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_(cropped).jpg)  The trophies awarded to the Scottish champions prior to 1998 (top) and subsequently (bottom) | |
| Founded | 1890 (Scottish Football League) 1998 (Scottish Premier League) 2013 (Scottish Premiership) |
|---|---|
| Number of clubs | 12 |
| Current champions | Celtic (55th title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Celtic (55 titles) Rangers (55 titles, including 1 shared) |
| Current:2025–26 | |
TheScottish football champions are the winners of the highest league inScottish football, namely theScottish Football League (SFL) from 1890 until 1998, theScottish Premier League (SPL) from 1998 until 2013 and theScottish Premiership thereafter.
The SFL was established in 1890, initially as an amateur league until professionalism in Scottish football was legalised in 1893.[1] At the end of thefirst season,Dumbarton andRangers finished level on points at the top of the table. The rules in force at the time required that the teams contest a play-off match for the championship, which finished in a 2–2 draw, and the first ever championship was thus shared between two clubs, the only occasion on which this has happened.[2] In 1893, a lower division was formed, with the existing division renamed Division One. The higher tier continued duringWorld War I but the league was suspended altogether duringWorld War II.[3] Although there were several short spells when a third level was created, the two-division structure remained largely in place until 1975, when a major re-organisation of the league led to a new three-tier setup and the creation of a newPremier Division at the highest level. In 1998, the teams then in the Premier Division broke away to form the SPL, which supplanted the Premier Division as the highest level of football in Scotland.[4] The SPL and SFL merged in 2013 to form theScottish Professional Football League (SPFL), which branded its top division as the Scottish Premiership.[5]
Throughout its existence the championship of Scottish football has been dominated by twoGlasgow clubs,Celtic andRangers. The two rivals, who are collectively known as the "Old Firm", have claimed the vast majority of league titles and there have only been five seasons in which neither finished in the top two, most recently in the1964–65 season. As of 2025, both teams have won 55 titles, while no other club has won on more than four occasions. No club outside the Old Firm has won the title since the1984–85 season, when theAberdeen won the Premier Division under management ofAlex Ferguson.[6] The current 40-year period of dominance by the Old Firm is a record; the previous longest streak was 27 years, between 1904 and 1931. Each of the Old Firm clubs has managed a run ofnine consecutive championships: Celtic from 1966 to 1974 and again from 2012 to 2020,[7] and Rangers from 1989 to 1997. Each of the two clubs has also claimed thedouble, by winning the league and theScottish Cup in the same season, on many occasions.[8] As of the end of the2024–25 season, Celtic have won 21 doubles and Rangers 18. The only other club to have won a league and Scottish Cup double is Aberdeen, in1983–84.[9] Both Old Firm clubs have completed atreble (Celtic 8 times; Rangers 7) by also winning theScottish League Cup.[9][10] In the1966–67 season, Celtic took all three domestic trophies, and also won theEuropean Cup to complete the onlyquadruple to date.[11]
Key:
| Club won theScottish Cup |
| Club won theScottish League Cup |
| Club won both domestic cups |
| Season | Champions[12] | Runners-up[12] | Third place[12] | Top scorer(s)[13] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Goals | ||||
| 1890–91 | Dumbarton (1) and Rangers (1)[a] | Celtic | Jack Bell (Dumbarton) | 20 | |
| 1891–92 | Dumbarton (2) | Celtic | Heart of Midlothian | Jack Bell (Dumbarton) | 23 |
| 1892–93 | Celtic (1) | Rangers | St Mirren | Sandy McMahon (Celtic) John Campbell (Celtic) | 11 |
| Season | Champions[12] | Runners-up[12] | Third place[12] | Top scorer(s)[13] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Goals | ||||
| 1946–47 | Rangers (25) | Hibernian | Aberdeen | Bobby Mitchell (Third Lanark) | 22 |
| 1947–48 | Hibernian (2) | Rangers | Partick Thistle | Archie Aikman (Falkirk) | 20 |
