| Season | 2019–20 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3 August 2019 – 11 March 2020 |
| Champions | Celtic 7th Premiership title 51stScottish title |
| Relegated | Hearts |
| Champions League | Celtic |
| Europa League | Rangers Motherwell Aberdeen |
| Matches | 179 |
| Goals | 490 (2.74 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Odsonne Édouard (22 goals)[1][2] |
| Biggest home win | Celtic 7–0St Johnstone[3] (3 August 2019) |
| Biggest away win | St Johnstone 0–4Rangers[3] (22 September 2019) Aberdeen 0–4Celtic[3] (27 October 2019) Ross County 0–4Rangers[3] (30 October 2019) Motherwell 0–4Celtic[3] (5 February 2020) |
| Highest scoring | Celtic 7–0St Johnstone[3] (3 August 2019) Motherwell 2–5Celtic[3] (10 August 2019) Rangers 6–1Hibernian[3] (11 August 2019) Heart of Midlothian 5–2St Mirren[3] (9 November 2019) |
| Longest winning run | 11 matches[3] Celtic |
| Longest unbeaten run | 16 matches[3] Rangers |
| Longest winless run | 11 matches[3] Hamilton Academical |
| Longest losing run | 7 matches[3] Kilmarnock |
| Highest attendance | 59,131[3] Celtic 2–1Aberdeen (21 December 2019) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,075[3] Hamilton Academical 2–1Livingston (28 September 2019) |
| Total attendance | 2,741,726[3] |
| Average attendance | 15,316[3]( 657) |
2020–21 → All statistics correct as of 11 March 2020. | |
The2019–20 Scottish Premiership (known as theLadbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of theScottish Premiership, the highest division ofScottish football. The fixtures were published on 21 June 2019 and the season began on 3 August 2019.[4]Celtic were the defending champions.
Twelve teams contested the league:Aberdeen,Celtic,Hamilton Academical,Heart of Midlothian,Hibernian,Kilmarnock,Livingston,Motherwell,Rangers,Ross County,St Johnstone andSt Mirren.
On 13 March 2020, the Scottish football season was suspended with immediate effect due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[5] The Premiership was curtailed on 18 May 2020, with average points per game used to determine final league positions. As a result, Celtic were awarded a ninth consecutive title, whilst Hearts were controversially demoted to theChampionship,[6] a decision which prompted the Edinburgh-based club to pursue ultimately unsuccessful legal action.[7]
The following teams have changed division since the 2018–19 season.
Promoted fromScottish Championship
Relegated toScottish Championship
| Aberdeen | Celtic | Hamilton Academical | Heart of Midlothian |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittodrie Stadium | Celtic Park | New Douglas Park | Tynecastle Park |
| Capacity:20,866[10] | Capacity:60,411[11] | Capacity:6,018[12] | Capacity:20,099[13] |
 |  |  |  |
| Hibernian |   Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish Premiership | Kilmarnock | |
| Easter Road | Rugby Park | ||
| Capacity:20,421[14] | Capacity:17,889[15] | ||
 |  | ||
| Livingston | Motherwell | ||
| Almondvale Stadium | Fir Park | ||
| Capacity:9,512[16] | Capacity:13,677[17] | ||
 |  | ||
| Rangers | Ross County | St Johnstone | St Mirren |
| Ibrox Stadium | Victoria Park | McDiarmid Park | St Mirren Park |
| Capacity:50,817[18] | Capacity:6,541[19] | Capacity:10,696[20] | Capacity:7,937[21] |
 |  |  | .jpg) |
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen |  Derek McInnes |  Joe Lewis | Adidas | Saltire Energy |
| Celtic |  Neil Lennon | Scott Brown | New Balance | Dafabet |
| Hamilton Academical | Brian Rice | Brian Easton | Adidas | Euro Mechanical Handling |
| Heart of Midlothian |  Daniel Stendel | Steven Naismith | Umbro | Save the Children |
| Hibernian | Jack Ross | David Gray | Macron | Hibernian Community Foundation |
| Kilmarnock | Alex Dyer |  Gary Dicker | Nike | QTS |
| Livingston | Gary Holt | Alan Lithgow | Nike | Phoenix Drilling Ltd |
| Motherwell | Stephen Robinson | Peter Hartley | Macron | Paddy Power (unbranded) |
| Rangers | Steven Gerrard | James Tavernier | Hummel | 32Red |
| Ross County | Steven Ferguson andStuart Kettlewell | Marcus Fraser | Macron | McEwan Fraser Legal |
| St Johnstone | Alec Cleland (caretaker) | Jason Kerr | Macron | Binn Group |
| St Mirren | Jim Goodwin | Stephen McGinn | Joma | Skyview Capital |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilmarnock | Steve Clarke | Signed byScotland | 20 May 2019[22] | Pre-season |  Angelo Alessio | 16 June 2019[23] |
