2014–15 Scottish Premiership

Scottish Premiership
Season 2014–15
Champions Celtic
Relegated St Mirren
Champions League Celtic
Europa League Aberdeen
Inverness CT
St Johnstone
Matches played 151
Goals scored 394 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer Adam Rooney (18)
Biggest home win

Celtic 6–1 Dundee United
(16 August 2014)
Hamilton 5–0 Motherwell
(1 January 2015)
Partick Thistle 5–0 Hamilton
(21 January 2015)

Celtic 5–0 Dundee
(1 May 2015)
Biggest away win Ross County 0–5 Celtic
(18 October 2014)
Highest scoring Dundee United 6–2 Dundee
(1 January 2015)
Longest winning run 8 games[1]
Aberdeen
Celtic
Longest unbeaten run 12 games[1]
Aberdeen
Longest winless run 11 games[1]
Ross County
Longest losing run 7 games[1]
Ross County
Highest attendance 55,638[1]
Celtic 5–0
Inverness CT
(24 May 2015)
Lowest attendance 1,577[1]
Hamilton Academical
1–0
St Johnstone
(16 August 2014)
Average attendance 8,806[1]

All statistics correct as of 15 February 2015.

The 2014–15 Scottish Premiership was the second season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The season began on 9 August 2014[2] and ended on the 31 May 2015. Celtic are the defending champions.

Twelve teams contested the league: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Hamilton Academical, Inverness CT, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren. Due to the relegation of Edinburgh-based teams Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian in 2014, this season marked the first time in football history in which Scotland's capital city had no representatives in the top league.

On 2 May, Celtic clinched their fourth title in a row after Aberdeen lost 1–0 away at Dundee United, leaving Celtic 11 points clear with three games to play.[3][4]

Teams

Dundee were promoted from the Scottish Championship. Heart of Midlothian were relegated from the Scottish Premiership.

Hibernian finished in the play-off position in the Scottish Premiership. They lost to Hamilton Academical who took the final place in the second edition of the competition, a result which left the Scottish capital Edinburgh without a club in the top flight of Scottish football for the 2014–15 season.

Stadiums by capacity and locations

Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United
Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen Celtic Park, Glasgow Dens Park, Dundee Tannadice Park, Dundee
Capacity: 20,897[5] Capacity: 60,355[6] Capacity: 11,506[7] Capacity: 14,229[8]
Hamilton Academical Inverness Caledonian Thistle
New Douglas Park, Hamilton Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
Capacity: 6,078[9] Capacity: 7,800[10]
Kilmarnock Motherwell
Rugby Park, Kilmarnock Fir Park, Motherwell
Capacity: 18,128[11] Capacity: 13,677[12]
Partick Thistle Ross County St Johnstone St Mirren
Firhill Stadium, Glasgow Victoria Park, Dingwall McDiarmid Park, Perth St Mirren Park, Paisley
Capacity: 10,102[13] Capacity: 6,541[14] Capacity: 10,696[15] Capacity: 8,023[16]

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aberdeen Scotland McInnes, DerekDerek McInnes Scotland Anderson, RussellRussell Anderson Adidas Saltire Energy
Celtic Norway Deila, RonnyRonny Deila Scotland Brown, ScottScott Brown Nike Magners
Dundee Scotland Hartley, PaulPaul Hartley Scotland Thomson, KevinKevin Thomson Puma Hangar Records
Dundee United Scotland McNamara, JackieJackie McNamara Republic of Ireland Dillon, SeánSeán Dillon Nike Calor
Hamilton Academical Scotland Canning, MartinMartin Canning Scotland Canning, MartinMartin Canning 1874 Accies, Nike M&H Logistics (H), Life Skills Centres (A)
Inverness CT Scotland Hughes, JohnJohn Hughes Republic of Ireland Foran, RichieRichie Foran Erreà Subway
Kilmarnock Scotland Locke, GaryGary Locke Italy Pascali, ManuelManuel Pascali Erreà QTS
Motherwell England Baraclough, IanIan Baraclough Scotland Lasley, KeithKeith Lasley Macron Cash Converters
Partick Thistle Scotland Archibald, AlanAlan Archibald Scotland Welsh, SeanSean Welsh Joma macb
Ross County Scotland McIntyre, JimJim McIntyre Scotland Brittain, RichardRichard Brittain Carbrini Stanley CRC Evans Offshore
St Johnstone Northern Ireland Wright, TommyTommy Wright Scotland Mackay, DaveDave Mackay Joma GS Brown Construction
St Mirren Scotland Teale, GaryGary Teale Scotland Thompson, StevenSteven Thompson Carbrini JD Sports

