Scottish Premiership
Season2015–16
Dates1 August 2015 – 22 May 2016
ChampionsCeltic
3rd Premiership title
47th Scottish title
RelegatedDundee United
Champions LeagueCeltic
Europa LeagueAberdeen
Heart of Midlothian
Matches played228
Goals scored650 (2.85 per match)
Top goalscorerLeigh Griffiths
(31 goals)[1]
Biggest home winCeltic 8–1 Hamilton Academical[2]
(19 January 2016)
Biggest away winKilmarnock 0–4 Dundee[2]
(1 August 2015)
Kilmarnock 0–4 Ross County[2]
(22 August 2015)
Aberdeen 1–5 St Johnstone[2]
(3 October 2015)
Partick Thistle 0–4 Heart of Midlothian[2]
(31 October 2015)
Kilmarnock 0–4 Aberdeen[2]
(19 December 2015)
Highest scoringCeltic 8–1 Hamilton Academical[2]
(19 January 2016)
Longest winning run8 matches:[2]
Aberdeen
Longest unbeaten run12 matches:[2]
Aberdeen
Longest winless run10 matches:[2]
Dundee United
Longest losing run5 matches:[2]
Partick Thistle
Highest attendance49,050[2]
Celtic 7–0 Motherwell
(15 May 2016)
Lowest attendance1,516[2]
Hamilton Academical 0–1 Inverness CT
(11 May 2016)
Total attendance2,237,437[2]
Average attendance9,644 (838)[2]
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.[3] 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[4] Capacity: 60,355[5] Capacity: 11,506[6] Capacity: 14,229[7]
Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian
New Douglas Park Tynecastle Stadium
Capacity: 6,078[8] Capacity: 17,529[9]
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock
Caledonian Stadium Rugby Park
Capacity: 7,800[10] Capacity: 18,128[11]
Motherwell Partick Thistle Ross County St Johnstone
Fir Park Firhill Stadium Victoria Park McDiarmid Park
Capacity: 13,677[12] Capacity: 10,102[13] Capacity: 6,541[14] Capacity: 10,696[15]

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aberdeen Scotland Derek McInnes Scotland Ryan Jack Adidas Saltire Energy
Celtic Norway Ronny Deila Scotland Scott Brown New Balance Magners
Dundee Scotland Paul Hartley Northern Ireland James McPake Puma Kilmac Energy
Dundee United Scotland Gordon Young (interim) Republic of Ireland Seán Dillon Nike Calor
Hamilton Academical Scotland Martin Canning Northern Ireland Michael McGovern Adidas[16] Nevis (H), Scotia Aid (A)
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Robbie Neilson Turkey Alim Öztürk Puma Save the Children
Inverness CT Scotland John Hughes Republic of Ireland Richie Foran Carbrini Subway
Kilmarnock England Lee Clark Republic of Ireland Mark Connolly Erreà QTS
Motherwell Scotland Mark McGhee Scotland Keith Lasley Macron Cash Converters
Partick Thistle Scotland Alan Archibald Ghana Abdul Osman Joma Kingsford Capital Management
Ross County Scotland Jim McIntyre England Andrew Davies Carbrini Stanley CRC Evans Offshore
St Johnstone Northern Ireland Tommy Wright Scotland 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 England Ian Baraclough Sacked 23 September 2015[17] 10th Scotland Mark McGhee 13 October 2015[18]
Dundee United Scotland Jackie McNamara 26 September 2015[19] 11th Finland Mixu Paatelainen 14 October 2015[20]
Kilmarnock Scotland Gary Locke Resigned 30 January 2016[21] 11th Scotland Lee McCulloch (interim) 30 January 2016[21]
Kilmarnock Scotland Lee McCulloch End of interim 15 February 2016[22] 10th England Lee Clark 15 February 2016[22]
Dundee United Finland Mixu Paatelainen Sacked 4 May 2016[23] 12th Scotland Gordon Young (interim) 4 May 2016[24]

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[lower-alpha 1]
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[lower-alpha 2] (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).[26]
(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.[25]

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[1][27]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Leigh Griffiths Celtic 31
2 England Kane Hemmings Dundee 21
3 Republic of Ireland Adam Rooney Aberdeen 20
4 England Louis Moult Motherwell 15
Northern Ireland Liam Boyce Ross County
6 Scotland Kris Doolan Partick Thistle 14
Scotland Steven MacLean St Johnstone
8 Northern Ireland Billy Mckay Dundee United 12
Spain Juanma Hearts
10 England Miles Storey Inverness CT 11

Awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref.
Manager Club Player Club
August Scotland Derek McInnes Aberdeen Scotland Leigh Griffiths Celtic [28]
September Scotland Derek McInnes Aberdeen Northern Ireland Niall McGinn Aberdeen
October Norway Ronny Deila Celtic Scotland Leigh Griffiths Celtic
November Scotland Alan Archibald Partick Thistle Scotland Michael O'Halloran St Johnstone
December Scotland Mark McGhee Motherwell Northern Ireland Liam Boyce Ross County
January Norway Ronny Deila Celtic England Kane Hemmings Dundee
February Finland Mixu Paatelainen Dundee United Northern Ireland Paul Paton Dundee United
March Scotland Mark McGhee Motherwell Australia Jackson Irvine Ross County
April Scotland John Hughes Inverness CT England 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

References

  1. 1 2 "2015–16 Scottish Premiership scorers". ESPN. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "2015–16 Scottish Premiership performance". ESPN. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Scottish Premiership 2015/16 campaign set for start on August 1". STV. 30 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Aberdeen Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "Celtic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "Dundee Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "Dundee United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "Hamilton Academical Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "Heart of Midlothian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. ↑ "Kilmarnock Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Motherwell Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "Partick Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  14. ↑ "Ross County Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  15. ↑ "St Johnstone Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  16. ↑ Andy McGilvray (19 June 2015). "Hamilton chairman Les Gray says signing a striker is the club's priority". dailyrecord.
  17. ↑ "Ian Baraclough: Motherwell part with manager after nine months". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "Motherwell name Mark McGhee as manager for second spell". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "Jackie McNamara: Dundee United confirm manager's exit". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  20. ↑ "Mixu Paatelainen: Dundee United appoint Finn as new manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  21. 1 2 "Kilmarnock manager Gary Locke resigns after Hamilton loss". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  22. 1 2 "Lee Clark: Kilmarnock appoint former Blackpool manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  23. ↑ "Dundee United: Mixu Paatelainen leaves as manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  24. ↑ "Dundee United caretaker boss Gordon Young insists there is plenty to play for at Kilmarnock". The Courier. DC Thomson. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  25. ↑ "Dundee Utd docked points for fielding ineligible player Ali Coote v ICT". BBC Sport. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  26. ↑ "Premiership 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  27. ↑ "Scottish Premiership Top Scorers". BBC. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  28. ↑ "SPFL monthly awards". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 9 November 2015. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
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