2020–21 in Scottish football

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Scotland 2020–21
Season information
Premiership champions	Rangers
Championship champions	Heart of Midlothian
League 1 champions	Partick Thistle
League 2 champions	Queen's Park
Scottish Cup winners
League Cup winners	St Johnstone
Challenge Cup winners	Tournament cancelled
← 2019–20	2021–22 →

The 2020–21 season is the 124th season of competitive football in Scotland. The domestic season began on 1 August 2020 with the first round of matches in the 2020–21 Scottish Premiership. The start of all other domestic competitions were delayed until at least October 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and games are being played behind closed doors due to Scottish Government restrictions.

Transfer deals

Due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the football calendar, the summer window for transfers in Scotland ran from 14 July to 5 October. Those dates used the full 12-week period permitted by FIFA, and the governing bodies also authorised clubs outside the Premiership to make loan signings during October 2020.

League competitions

Scottish Premiership

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish Premiership

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rangers  (C)	38	32	6	0	92	13	+79	102	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
2	Celtic	38	22	11	5	78	29	+49	77	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Hibernian	38	18	9	11	48	35	+13	63	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
4	Aberdeen	38	15	11	12	36	38	−2	56
5	St Johnstone	38	11	12	15	36	46	−10	45
6	Livingston	38	12	9	17	42	54	−12	45
7	Motherwell	38	12	9	17	39	55	−16	45
8	St. Mirren	38	11	12	15	37	45	−8	45
9	Dundee United	38	10	14	14	32	50	−18	44
10	Ross County	38	11	6	21	35	66	−31	39
11	Kilmarnock  (R)	38	10	6	22	43	54	−11	36	Qualification to Play-offs
12	Hamilton Academical  (R)	38	7	10	21	34	67	−33	31	Relegation to the Championship

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Scottish Championship

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish Championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Heart of Midlothian  (C) (P)	27	17	6	4	63	24	+39	57	Promotion to the Premiership
2	Dundee  (P) (O)	27	12	9	6	49	40	+9	45	Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-final
3	Raith Rovers	27	12	7	8	45	36	+9	43	Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final
4	Dunfermline Athletic	27	10	9	8	38	34	+4	39
5	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	27	8	12	7	36	31	+5	36
6	Queen of the South	27	9	5	13	38	51	−13	32
7	Arbroath	27	7	9	11	28	34	−6	30
8	Ayr United	27	6	11	10	31	37	−6	29
9	Greenock Morton  (O)	27	6	11	10	22	33	−11	29	Qualification for the Championship play-offs
10	Alloa Athletic  (R)	27	5	7	15	30	60	−30	22	Relegation to League One

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Scottish League One

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish League One

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Partick Thistle  (C) (P)	22	11	7	4	40	18	+22	40	Promotion to Scottish Championship
2	Airdrieonians	22	12	2	8	35	24	+11	38	Qualification to League One play-offs
3	Cove Rangers	22	10	6	6	28	18	+10	36
4	Montrose	22	9	6	7	33	33	0	33
5	Falkirk	22	9	5	8	29	26	+3	32
6	East Fife	22	10	3	9	30	33	−3	33
7	Peterhead	22	9	2	11	24	27	−3	29
8	Clyde	22	8	2	12	27	38	−11	26
9	Dumbarton  (O)	22	7	4	11	14	24	−10	25	Qualification to League One play-off finals
10	Forfar Athletic  (R)	22	4	5	13	18	37	−19	17	Relegation to Scottish League Two

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Scottish League Two

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish League Two

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Queen's Park  (C) (P)	22	17	3	2	43	13	+30	54	Promotion to Scottish League One
2	Edinburgh City	22	12	2	8	40	27	+13	38	Qualification to League One play-offs
3	Elgin City	22	12	2	8	39	28	+11	38
4	Stranraer	22	11	5	6	36	25	+11	38
5	Stirling Albion	22	10	6	6	32	22	+10	36
6	Stenhousemuir	22	7	5	10	25	35	−10	26
7	Albion Rovers	22	7	4	11	25	38	−13	25
8	Annan Athletic	22	5	7	10	25	27	−2	22
9	Cowdenbeath	22	5	6	11	15	32	−17	21
10	Brechin City  (R)	22	2	4	16	13	46	−33	10	Qualification to League Two play-off finals

Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Non-league football

Level 5

Main article: 2020–21 Highland Football League

Highland Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Promotion or qualification
1	Brora Rangers (C)	3	3	0	0	20	1	+19	9	3.00	Qualification for the Pyramid play-off
2	Fraserburgh	3	3	0	0	16	1	+15	9	3.00
3	Buckie Thistle	2	2	0	0	8	3	+5	6	3.00
4	Formartine United	2	2	0	0	7	2	+5	6	3.00
5	Inverurie Loco Works	2	2	0	0	6	2	+4	6	3.00
6	Keith	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	3	1.50
7	Rothes	2	1	0	1	2	5	−3	3	1.50
8	Huntly	3	0	2	1	3	4	−1	2	0.67
9	Lossiemouth	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2	1	0.50
10	Deveronvale	3	0	1	2	2	8	−6	1	0.33
11	Strathspey Thistle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
12	Clachnacuddin	1	0	0	1	2	4	−2	0	0.00
13	Nairn County	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2	0	0.00
14	Wick Academy	2	0	0	2	3	8	−5	0	0.00
15	Fort William	1	0	0	1	0	10	−10	0	0.00
16	Turriff United	2	0	0	2	2	18	−16	0	0.00

Source: Highland Football League BBC Sport Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champion

Main article: 2020–21 Lowland Football League

Lowland Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Kelty Hearts (C, O, P)	13	12	0	1	40	4	+36	36	2.77	Qualification for the Pyramid play-off
2	East Kilbride	12	9	2	1	32	6	+26	29	2.42
3	Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic	12	9	2	1	29	6	+23	29	2.42
4	BSC Glasgow	13	9	3	1	38	16	+22	30	2.31
5	East Stirlingshire	12	8	2	2	30	12	+18	26	2.17
6	Gala Fairydean Rovers	12	7	1	4	22	20	+2	22	1.83
7	Bo'ness United	10	5	3	2	22	13	+9	18	1.80
8	The Spartans	12	6	0	6	27	22	+5	18	1.50
9	University of Stirling	15	7	1	7	31	25	+6	22	1.47
10	Berwick Rangers	13	5	1	7	12	16	−4	16	1.23
11	Civil Service Strollers	14	4	5	5	14	16	−2	17	1.21
12	Caledonian Braves	14	4	1	9	22	28	−6	13	0.93
13	Gretna 2008	11	3	1	7	15	25	−10	10	0.91
14	Cumbernauld Colts	14	3	2	9	17	30	−13	11	0.79
15	Dalbeattie Star	10	1	2	7	12	24	−12	5	0.50
16	Edinburgh University	15	1	2	12	7	54	−47	5	0.33
17	Vale of Leithen	12	0	0	12	5	58	−53	0	0.00

Source: SLFL BBC Sport Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted

Level 6

Main article: 2020–21 East of Scotland Football League

East of Scotland Football League South of Scotland Football League West of Scotland Football League

Scottish clubs in Europe

Main article: 2020–21 UEFA Europa League

Summary

Due to scheduling pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic, qualifying rounds were played over just one tie instead of the usual two-leg format.

Club	Competitions	Started round	Final round	Coef.
Celtic	UEFA Champions League	First qualifying round	Second qualifying round	8.0
	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	Group stage
Rangers	UEFA Europa League	Second qualifying round	Round of 16	19.5
Motherwell	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Third qualifying round	3.0
Aberdeen	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Third qualifying round	3.5
Total				34.0
Average				8.5

* Season in progress

Celtic

UEFA Champions League

Celtic entered the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League in the first qualifying round.

QR1 18 August 2020	Celtic	6–0	KR	Glasgow
19:45 BST	Elyounoussi  6', 90+1' Adalsteinsson  17' (o.g.) Jullien  31' Taylor  46' Édouard  72'	BBC Sport		Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Sebastian Gishamer (Austria)

QR2 26 August 2020	Celtic	1–2	Ferencváros	Glasgow
19:45 BST	Christie  53'	BBC Sport	Siger  7' Nguen  75'	Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)

UEFA Europa League

Having lost in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, Celtic entered the Europa League in its third round of qualifying.

Qualifying

QR3 24 September 2020	Riga	0–1	Celtic	Riga
18:00 BST		BBC Sport	Elyounoussi  90'	Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Fábio Veríssimo

PO 1 October 2020	FK Sarajevo	0–1	Celtic	Zenica
19:00 BST		BBC Sport	Édouard  70'	Stadium: Bilino Polje Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)

Group stage

Group H 22 October 2020	Celtic	1–3	Milan	Glasgow
20:00 BST	Elyounoussi  76'	BBC Sport	Kruniclć  14' Brahim  42' Hauge  90+2'	Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)

Group H 29 October 2020	Lille	2–2	Celtic	Villeneuve-d'Ascq
17:55 GMT	Çelik  67' Ikoné  75'	BBC Sport	Elyounoussi  28', 32'	Stadium: Stade Pierre-Mauroy Attendance: 0 Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)

Group H 5 November 2020	Celtic	1–4	Sparta Prague	Glasgow
20:00 GMT	Griffiths  65'	BBC Sport	Julis  26', 45', 76' Krejci  90'	Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 0 Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