| Celtic | Neil Lennon | End of interim spell | 25 May 2019[24] | Neil Lennon | 31 May 2019[25] | |
| St Mirren | Oran Kearney | Mutual consent | 26 June 2019[26] | Jim Goodwin | 29 June 2019[27] | |
| Heart of Midlothian | Craig Levein | Sacked | 31 October 2019[28] | 11th | Daniel Stendel | 7 December 2019[29] |
| Hibernian | Paul Heckingbottom | 4 November 2019[30] | 10th | Jack Ross | 15 November 2019[31] | |
| Kilmarnock | Angelo Alessio | 17 December 2019[32] | 5th | Alex Dyer | 30 December 2019[33] | |
| St Johnstone | Tommy Wright | Resigned | 2 May 2020[34] | 7th | Alec Cleland (caretaker) | 2 May 2020[34] |
In the initial phase of the season, the 12 teams 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 were due be played (38 matches by each team).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Qualification or relegation[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic(C) | 30 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 89 | 19 | +70 | 80 | 2.67 | Qualification for theChampions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Rangers | 29 | 21 | 4 | 4 | 64 | 19 | +45 | 67 | 2.31 | Qualification for theEuropa League second qualifying round[b] |
| 3 | Motherwell | 30 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 41 | 38 | +3 | 46 | 1.53 | Qualification for theEuropa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 40 | 36 | +4 | 45 | 1.50 | |
| 5 | Livingston | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 39 | 1.30 | |
| 6 | St Johnstone | 29 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 28 | 46 | −18 | 36 | 1.24 | |
| 7 | Hibernian | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 42 | 49 | −7 | 37 | 1.23 | |
| 8 | Kilmarnock | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 31 | 41 | −10 | 33 | 1.10 | |
| 9 | St Mirren | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 24 | 41 | −17 | 29 | 0.97 | |
| 10 | Ross County | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 29 | 60 | −31 | 29 | 0.97 | |
| 11 | Hamilton Academical | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 30 | 50 | −20 | 27 | 0.90 | |
| 12 | Heart of Midlothian(R) | 30 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 31 | 52 | −21 | 23 | 0.77 | Relegation to theChampionship |
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Rangers | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Motherwell | 6 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Aberdeen | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Livingston | 7 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| St Johnstone | 12 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| Hibernian | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Kilmarnock | 9 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| St Mirren | 10 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Ross County | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Hamilton Academical | 11 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Leader andChampions League first qualifying round | |
| Europa League second qualifying round | |
| Europa League first qualifying round | |
| Relegated to theChampionship |
Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away.
| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | HAM | HOM | HIB | KIL | LIV | MOT | RAN | ROS | STJ | STM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | — | 0–4 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Celtic | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 6–0 | 7–0 | 2–0 |
| Hamilton Academical | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | — | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 5–2 |
| Hibernian | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Kilmarnock | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Livingston | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Motherwell | 0–3 | 2–5 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| Rangers | 5–0 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 5–0 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | N/A | 1–0 |
| Ross County | 1–3 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| St Johnstone | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 |
| St Mirren | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — |
Teams play each other once, either home or away.
