2016–17 Scottish Premiership


The 2016–17 Scottish Premiership was the fourth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 17 June 2016. The season began on 6 August 2016. Celtic were the defending champions.
Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Hamilton Academical, Heart of Midlothian, Inverness CT, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Rangers, Ross County and St Johnstone.
On 2 April 2017, Celtic won their sixth consecutive title and 48th overall after a 5–0 win away to Hearts, with eight matches still to play and would go on to complete the season unbeaten.

Teams

The following teams have changed division since the 2015–16 season.

To Premiership

Promoted from Scottish Championship

From Premiership

Relegated to Scottish Championship

Personnel and kits

TeamManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Aberdeensortname|Derek|McInnes

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment
Celticsortname|Ronny|Deila

Format

In the initial phase of the season, each of the twelve teams play the other eleven teams three times. After 33 rounds, the league splits into two sections, a top six and a bottom six, with each team playing all the other teams in their section once. The league attempts to balance the fixture list so that teams in the same section have played 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.

League summary

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.
Leader – Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
Qualification to Premiership play-off final
Relegation to 2017–18 Scottish Championship

Team \ Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
Team \ Round
Celtic35211111111111111111111111111111111111
Aberdeen79477422222322343333333222222222222222
Rangers61123575455233222222222333333333333333
St Johnstone82795344543555555555555555554444444444
Heart of Midlothian911532233334444434444444444445555555555
Partick Thistle23811121212121111978111211121296767977666666666666
Ross County118344767871011128877668678799999988887877
Kilmarnock10610101091111987879116678101089888877777778788
Motherwell479886566911910669981079106610101010101010111011111099
Dundee14656891012121212111271010107989101066788899119991010
Hamilton Academical510116910109101081091010889111111111111111211111211111091010111111
Inverness Caledonian Thistle1212121211118876666791211111212121212121211121211121212121212121212

Source:

Results

Matches 1–22

Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away.

Matches 23–33

Teams play every other team once.

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. The exact matches are determined by the position of the teams in the league table at the time of the split.

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDateReference

Premiership play-offs

The quarter-final was contested between the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the Scottish Championship. After defeating Greenock Morton 5–1 over two legs, Dundee United advanced to the semi-finals to face the 2nd placed team in the Championship. Dundee United progressed to the play-off final following a 4–3 aggregate victory, but then lost 1–0 on aggregate to Hamilton Academical in the final. Hamilton therefore retained their place in the Premiership for the 2017–18 season.

Attendances

These are the average attendances of the teams.