Group H 26 November 2020	Sparta Prague	4–1	Celtic	Prague
17:55 GMT	Hancko  26' Juliš  38', 80' Plavšić  90+4'	BBC Sport	Édouard  15'	Stadium: Stadion Letná Attendance: 0 Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany)

Group H 3 December 2020	Milan	4–2	Celtic	Milan
17:55 GMT	Çalhanoğlu  24' Castillejo  26' Hauge  50' Brahim  82'	BBC Sport	Rogic  7' Édouard  14'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 0 Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea

Group H 10 December 2020	Celtic	3–2	Lille	Glasgow
20:00 GMT	Jullien  21' McGregor  28' (pen.) Turnbull  75'	BBC Sport	Ikoné  24' Weah  71'	Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Fábio Veríssimo (Portugal)

Rangers

UEFA Europa League

Rangers entered the UEFA Europa League in the second round of qualifying.

Qualifying

QR2 17 September 2020	Lincoln Red Imps	0–5	Rangers	Gibraltar
16:00 BST		BBC Sport	Tavernier  21' Goldson  45+4' Morelos  67', 88' Defoe  84'	Stadium: Victoria Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Iwan Griffith (Wales)

QR3 24 September 2020	Willem II	0–4	Rangers	Tilburg
20:00 BST		BBC Sport	Tavernier  22' (pen.) Kent  25' Helander  55' Goldson  71'	Stadium: Koning Willem II Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Maurizio Mariani

PO 1 October 2020	Rangers	2–1	Galatasaray	Glasgow
19:45 BST	Arfield  52' Tavernier  59'	BBC Sport	Marcão  87'	Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)

Group stage

Group H 22 October 2020	Standard Liège	0–2	Rangers	Liège
17:55 BST		BBC Sport	Tavernier  19' (pen.) Roofe  90+2'	Stadium: Stade Maurice Dufrasne Attendance: 0 Referee: Jakob Kehlet (Denmark)

Group H 29 October 2020	Rangers	1–0	Lech Poznań	Glasgow
20:00 GMT	Morelos  68'	BBC Sport		Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Kristo Tohver (Estonia)

Group H 5 November 2020	Benfica	3–3	Rangers	Lisbon
17:55 GMT	Goldson  1' (o.g.) Silva Núñez  90+1'	BBC Sport	Gonçalves  24' (o.g.) Kamara  25' Morelos  51'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

Group H 26 November 2020	Rangers	2–2	Benfica	Glasgow
20:00 GMT	Arfield  7' Roofe  69'	BBC Sport	Tavernier  78' (o.g.) Pizzi  81'	Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Radu Petrescu (Romania)

Group H 3 December 2020	Rangers	3–2	Standard Liège	Glasgow
20:00 GMT	Goldson  39' Tavernier  45+1' (pen.) Arfield  63'	BBC Sport	Lestienne  6' Cop  40'	Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Bojan Pandzic

Group H 10 December 2020	Lech Poznań	0–2	Rangers	Poznań
17:55 GMT		BBC Sport	Itten  31' Hagi  72'	Stadium: Stadion Miejski Attendance: 0 Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez (Spain)

Knockout Stage

Last 32 18 February 2021	Antwerp	3–4	Rangers	Antwerp
20:00 GMT	Avenatti  45' Refaelov  45+8' (pen.) Hongla  66'	BBC Sport	Aribo  38' Barišić  59' (pen.), 90' (pen.) Kent  83'	Stadium: Bosuilstadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Georgi Kabakov

Last 32 25 February 2021	Rangers	5–2 (9–5 agg.)	Antwerp	Glasgow
17:55 GMT	Morelos  9' Patterson  46' Kent  55' Barišić  79' (pen.) Itten  90+2' (pen.)	BBC Sport	Refaelov  31' Lamkel Zé  57'	Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Pawel Raczkowski

Last 16 11 March 2021	Slavia Prague	1–1	Rangers	Prague
17:55 GMT	Stanciu  7'	BBC Sport	Helander  36'	Stadium: Sinobo Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (Romania)

Last 16 18 March 2021	Rangers	0–2 (1–3 agg.)	Slavia Prague	Glasgow
20:00 GMT		BBC Sport	Olayinka  14' Stanciu  74'	Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Orel Grinfeld (Israel)

Motherwell

UEFA Europa League

Motherwell entered the UEFA Europa League at the first qualifying round.