| 1948–49 | Rangers (26) | Dundee | Hibernian | Alex Stott (Dundee) | 30 |
| 1949–50 | Rangers (27) | Hibernian | Heart of Midlothian | Willie Bauld (Heart of Midlothian) | 30 |
| 1950–51 | Hibernian (3) | Rangers | Dundee | Lawrie Reilly (Hibernian) | 22 |
| 1951–52 | Hibernian (4) | Rangers | East Fife | Lawrie Reilly (Hibernian) | 27 |
| 1952–53 | Rangers (28) | Hibernian | East Fife | Lawrie Reilly (Hibernian) Charlie Fleming (East Fife) | 30 |
| 1953–54 | Celtic (20) | Heart of Midlothian | Partick Thistle | Jimmy Wardhaugh (Heart of Midlothian) | 27 |
| 1954–55 | Aberdeen (1) | Celtic | Rangers | Willie Bauld (Heart of Midlothian) | 21 |
| Season | Champions[12] | Runners-up[12] | Third place[12] | Top scorer(s)[13] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Goals | ||||
| 2013–14 | Celtic (45) | Motherwell | Aberdeen | Kris Commons (Celtic) | 27 |
| 2014–15 | Celtic (46) | Aberdeen | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Adam Rooney (Aberdeen) | 18 |
| 2015–16 | Celtic (47) | Aberdeen | Heart of Midlothian | Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) | 31 |
| 2016–17 | Celtic (48) | Aberdeen | Rangers | Liam Boyce (Ross County) | 23 |
| 2017–18 | Celtic (49) | Aberdeen | Rangers | Kris Boyd (Kilmarnock) | 18 |
| 2018–19 | Celtic (50) | Rangers | Kilmarnock | Alfredo Morelos (Rangers) | 18 |
| 2019–20[g] | Celtic (51) | Rangers | Motherwell | Odsonne Édouard (Celtic) | 22 |
| 2020–21 | Rangers (55) | Celtic | Hibernian | Odsonne Édouard (Celtic) | 18 |
| 2021–22 | Celtic (52) | Rangers | Heart of Midlothian | Regan Charles-Cook (Ross County) Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic) | 13 |
| 2022–23 | Celtic (53) | Rangers | Aberdeen | Kyōgo Furuhashi (Celtic) | 27 |
| 2023–24 | Celtic (54) | Rangers | Heart of Midlothian | Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian) | 24 |
| 2024–25 | Celtic (55) | Rangers | Hibernian | Cyriel Dessers (Rangers) | 18 |
| Club | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Last Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | 55 | 32 | 17 | 2024–25 |
| Rangers[h] | 55 | 36 | 20 | 2020–21 |
| Aberdeen | 4 | 17 | 10 | 1984–85 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 4 | 14 | 20 | 1959–60 |
| Hibernian | 4 | 6 | 15 | 1951–52 |
| Dumbarton[h] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1891–92 |
| Motherwell | 1 | 7 | 9 | 1931–32 |
| Kilmarnock | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1964–65 |
| Dundee | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1961–62 |
| Dundee United | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1982–83 |
| Third Lanark | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1903–04 |
| Airdrieonians (1878) | 0 | 4 | 2 | — |
| Falkirk | 0 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Morton[i] | 0 | 1 | 4 | — |
| Clyde | 0 | 0 | 3 | — |
| Partick Thistle | 0 | 0 | 3 | — |
| St Johnstone | 0 | 0 | 3 | — |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 0 | 0 | 2 | — |
| East Fife | 0 | 0 | 2 | — |
| St Mirren | 0 | 0 | 2 | — |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
| Livingston | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
| Raith Rovers | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
| St Bernard's | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
| City / town | Championships | Clubs | Last championship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow[j] | 111 | Celtic (55),Rangers (55),Third Lanark (1) | 2024–25 (Celtic) |
| Edinburgh | 8 | Heart of Midlothian (4),Hibernian (4) | 1959–60 (Heart of Midlothian) |
| Aberdeen | 4 | Aberdeen (4) | 1984–85 (Aberdeen) |
| Dumbarton[j] | 2 | Dumbarton (2) | 1891–92 (Dumbarton) |
| Dundee | 2 | Dundee (1),Dundee United (1) | 1982–83 (Dundee United) |
| Kilmarnock | 1 | Kilmarnock (1) | 1964–65 (Kilmarnock) |
| Motherwell | 1 | Motherwell (1) | 1931–32 (Motherwell) |
1988: Celtic celebrate the centenary season (1987/88) by winning the first "double" in 11 years. The accomplishment marks the 35th league title, and the 28th Scottish Cup.
In 1948–49, Rangers became the first team to win the League, the Scottish Cup, and the League Cup in one season. It was the first glorious treble in Scottish football.