The 2010–11 Scottish Premier League was the thirteenth season of the Scottish Premier League, the highest division of Scottish football. It commenced on 14 August 2010 and ended on 15 May 2011. The defending champions were Rangers who retained their championship with a 5–1 win at Kilmarnock on the final day of the season.
Teams
Twelve teams participated in the 2010–11 season, eleven of which competed in the 2009–10 season. Inverness Caledonian Thistle was promoted from the 2009–10 First Division.
Team changes Promoted from First Division to Premier League Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Relegated from Premier League to First Division Falkirk
Kits and shirt sponsors Team Kit manufacturer Kit sponsor Notes Aberdeen Nike Team Recruitment New home and away kits Celtic Nike Tennent's Lager Tennent's replaced Carling as shirt sponsorsNew home and away kits Dundee United Nike Calor Gas Calor Gas replaced Cabrini as shirt sponsors Hamilton Academical Nike Reid Furniture Heart of Midlothian Umbro Ūkio bankas New home and away kits Hibernian Puma McEwan Fraser Puma replaced Le Coq Sportif as kit manufacturerNew home and away kits Inverness CT Errea Orion Group New home and away kits Kilmarnock 1869 Verve.net New home and away kits Motherwell PumaMotherwell conclude new kit deal BBC Sport, 7 May 2010 Commsworld Puma replaced Canterbury as kit manufacturerNew home and away kits Rangers Umbro Tennent's Lager Tennent's replaced Carling as shirt sponsorsNew home, away and third kits St Johnstone Joma Taylor Wimpey Joma replaced Surridge as kit manufacturerNew home and away kits St Mirren Hummel Braehead Shopping Centre New home and away kits
Stadiums and Attendees
Team Stadium Capacity Total Highest Lowest AverageAberdeenPittodrie Stadium 22,199 173,460 15,307 5,955 9,129CelticCeltic Park 60,355 930,395 58,874 40,750 48,968Dundee UnitedTannadice Park 14,209 140,391 11,790 4,918 7,389Hamilton AcademicalNew Douglas Park 6,096 55,056 5,356 2,011 2,898Heart of MidlothianTynecastle Stadium 17,420 269,506 17,420 12,009 14,185HibernianEaster RoadThe capacity of Easter Road was increased during the 2010 close season as Hibernian opened a new East Stand 20,250 223,360 17,793 7,238 11,756Inverness CTCaledonian Stadium 7,500 85,998 7,547 3,241 4,526KilmarnockRugby Park 18,128 122,106 16,173 4,214 6,427MotherwellFir Park 13,742 99,838 9,716 3,324 5,255RangersIbrox Stadium 51,082 860,793 50,248 41,514 45,305St JohnstoneMcDiarmid Park 10,673 72,982 6,866 2,253 3,841St MirrenSt Mirren Park 8,016 84,545 6,118 2,701 4,450
Events 6 November – Celtic set a new SPL record for margin of victory in a single match with a 9–0 win against Aberdeen. 10 November – Edinburgh derby rivals Hearts and Hibs beat the Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers on the same day. Hearts beat Celtic 2–0 at Tynecastle, while Hibs produced a 3–0 win against Rangers at Ibrox. The Scotsman newspaper reported that this last happened in April 1972.
Referee strike
21 November – Scottish football referees vote to take strike action, threatening the fixtures scheduled for the weekend of 27 and 28 November. The Scottish Football Association sourced referees from other UEFA associations to cover the SPL matches, but all ten Scottish Football League matches were postponed due to the strike.
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 (either at home or away)
Matches 34–38 After 33 matches, the league split into two sections of six teams each, with teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches were determined upon the league table at the time of the split.
Top six
Bottom six
Statistics
Top scorers
RankScorerTeamGoals1 Kenny MillerMiller left Rangers to sign for Turkish club Bursaspor in January 2011Rangers212 Gary HooperCeltic203 David GoodwillieDundee United174 Nikica JelavićRangers165 Adam RooneyInverness CT15 Conor SammonSammon left Kilmarnock to sign for English club Wigan Athletic in January 2011Kilmarnock Anthony StokesStokes scored 1 goal for HibernianCeltic8 Michael HigdonSt Mirren149 Rudolf SkácelHeart of Midlothian1310 Nick BlackmanBlackman scored 10 goals for MotherwellAberdeen12
Hat-tricks
ScorerForAgainstDate Paul HartleyAberdeenHamilton Academical14 August 2010 Kenny MillerRangersHibernian22 August 2010 Rudi SkacelHeart of MidlothianSt Mirren23 October 2010 Anthony StokesCelticAberdeen6 November 2010 Gary HooperCelticAberdeen6 November 2010 Nick BlackmanMotherwellSt Johnstone10 November 2010 Kenny MillerRangersKilmarnock20 November 2010 Adam RooneyInverness CTHibernian20 November 2010 Nikica JelavićRangersMotherwell12 February 2011 Michael HigdonSt MirrenHamilton Academical2 April 2011 Jon DalyDundee UnitedMotherwell7 May 2011 Kyle LaffertyRangersKilmarnock15 May 2011
Awards
Monthly awards
MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthYoung Player of the MonthManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubAugust Walter Smith Rangers Kenny Miller Rangers James ForrestCelticSeptember Neil Lennon Celtic Kenny Miller Rangers Chris Maguire AberdeenOctober Terry ButcherInverness CT Steven Naismith Rangers Ki Sung-yueng CelticNovember Jim JefferiesHeart of Midlothian Alexei EremenkoKilmarnock David TempletonHeart of MidlothianDecember Mixu PaatelainenKilmarnock Marius ŽaliūkasHeart of Midlothian David TempletonHeart of MidlothianJanuary Neil Lennon Celtic Beram KayalCeltic Jamie Ness RangersFebruary Colin CalderwoodHibernian Marián KelloHeart of Midlothian Callum BoothHibernianMarch Peter HoustonDundee United David GoodwillieDundee United Johnny RussellDundee UnitedApril Neil LennonCeltic Allan McGregorRangers Jamie MurphyMotherwell
Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards AwardRecipientPlayer of the Season Emilio IzaguirreManager of the Season Mixu PaatelainenYoung Player of the Season David GoodwillieGoal of the Season Derek RiordanSave of the Season Marian KelloUnder-19 League Player of the Season Jason HoltBest Club Media RelationsMotherwellSPL Family ChampionsRangersBest Community InitiativeSt Mirren PFA Scotland Team of the Year Goalkeeper Allan McGregor(Rangers) Defenders Mark Wilson(Celtic) Marius Žaliūkas(Heart of Midlothian) Madjid Bougherra(Rangers) Emilio Izaguirre(Celtic) Midfielders Steven Naismith(Rangers) Beram Kayal(Celtic) Alexei Eremenko(Kilmarnock) Forwards David Goodwillie(Dundee United) Conor Sammon(Kilmarnock) Gary Hooper(Celtic)
Notes
References
External links 2010–11 Scottish Premier League ESPN Soccernet