QR1 27 August 2020	Motherwell	5–1	Glentoran	Motherwell
19:45 BST	Lang  58' O'Donnell  72' Polworth  75' Watt  78' Long  87'	BBC Sport	McDaid  90' (pen.)	Stadium: Fir Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Bram van Driessche (Belgium)

QR2 17 September 2020	Coleraine	2–2 (0–3 pen)	Motherwell	Coleraine
19:30 BST	Doherty  49' (pen.), 90' (pen.)	BBC Sport	Lang  16' Watt  37'	Stadium: The Showgrounds Attendance: 0 Referee: Antti Munukka (Finland)
		Penalties
	Parkhill Kane McConaghie		O'Hara Watt O'Donnell

QR3 24 September 2020	Hapoel Be'er Sheva	3–0	Motherwell	Jerusalem
18:30 BST	Vitor  43' Josué  71' (pen.) Acolatse  82'	BBC Sport		Stadium: Teddy Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Serhiy Boyko (Ukraine)

Aberdeen

UEFA Europa League

Aberdeen entered the UEFA Europa League in the first qualifying round as fourth place finishers in the 2019–20 Scottish Premiership, as the 2019–20 Scottish Cup was not completed by the UEFA deadline.

QR1 27 August 2020	Aberdeen	6–0	NSÍ Runavík	Aberdeen
19:45 BST	Ferguson  36' Main  42' Hedges  50', 59', 87' (pen.) Hayes  63'	BBC Report		Stadium: Pittodrie Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ivar Orri Kristjansson (Iceland)

QR2 17 September 2020	Viking	0–2	Aberdeen	Stavanger
19:30 BST		BBC Sport	McCrorie  44' Hedges  78'	Stadium: Viking Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Filip Glova (Slovakia)

QR3 24 September 2020	Sporting CP	1–0	Aberdeen	Lisbon
20:00 BST	Tomás  7'	BBC Sport		Stadium: Estádio José Alvalade Attendance: 0 Referee: Nikola Dabanovic (Montenegro)

Scotland national team

Main article: Scotland national football team 2020–39 results

The Scotland national team qualified for their first major tournament in over two decades (since the 1998 World Cup) by winning through the Euro 2020 play-offs, defeating Israel and Serbia in penalty shootouts.

2020–21 Nations League B 4 September 2020	Scotland	1–1	Israel	Glasgow
	Christie  45' (pen.)	BBC Sport	Zahavi  73'	Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Slavko Vincic

2020–21 Nations League B 7 September 2020	Czech Republic	1–2	Scotland	Olomouc
	Pešek  11'	BBC Sport	Dykes  27' Christie  52' (pen.)	Stadium: Andrův stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük

Euro 2020 play-offs 8 October 2020	Scotland	0–0 (5–3 pen)	Israel	Glasgow
		BBC Sport		Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (Romania)
		Penalties
	McGinn McGregor McTominay Shankland McLean		Zahavi Bitton Weissman Abu Fani

2020–21 Nations League B 11 October 2020	Scotland	1–0	Slovakia	Glasgow
	Dykes  54'	BBC Sport		Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)

2020–21 Nations League B 14 October 2020	Scotland	1–0	Czech Republic	Glasgow
	Fraser  6'	BBC Sport		Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)

Euro 2020 play-offs 12 November 2020	Serbia	1–1 (4–5 pen)	Scotland	Belgrade
	Jovic  90'	BBC Sport	Christie  52'	Stadium: Red Star Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz
		Penalties
	Tadic Jovic Gudelj Katai Mitrovic		Griffiths McGregor McTominay McBurnie McLean

2020–21 Nations League B 15 November 2020	Slovakia	1–0	Scotland	Trnava
	Gregus  31'	BBC Sport		Stadium: Anton Malatinský Stadium Attendance: None Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

2020–21 Nations League B 18 November 2020	Israel	1–0	Scotland	Netanya
	Solomon  44'	BBC Sport		Stadium: Netanya Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Pawel Raczkowski (Poland)

World Cup qualification 25 March 2021	Scotland	2–2	Austria	Glasgow
	Hanley  71' McGinn  85'	BBC Sport	Kalajdzic  55', 80'	Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)

World Cup qualification 28 March 2021	Israel	1–1	Scotland	Tel Aviv
	Peretz  44'	BBC Sport	Fraser  56'	Stadium: Bloomfield Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Germany)

World Cup qualification 31 March 2021	Scotland	4–0	Faroe Islands	Glasgow
	McGinn  7', 53' Adams  60' Fraser  70'	BBC Sport		Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (Malta)

Friendly 2 June 2021	Netherlands	v	Scotland	Faro, Portugal
				Stadium: Estádio Algarve Attendance: 0

Friendly 6 June 2021	Luxembourg	v	Scotland	Luxembourg
				Attendance: 0

Euro 2020 14 June 2021	Scotland	v	Czech Republic	Glasgow
				Stadium: Hampden Park

Euro 2020 18 June 2021	England	v	Scotland	London
				Stadium: Wembley Stadium

Euro 2020 22 June 2021	Scotland	v	Croatia	Glasgow
				Stadium: Hampden Park

Deaths

Template:Scottish football seasons