

Source:

Attendances

These are the average attendances of the teams.

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Celtic 1,116,725 59,621 58,295 58,775 +1.6%
2 Rangers 933,207 50,104 46,961 49,116 −0.3%
3 Heart of Midlothian 351,978 18,980 18,081 18,525 +6.6%
4 Hibernian 331,926 20,179 13,930 17,469 +12.8%
5 Aberdeen 297,087 18,666 13,014 15,636 +20.9%
6 Dundee United 179,768 12,599 7,430 9,461 +23.7%
7 Kilmarnock 123,253 9,162 4,463 6,487 +30.1%
8 St Mirren 121,610 7,937 4,557 6,400 +29.7%
9 Motherwell 112,080 8,610 4,131 5,898 +4.4%
10 St Johnstone 101,081 7,758 2,899 5,320 +18.1%
11 Ross County 82,978 6,690 2,568 4,367 +7.7%
12 Livingston 75,748 9,672 1,283 3,986 +8.9%
League total 3,826,451 59,621 1,283 16,782 +6.2%

Source:

  1. Club was playing in the Scottish Championship in the previous season.

Awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August Ange Postecoglou Celtic Kyogo Furuhashi Celtic
September/October Antonio Čolak Rangers
November David Martindale Livingston Sead Hakšabanović Celtic
December Michael Beale Rangers Kyogo Furuhashi Celtic
January Robbie Neilson Heart of Midlothian Kevin Nisbet Hibernian
February Stuart Kettlewell Motherwell Reo Hatate Celtic
March Barry Robson Aberdeen Duk Aberdeen
April Kevin van Veen Motherwell

The SPFL Premiership manager of the year was Ange Postecoglou of Celtic.

The SPFL Premiership player of the year was Kyogo Furuhashi of Celtic.

Premiership play-offs

The quarter-finals were contested by the teams placed third and fourth in the 2022–23 Scottish Championship. The winners advanced to the semi-finals to face the team placed second in the Championship. The final was contested by the semi-final winners and the team placed eleventh in the Premiership, with the winners securing a place in the 2023–24 Scottish Premiership.

Qualified teams

Team Rank
Ross County 1
Ayr United 2
Queen's Park 3
Partick Thistle 4

Quarter-finals

First leg

9 May 2023 Partick Thistle 4–3 Queen's Park Glasgow
19:45 Turner 15'
McMillan 28'
Fitzpatrick 69'
Graham 90+7'
Thomas 33', 87'
Boateng 83'
Stadium: Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 3,754
Referee: Kevin Clancy

Second leg

12 May 2023 Queen's Park 0–4
(3–8 agg.)
Partick Thistle Stenhousemuir
19:45 Graham 14'
Tiffoney 28'
Holt 41'
Mullen 82'
Stadium: Ochilview Park
Attendance: 1,581
Referee: Colin Steven

Semi-finals

First leg

19 May 2023 Partick Thistle 3–0 Ayr United Glasgow
19:45 McMillan 16'
Graham 50', 72'
Stadium: Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 7,012
Referee: Greg Aitken

Second leg

26 May 2023 Ayr United 0–5
(0–8 agg.)
Partick Thistle Ayr
19:45 McMillan 7'
Tiffoney 27', 54'
Lawless 63'
Holt 88'
Stadium: Somerset Park
Attendance: 5,811
Referee: Colin Steven

Final

First leg

1 June 2023 Partick Thistle 2–0 Ross County Glasgow
20:00 Fitzpatrick 9'
Graham 45'
Stadium: Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 7,291
Referee: David Munro

Second leg

4 June 2023 Ross County 3–1 (a.e.t.)
(3–3 agg.)
(5–4 p)
Partick Thistle Dingwall
16:30 Dhanda 71' (pen.)
Murray 72'
Harmon 90'
Fitzpatrick 43' Stadium: Victoria Park
Attendance: 4,533
Referee: Nick Walsh
Penalties
Dhanda soccer ball with check mark
Murray soccer ball with check mark
White soccer ball with check mark
Baldwin soccer ball with red X
Harmon soccer ball with check mark
Watson soccer ball with red X
Sims soccer ball with check mark
Muirhead soccer ball with check mark
Holt soccer ball with red X
Turner soccer ball with check mark
Graham soccer ball with check mark
McMillan soccer ball with check mark
Bannigan soccer ball with red X
Docherty soccer ball with red X