The new Scottish Premiership season is back with a bang!
Every single game across the opening weekend will be shown live on Sky Sports, starting with Rangers’ trip to Dundee United on Friday, and ending with Celtic against Dundee on Monday.
Following one of the best seasons ever, as Celtic clinched the title on the final day against Hearts, there are new managers, players, rules and much more to look out for during the campaign.
Ahead of the big kick-off, here’s an A-Z of everything that’s new about the league this year…
A – Astroturf: There’s only one artificial surface left. Kilmarnock have switched to grass at Rugby Park and Livingston have been relegated, so the Falkirk Stadium is the only plastic pitch.
B – Broken Hearts: After losing out on a first top-flight title in 66 years on the final day last season, the squad has been broken up. Captain Lawrence Shankland departed for Rangers one year into a three-year deal. Head coach Derek McInnes followed, before influential midfielder Cammy Devlin made the trip to Ibrox too after rejecting a new Tynecastle deal.
C – Captains: Aberdeen, Hearts, Kilmarnock, Rangers and St Mirren all have new players wearing the armband this year following the departures of Graeme Shinnie, Lawrence Shankland, Brad Lyons, James Tavernier and Mark O’Hara.
Lawrence Shankland is the new Rangers captain
D – Deadline Day: The Scottish Premiership transfer window closes on September 3 at 5pm, that’s two days after the Premier League window. So if you’re worried that your club hasn’t made enough signings yet, don’t worry, you’ve still got well over a month to go.
E – Europe: Five Scottish clubs started out competing in European qualifiers this summer but this year it’s a race for the top four, as it’s almost certain that Scotland’s faltering coefficient ranking will cost one place.
F – Flag days: Champions Celtic will raise the league flag once again when they take on Dundee in the final game of opening weekend on Monday. Newly promoted St Johnstone will also raise the Championship flag at home to Kilmarnock on Sunday.
G – Gordon: This will be the first time since the maiden year of the SPFL in 2013 in which there will be no Craig Gordon in Scotland. The 43-year-old Hearts legend announced his retirement from football following Scotland’s exit from the World Cup, 25 years on from making his professional debut.
H – Hogh: Celtic have broken their transfer record to sign Bodo Glimt striker Kasper Hogh for £11m plus add-ons. The Denmark international has been brought in to replace Daizen Maeda, who departed for Ipswich.
I – International breaks: We’ve just had the World Cup but be prepared for an almost three-week-long break over September and October. The international match calendar has changed from three international windows to just two for this year.
J – Johansson: Motherwell’s new boss Alfred Johansson has big shoes to fill after Jens Berthel Askou left for Toulouse. He’s the youngest manager in the league at just 35.
K – Kenobi: Did you know that Aberdeen’s new left back Nesta Guinness-Walker is the great-grandson of Sir Alec Guinness, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy?
L – Law changes: Just as we saw at the World Cup, VAR can now intervene on second yellow cards. Meanwhile, players will have a five-second countdown to take throw-ins and goal kicks, while there is just 10 seconds for a substitute to leave the field, plus a minute break for those who undergo treatment.
M – McInnes: For the fifth season in a row, Rangers start with a new manager. Derek McInnes is tasked with doing what the last five permanent Rangers bosses failed to do, win the league title.
N – New mascot: St Johnstone are looking for someone new to take on the role of Brogan the Beagle after the previous Brogan hung up the paws after 11 years.
O – O’Neill: At 74 years old, Martin O’Neill is back at Celtic for what is technically his fourth spell. He won a league and cup double last term after replacing Brendan Rodgers, then Wilfried Nancy.
P – Promoted: St Johnstone are back in the Premiership after a year out. They’re the only newly promoted side after St Mirren beat Partick Thistle in the play-off final in May.
Q – Questionable haircuts: New season means new trim but Falkirk’s League Cup trialist David Ninkovic will take some beating!
David Ninkovic was on trial at Falkirk
R – Robinson’s rebuild: Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson is about to begin his first full season at Pittodrie. Staying with Aberdeen, R is also for Rachel Corsie. The Sky Sports pundit and former Scotland captain has been appointed to the club’s Board of Directors.
S – Six: The number of games on opening weekend live on Sky Sports. Yes, that’s right, all 12 clubs will be shown live on the home of Scottish football on the same weekend for the very first time.
T – Transfers: The 12 Premiership clubs have made more than 80 new signings already, and there is still more than a month left until the window closes.
U – Ultras: Love them or loath them, all 12 Premiership clubs now have dedicated ultras groups, aiming to bring more passion and noise to the stands.
V – Vrancken: Hearts have chosen Wouter Vrancken as the man to replace Derek McInnes and put up a title fight once more. He was named Belgian manager of the year last year and came within minutes of winning the league with Genk in 2023.
W – World Cup: The new Premiership season kicks off just 12 days after the World Cup final. Winners Spain sadly didn’t have anyone from our league in their squad, but there are two new Spaniards in the division. Unax Alvarez at St Johnstone and Samuel Ramos at St Mirren.
X – Xperience: Yes, a bit of cheating here! But Motherwell captain Paul McGinn is now the oldest player in the division at 35, that’s the same age as his manager Alfred Johansson!
Y – Years: It’s now been 41 years since a non-Old Firm club won the league. Hearts took it to the final day last year, can they, or someone else, mount a challenge this time?
Z – Zero: That’s the number of Scottish Premiership games which will not be live on Sky Sports this weekend. It all starts at Tannadice on Friday night as Rangers take on Dundee Utd.
