This season, the Scottish Premiership has delivered one of Europe’s most compelling title races, with the final stretch set to unfold after the league divides into two halves.
Hearts, Rangers, and Celtic are locked in a three-way battle for the championship, joined by Motherwell and Hibernian in the top half. Newly-promoted Falkirk appear secure in the top six as well, given that seventh-placed Dundee United would need a six-point swing and an eight-goal turnaround over two matches to overtake them.
The split—first introduced in the 2000-01 season—operates as follows.
**What is the split?**
After 25 years, the process should be familiar, though it still causes some confusion.
The split occurs after 33 rounds of fixtures, with the final first-phase matches scheduled for the weekend of April 11-12. By then, all 12 teams will have faced each other three times. From rounds 34 to 38, the top-six sides play each other once more, while the bottom-six teams do the same. This gives each team five additional games against their closest table rivals, shaping the title race, European qualification, and relegation battle.
It sounds simple—but sometimes it isn’t.
**The imperfect balancing act**
At the start of the season, the SPFL doesn’t know which teams will end up in which half of the table, so it determines home/away allocations based on the previous campaign. Before the split, some teams will have played 16 home games and 17 away, while others will have the opposite.
Hearts, Rangers, Motherwell, and Falkirk will each have 17 home games by round 33. Celtic and Hibernian will have played 16 at home. Here’s where it gets tricky: to balance derbies and title implications, two of Hearts’ away games will be at Easter Road and Celtic Park, while Rangers will travel to Celtic and Hearts after hosting those sides twice already this season.
However, Falkirk will get a third away trip to Tynecastle, even though they have already visited Hearts twice in the first 33 rounds. Celtic will host Falkirk at home (in addition to visits from Hearts and Rangers) despite Falkirk having already played at Celtic Park twice this term. Meanwhile, Rangers will have hosted Hibernian, Falkirk, and Motherwell only once each but will only have two home post-split games. Similarly, Motherwell have hosted Falkirk, Hibernian, and Rangers twice each but can expect only two home games against those opponents. The imbalance means Rangers will have hosted Falkirk just once by season’s end. This scheduling headache often leaves fans grumbling.
**Seventh with more points than sixth?**
Once the split takes effect after round 33, teams cannot move between halves. This can create odd-looking final tables. For instance, in 2023-24, the seventh-placed team finished with more points than fifth, and eighth ended up better than sixth.
**Bottom-six complications**
In the bottom half currently sit Dundee United, Dundee, Aberdeen, St Mirren, Kilmarnock, and Livingston. The team finishing last is relegated, while the 11th-placed side enters a two-legged playoff against a Championship club to retain their top-flight status. Four of these six teams will have played 16 home and 17 away league games by the split; Dundee United or Falkirk and Kilmarnock will have the opposite. One home-away discrepancy could involve Dundee United, who—like the Dundee derby—would get one other home fixture.