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
St Mirren Scotland Lennon, DannyDanny Lennon End of contract 12 May 2014[17] Pre-season Scotland Craig, TommyTommy Craig 13 May 2014[18]
Celtic Northern Ireland Lennon, NeilNeil Lennon Resigned 22 May 2014[19] Pre-season Norway Deila, RonnyRonny Deila 6 June 2014[20]
Ross County Scotland Adams, DerekDerek Adams Sacked 28 August 2014[21] 12th Scotland McIntyre, JimJim McIntyre 9 September 2014[22]
Motherwell Scotland McCall, StuartStuart McCall Resigned 2 November 2014[23] 11th England Baraclough, IanIan Baraclough 13 December 2014[24]
St Mirren Scotland Craig, TommyTommy Craig Sacked 9 December 2014[25] 11th Scotland Teale, GaryGary Teale 29 January 2015
Hamilton Academical Scotland Neil, AlexAlex Neil Signed by Norwich City 9 January 2015[26] 3rd Scotland Canning, MartinMartin Canning 23 January 2015[27]
Kilmarnock Scotland Johnston, AllanAllan Johnston Resigned 6 February 2015[28] 8th Scotland Locke, GaryGary Locke 6 February 2015 (interim)

Tournament format and regulations

Basic

In the initial phase of the season, the 12 teams played a round-robin tournament whereby each team played each one of the other teams three times. After 33 games, the league split 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 played, with 38 matches played by each team.

Promotion and relegation

The team that finished 12th (St Mirren) was relegated to the Championship, while the champion of that league (Heart of Midlothian) was promoted to the Premiership for the 2015–16 season. The team that finished 11th in the Premiership (Motherwell) played the winner of the Championship playoffs (Rangers) in two playoff games, with the winner (Motherwell) securing a Premiership spot for the 2015–16 season.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic (C) 38 29 5 4 84 17 +67 92 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Aberdeen 38 23 6 9 57 33 +24 75 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 38 19 8 11 52 42 +10 65 Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
4 St Johnstone 38 16 9 13 34 34 0 57 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
5 Dundee United 38 17 5 16 58 56 +2 56
6 Dundee[lower-alpha 2] 38 11 12 15 46 57 11 45
7 Hamilton Academical 38 15 8 15 50 53 3 53
8 Partick Thistle 38 12 10 16 48 44 +4 46
9 Ross County 38 12 8 18 46 63 17 44
10 Kilmarnock 38 11 8 19 44 59 15 41
11 Motherwell (O) 38 10 6 22 38 63 25 36 Qualification to Scottish Premiership play-offs
12 St Mirren (R) 38 9 3 26 30 66 36 30 Relegation to Scottish Championship
Source: Scottish Premiership
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Inverness Caledonian Thistle have qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League by winning the 2014–15 Scottish Cup.
  2. Teams in the bottom six at the time of the split (33 games) cannot pass teams in the top six

Top scorers

As of 24 May 2015[29][30]
Rank Player Team Goals
1 Republic of Ireland Adam Rooney Aberdeen 18
2 Scotland Leigh Griffiths Celtic 14
Turkey Nadir Çiftçi Dundee United 14
4 Scotland Greg Stewart Dundee 13
5 France Anthony Andreu Hamilton Academical 12
England John Sutton Motherwell 12
7 Scotland Ali Crawford Hamilton Academical 11
8 Northern Ireland Billy McKay Inverness Caledonian Thistle 10
Northern Ireland Liam Boyce Ross County 10
Scotland Kris Commons Celtic 10

Results

Matches 1–22

Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DNDDUNHAMINVKILMOTPARROSSTJSTM
Aberdeen 12 33 03 30 32 10 10 20 30 20 22
Celtic 21 21 61 01 10 20 11 10 00 01 41
Dundee 23 11 14 20 12 11 41 11 11 11 13
Dundee United 02 21 62 22 11 31 10 10 21 20 30
Hamilton Academical 30 02 21 23 02 00 50 33 40 10 30
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 01 10 00 10 42 20 31 04 11 21 10
Kilmarnock 02 02 13 20 10 12 20 30 03 01 21
Motherwell 02 01 13 10 04 02 11 10 22 01 10
Partick Thistle 01 03 11 22 12 31 11 31 40 00 12
Ross County 01 05 21 23 01 13 12 12 10 12 12
St Johnstone 10 03 01 21 01 10 12 21 20 21 12
St Mirren 02 12 01 03 02 01 12 01 01 22 01

Source: Scottish Premiership
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Teams played every other team once (either at home or away).