| Home \ Away | ABE | CEL | HAM | HOM | HIB | KIL | LIV | MOT | RAN | ROS | STJ | STM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | — | 1–2 | — | N/A | 3–1 | — | — | — | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | — |
| Celtic | — | — | — | 5–0 | — | 3–1 | — | — | — | 3–0 | N/A | 5–0 |
| Hamilton Academical | 1–3 | 1–4 | — | — | N/A | 1–0 | 2–4 | 0–0 | — | — | — | — |
| Heart of Midlothian | — | — | 2–2 | — | — | 2–3 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | N/A | — | — |
| Hibernian | — | N/A | — | 1–3 | — | — | 1–1 | — | — | 3–0 | N/A | 2–2 |
| Kilmarnock | 2–2 | — | — | — | 1–2 | — | N/A | — | 2–1 | 3–1 | — | N/A |
| Livingston | N/A | 2–2 | — | N/A | — | — | — | 1–0 | — | — | — | 2–1 |
| Motherwell | N/A | 0–4 | — | — | 0–0 | N/A | — | — | — | 4–1 | — | 1–2 |
| Rangers | 0–0 | N/A | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | N/A | — | — | — | — |
| Ross County | — | — | N/A | — | — | — | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | N/A |
| St Johnstone | — | — | N/A | 3–3 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | — | — | — |
| St Mirren | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | — | — | — | N/A | — | 0–0 | — |
It was intended that after 33 matches, the league would split 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 would be determined by the position of the teams in the league table at the time of the split. However, the season's premature finish, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, meant that this split was never applied.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Odsonne Édouard | Celtic | 22 |
| 2 | Jermain Defoe | Rangers | 13 |
| 3 |  Christian Doidge | Hibernian | 12 |
 Alfredo Morelos | Rangers | ||
| 5 | Sam Cosgrove | Aberdeen | 11 |
| Ryan Christie | Celtic | ||
| 7 | James Forrest | Celtic | 10 |
| Player | For | Against | Score | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Christie | Celtic | St Johnstone | 7–0 (H) | 3 August 2019 |
| Jermain Defoe | Rangers | Hibernian | 6–1 (H) | 11 August 2019 |
| Hamilton Academical | 5–0 (H) | 6 October 2019 | ||
| Christian Doidge | Hibernian | St Johnstone | 1–4 (A) | 9 November 2019 |
| Lyndon Dykes | Livingston | Ross County | 4–0 (H) | 21 December 2019 |
| Leigh Griffiths | Celtic | St Mirren | 5–0 (H) | 7 March 2020 |
These are the average attendances of the teams.
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic | 869,160 | 59,131 | 54,584 | 57,944 | +0.3%† |
| 2 | Rangers | 689,327 | 50,012 | 47,583 | 49,237 | −0.7%† |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 251,262 | 19,313 | 14,681 | 16,750 | −4.6%† |
| 4 | Hibernian | 250,923 | 20,197 | 14,486 | 16,728 | −5.7%† |
| 5 | Aberdeen | 207,540 | 16,410 | 12,325 | 13,836 | −7.3%† |
| 6 | Kilmarnock | 87,844 | 9,196 | 4,083 | 5,856 | −15.1%† |
| 7 | Motherwell | 83,618 | 8,822 | 3,191 | 5,574 | +2.3%† |
| 8 | St Mirren | 80,647 | 7,332 | 4,240 | 5,376 | +0.5%† |
| 9 | Ross County[a] | 65,302 | 6,575 | 3,301 | 4,664 | +21.2%† |
| 10 | St Johnstone | 65,461 | 8,743 | 2,231 | 4,091 | +5.1%† |
| 11 | Livingston | 49,598 | 8,640 | 1,076 | 3,542 | −3.3%† |
| 12 | Hamilton Academical | 41,044 | 5,300 | 1,075 | 2,565 | −9.3%† |
| League total | 2,741,726 | 59,131 | 1,075 | 15,316 | −4.1%† |
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | ||
| August | Neil Lennon | Celtic | Odsonne Édouard | Celtic | |
| September | Steven Gerrard | Rangers | Alfredo Morelos | Rangers | |
| October | Angelo Alessio | Kilmarnock |  Mohamed Elyounoussi | Celtic | |
| November | Neil Lennon | Celtic | Christian Doidge | Hibernian | |
| December | Steven Gerrard | Rangers |  Martin Boyle | Hibernian | |
| January | Gary Holt | Livingston | Odsonne Édouard | Celtic | |
| February | Neil Lennon | Celtic | Billy Mckay | Ross County | |
The SPFL permits Sky Sports and BT Sport up to six live home matches between the broadcasters from each club - although this is only four for Rangers and Celtic. Sky Sports and BT Sport's deal allows them to broadcast 30 games each (and the play-offs for BT). The deal roughly provides £21m to SPFL per season.[49] This is the final season of the contract; from 2020–21, Sky Sports will have exclusive rights to Scottish Premiership matches.[50]
Sky Sports hold the rights to Saturday night highlights - however, they do not broadcast a dedicated programme and instead merely show the goals of the Premiership matches onSky Sports News in their Goals Express programme - which primarily is focused on goals from theEnglish Football League. Gaelic-language channelBBC Alba has the rights to broadcast the repeat in full of 38 Saturday 3pm matches "as live" at 5.30pm. The main Premiership highlights programme isBBC Scotland'sSportscene programme, which shows in-depth highlights of all six Premiership matches every weekend. The SPFL also uploads the goals from every Premiership match onto itsYouTube channel - available from 6pm on a Sunday for UK and Ireland viewers and 10pm on a Saturday for those worldwide.
