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. This season marked the return of Rangers to the top division of Scottish football, four years after their liquidation process.
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.
Teams
The following teams have changed division since the 2015–16 season.To Premiership
Promoted from Scottish Championship- Rangers
From Premiership
- Dundee United
Stadia and locations
Personnel and kits
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aberdeen |  | | Adidas | Saltire Energy |
| Celtic |  | | New Balance | Dafabet |
| Dundee | | | Puma | McEwan Fraser Legal |
| Hamilton Academical | | | Adidas | SuperSeal, NetBet |
| Heart of Midlothian | |  | Puma | Save the Children |
| Inverness CT |  |  | Carbrini | McEwan Fraser Legal |
| Kilmarnock | | | Nike | QTS |
| Motherwell | | | Macron | Motorpoint |
| Partick Thistle | |  | Joma | Kingsford Capital Management |
| Rangers |  | | Puma | 32Red |
| Ross County | | | Macron | Stanley CRC Evans Offshore |
| St Johnstone | | | Joma | Alan Storrar Cars |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Celtic |  | Resigned | 15 May 2016 | Pre-season | | 20 May 2016 |
| Inverness CT | | Resigned | 20 May 2016 | Pre-season | | 30 May 2016 |
| Heart of Midlothian | | Signed by MK Dons | 2 December 2016 | 2nd | | 5 December 2016 |
| Rangers | | Resigned | 10 February 2017 | 3rd | | 13 March 2017 |
| Kilmarnock | | Signed by Bury | 15 February 2017 | 6th | | 15 February 2017 |
| Motherwell | | Sacked | 28 February 2017 | 10th | | 28 February 2017 |
| Dundee | | Sacked | 17 April 2017 | 11th | | 18 April 2017 |
a.Initially interim, made permanent 15 March 2017
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
League table
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 \ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Team \ Round | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Celtic | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Aberdeen | 7 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Rangers | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| St Johnstone | 8 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 9 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Partick Thistle | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Ross County | 11 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Kilmarnock | 10 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Motherwell | 4 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Dundee | 1 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Hamilton Academical | 5 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
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.Top six
Bottom six
Season statistics
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Liam Boyce | Ross County | 23 |
| 2 | Scott Sinclair | Celtic | 21 |
| 3 |  Moussa Dembélé | Celtic | 17 |
| 4 | Stuart Armstrong | Celtic | 15 |
| 4 | Louis Moult | Motherwell | 15 |
| 6 | Kris Doolan | Partick Thistle | 14 |
| 7 | Adam Rooney | Aberdeen | 12 |
| 7 | Leigh Griffiths | Celtic | 12 |
| 7 | Jamie Walker | Hearts | 12 |
| 10 | Kenny Miller | Rangers | 11 |
Hat-tricks
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Reference |
| Liam Boyce | Ross County | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 3–2 | 13 August 2016 | |
| Moussa Dembélé | Celtic | Rangers | 5–1 | 10 September 2016 | |
| Louis Moult4 | Motherwell | Hamilton Academical | 4–2 | 17 September 2016 | |
| Moussa Dembélé | Celtic | St Johnstone | 5–2 | 5 February 2017 | |
| Adam Rooney | Aberdeen | Motherwell | 7–2 | 15 February 2017 | |
| Andrew Considine | Aberdeen | Dundee | 7–0 | 31 March 2017 | |
| Scott Sinclair | Celtic | Heart of Midlothian | 5–0 | 2 April 2017 | |
| Liam Boyce4 | Ross County | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 4–0 | 28 April 2017 | |
| Scott Wright | Aberdeen | Partick Thistle | 6–0 | 21 May 2017 |
;Notes
- – Home ; – Away
- 4 Player scored 4 goals
Awards