2013–14 Scottish Premiership


The 2013–14 Scottish Premiership was the first season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The season began on 2 August 2013 and concluded on 11 May 2014. This was the first season of the competition being part of the newly formed Scottish Professional Football League after the merger of the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. This season also featured the introduction of an end of season play-off between the 11th-placed team in the top flight and the teams placed 2nd–4th in the Scottish Championship, to determine whether a second team will be relegated from the league.
Twelve teams contested the league. Partick Thistle were promoted from the 2012–13 First Division, replacing Dundee. Heart of Midlothian were deducted 15 points for entering administration during the close season.
On 26 March, Celtic clinched their third title in a row and 45th in total after a 5–1 away win against Partick Thistle.
It is the earliest that the title has been won since the 1928–29 season, when Rangers won it on 16 March.

Teams

were relegated from the 2012–13 Scottish Premier League. Partick Thistle, who won the 2012–13 Scottish First Division, were promoted.

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
TeamManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Aberdeen AdidasTeam Recruitment
Celtic NikeMagners
Dundee United NikeCalor
Heart of Midlothian AdidasWonga.com
Hibernian NikeCrabbie's
Inverness CT ErreàOrion Group
Kilmarnock Killie 1869QTS
Motherwell PumaCash Converters
Partick Thistle Jomamacb
Ross County DiadoraStanley CRC Evans Offshore
St Johnstone JomaGS Brown Construction
St Mirren DiadoraBlacks Outdoor Retail

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment
St Johnstone Signed by Millwall6 June 2013Pre-season 10 June 2013
Kilmarnock Sacked11 June 2013Pre-season 25 June 2013
Hibernian Resigned1 November 20137th 12 November 2013
Inverness CT Signed by Hibernian12 November 20132nd 4 December 2013

League table

Results

Matches 1–22

Teams play each other twice, once at home, 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 each, with teams playing every other team in their section once. The exact matches are determined upon the league table at the time of the split.

Top six

Bottom six

Season statistics

goalkeeper Fraser Forster set a new Scottish league record for length of time played without conceding a goal, which had been previously set by Bobby Clark in 1970–71. Forster's streak ended at 1,256 minutes.

Top scorers

Assists

Premiership play-offs

For the first time since the 1996–97 season, promotion and relegation involving a place in the top division of the Scottish football league system was determined in part by a play-off system. The previous system used was a straight head-to-head between the team that had finished 9th in the Premier Division and the runner-up in the First Division. The new system involved the teams from second to fourth place in the Championship, with the first contest between the third and fourth place teams. The winner progressed to a tie with the second place Championship team. The winner of that second tie then progressed to the promotion and relegation deciding playoff against the 11th place team in the Premiership.

Quarter-final

First leg

Second leg

Falkirk won 4–3 on aggregate, advanced to Semi-final.

Semi-final

First leg

Second leg

Hamilton Academical won 2–1 on aggregate, advanced to Final.

Final

First leg

Second leg

2–2 on aggregate. Hamilton Academical won 4–3 on penalties, earning promotion to the Premiership. Hibernian were relegated to the Championship.