Scottish Premiership: History, dates, teams, schedule & more

The Scottish Premiership was established in July 2013 and is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League.

Celtic have been the dominant side since the inaugural Scottish Premiership season in 2013/14, winning the title in 10 of the 11 campaigns and also completing the treble five times.

Scottish Premiership dates

The 2024/25 Scottish Premiership season is scheduled to start on Saturday 3rd August 2024, running through to the final day on 18th May 2025.

Scottish Premiership locations

There are 12 grounds in the Scottish Premiership this season. They are Parkhead, Ibrox, Tynecastle, Easter Road, Pittodrie, Tannadice, Dens Park, Rugby Park, Fir Park, Victoria Park and McDiarmid Park.

Scottish Premiership how to watch

Both Sky Sports and Premier Sports have TV deals to broadcast selected Scottish Premiership matches ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Sky Sports are set to screen a total of 60 Scottish Premiership matches in 2024/25, with Premier Sports allocated 20.

Free highlights are available on the Sky Sports App and their social media channels, while highlights are also shown on the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Scotland's TV channels.

Scottish Premiership explained

The Scottish Premiership was formed in July 2013 and it has served as the pinnacle of domestic football north of the border ever since. 

It was created after the SPFL was formed by a merger of the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League. 

A total of 12 teams compete in the division and the winners at the end of the campaign will be crowned champions and also earn a place in the group stage of the Champions League. 

The runners-up earn a place in the third round of qualifying for the Champions League, while third enters the Europa League at the play-off round,

Ahead of the 2024/25 season, the fourth-placed team will contest the second round of Europa League qualifiers, whilst fifth compete in the second round of Conference League qualifying.

Whoever finishes bottom will be relegated, with that place taken by the Scottish Championship winners, while the 11th-placed side will go into the Premiership play-off final against the winners of the Championship play-offs. 

The play-off final is played over two legs, with the victor earning the right to play in the Scottish Premiership the following season. 

Prior to the Scottish Premiership's creation, only the bottom team could be relegated and their place would be taken by the Scottish Championship winners. 

Different to most leagues across Europe, the Scottish Premiership only has 12 teams in the division and each side plays 38 games in the season. 

There are also two phases to the campaign. The first involves all 12 teams teams playing each other three times, either once at home and twice away or vice versa, before the league is then split into two halves - a 'top six' and a 'bottom six'. 

Each club will then play a further five matches, taking on each side in their split, with the points gathered from these contests adding to the points tally from the first phase. 

Once the split is made, teams cannot move out of their half in the league, regardless of whether they achieve more or fewer points than the higher or lower ranked side.

Scottish Premiership most titles

The Bhoys won seven consecutive titles before rivals Rangers managed to end that streak in 2020/21 under the guidance of manager Steven Gerrard. 

Celtic have won the title in the last three seasons, completing the treble in 2022/23, and they will be looking to add to their trophy haul this term. 

In regards to Scotland's top-flight league championship, which takes into account seasons before the Scottish Premiership was created, Rangers are the most successful side with 55 titles. 

Celtic are now just one behind the Gers, while the last team to win the trophy outside of the two Old Firm clubs was Aberdeen in 1984/85.