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DNDDUNHAMINVKILMOTPARROSSTJSTM
Aberdeen 10 10 21 00 40 30
Celtic 40 30 40 41 40 20
Dundee 11 12 31 11 10 10
Dundee United 10 31 02 12 02
Hamilton Academical 03 02 00 22 11
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 11 11 21 33 11 20
Kilmarnock 12 32 12 22 10
Motherwell 01 40 21 11 50
Partick Thistle 50 10 20 13 30 01
Ross County 01 10 21 32 10
St Johnstone 11 12 10 00 20
St Mirren 02 12 11 10 12 03

Source: Scottish Premiership
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

After 33 matches, the league split 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 were determined upon the league table at the time of the split.

Top six

Home ╲ Away ABE CEL DNDDUNINVSTJ
Aberdeen 01 01
Celtic 50 50
Dundee 11 01 02
Dundee United 10 03 30
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 12 30
St Johnstone 00 11 11

Source: BBC Sport
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom six

Home ╲ Away HAM KIL MOTPARROSSTM
Hamilton Academical 20 11 10
Kilmarnock 23 12
Motherwell 31 00 11
Partick Thistle 14 30
Ross County 21 12 12
St Mirren 41 21

Premiership play-offs

Quarter-final

First leg

9 May 2015
17:30
Queen of the South 1–2 Rangers
Lyle  64' BBC Report Smith  44'
Shiels  75'
Palmerston Park, Dumfries
Attendance: 5,224
Referee: Alan Muir

Second leg

17 May 2015
15:30
Rangers 1–1 Queen of the South
Wallace  60' BBC Report Lyle  35'
Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
Attendance: 48,035
Referee: Kevin Clancy

Rangers won 3–2 on aggregate.

Semi-final

First leg

20 May 2015
19:45
Rangers 2–0 Hibernian
Clark  44'
Miller  63'
BBC Report
Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
Attendance: 41,236
Referee: Calum Murray

Second leg

23 May 2015
12:00
Hibernian 1–0 Rangers
Cummings  90+4' BBC Report
Easter Road, Edinburgh
Attendance: 14,742
Referee: John Beaton

Rangers won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

First leg

28 May 2015
19:45
Rangers 1–3 Motherwell
McGregor  82' BBC Report Erwin  27'
McManus  40'
Ainsworth  47'
Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
Attendance: 49,200
Referee: Bobby Madden

Second leg

31 May 2015
15:00
Motherwell 3–0 Rangers
Johnson  52'
Ainsworth  70'
Sutton  90+3' (pen.)
BBC Report
Fir Park, Motherwell
Attendance: 9,220
Referee: Craig Thomson

Motherwell won 6–1 on aggregate.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "2014–15 Scottish Premiership statistics". ESPN FC. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  2. "Scottish Premiership 2014/15 campaign set for start on August 9". STV. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  3. "Celtic retain Premiership title". SPFL. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  4. "Celtic win Scottish Premiership title after Aberdeen lose". BBC Sport. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  5. "Aberdeen Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. "Celtic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. "Dundee Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. "Dundee United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. "Hamilton Academical Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. 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. 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. "St Mirren Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  17. "Danny Lennon: St Mirren decide not to offer manager new contract". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  18. "St Mirren: Tommy Craig appointed as Danny Lennon's successor". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  19. "Celtic: Neil Lennon ends his four-year spell as manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  20. "Celtic: Ronny Deila named new manager of Scottish champions". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  21. "Ross County sack manager Derek Adams and his father George". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  22. "Ross County: Jim McIntyre joins from Queen of the South". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  23. "Stuart McCall: Motherwell manager resigns after five straight defeats". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  24. "Motherwell: Ian Baraclough is new manager at Fir Park". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  25. "St Mirren: Tommy Craig exits as manager after 19 games". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  26. "Alex Neil: Norwich City appoint Hamilton player-manager as boss". BBC Sport. 9 January 2015.
  27. "Hamilton Academical: Martin Canning becomes new manager". BBC Sport. 23 January 2015.
  28. "Allan Johnston: Kilmarnock manager relieved of duties". BBC Sport. 6 February 2015.
  29. "Top scorers". ESPN. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  30. BBC - Scottish Premiership - Top Scorers

External links

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