Thursday , March 28 2024

Scotland curtails 2019/20 Scottish Premiership & SPFL season!

The SPFL (Scottish Premier Football League) has today, May 18 announced that, following consultation with all 12 top-flight clubs, the Board of the SPFL has determined that the 2019/20 Scottish Premiership has been concluded with immediate effect.

As with the Championship, League One and League Two competitions, final season placings have been determined by points per game in league matches played to March 13, 2020 by each club.

The decision means that Celtic FC are crowned 2019/20 champions and Hearts have been relegated to the Championship. The final placings in full can be seen below:

Games played Points Goal Difference Points / Game
1 Celtic 30 80 70 2.6667
2 Rangers 29 67 45 2.3103
3 Motherwell 30 46 3 1.5333
4 Aberdeen 30 45 4 1.5000
5 Livingston 30 39 2 1.3000
6 St Johnstone 29 36 -18 1.2414
7 Hibernian 30 37 -7 1.2333
8 Kilmarnock 30 33 -10 1.1000
9 St Mirren 30 29 -17 0.9667
10 Ross County 30 29 -31 0.9667
11 Hamilton A 30 27 -20 0.9000
12 Hearts 30 23 -21 0.7667

PFL chairman Murdoch MacLennan said, “Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to officially congratulate Celtic on their achievement of winning the Ladbrokes Premiership this season, and also to sincerely commiserate with Hearts on their relegation.”

“We would all have rather seen the league season played out on pitches, in stadiums and in front of supporters. This is not the way anybody involved with Scottish football would have wanted to conclude the league season but, given the grave and unprecedented circumstances that we are facing, the Board has agreed that it is the only practical way forward.”

“Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on sporting competitions around the world and the repercussions will be felt for a long time. Scottish Government restrictions and deep concerns for both player and spectator safety left the SPFL with no realistic option but to call the Ladbrokes Premiership now and we thank the Premiership clubs for their support on this decision.”

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said, “On Friday, Ladbrokes Premiership clubs expressed their clear and unanimous view that there was no realistic prospect of completing the outstanding fixtures from Season 2019/20. The SPFL Board met this morning and in line with the express agreement of member clubs in April, the Board determined that League Season 2019/20 and the Premiership be brought to an end.”

“This decision now enables us to pay out around £7 million in fees to help clubs stay afloat during this incredibly difficult time. We will begin processing these payments immediately.”

“The focus of all those involved in the game will now turn to how we get football up and running again safely as soon as possible. Next season’s Betfred Cup first round group stage is scheduled to begin in mid-July, with coverage from Premier Sports. The 2020/21 League Season in all four of our Divisions is due to commence on 1 August, which coincides with the start of our new and exclusive five-year broadcasting deal with Sky Sports.”

“Nobody should be under any illusion as to how complicated and difficult a challenge it will be to return Scottish football to normality. We will be liaising with Government on the best way forward and working to ensure that all of our 42 clubs are playing football again as soon as humanly possible.”

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