SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP / 2022 - 23

Jul 20, 2022 20 minutes

At long last, it was welcome to have a proper title race again in 2021-22. Thankfully for us all, this campaign promises to be equally engrossing.

A rejuvenated Celtic pipped Rangers by four points, but the Hoops won’t be complacent after watching their great Old Firm rivals come within a whisker of Europa League triumph, then beat Hearts to lift the Scottish Cup.

For all the tit-for-tat spats that consume Glasgow’s football scene, it was refreshing to watch two fine teams slug it out. Now, both have strengthened over the summer months. Ange Postecoglou will have the total trust of Celtic’s hierarchy after working wonders in the transfer market, while Rangers will have the funds to back Giovanni van Bronckhorst after their extended run in continental competition. What’s more, both are guaranteed group stage football in Europe this year, and come next May there’s unlikely to be much separating the Old Firm again.

Hearts will hope to build on their own strong showing as a clear best of the rest last season. While the loss of Scotland centre-back John Souttar to Ibrox will hit hard, there are hopes that Australia’s World Cup-bound Kye Rowles can deputise.

Aberdeen and Hibs will be desperate to banish the memories of wretched campaigns, after bumper budgets didn’t equate to on-field success. Both put their faith in untested managers and were left counting the cost. It will be interesting to see if lessons have been learned, with squad overhauls at Pittodrie and Easter Road alike.

Dundee United and Motherwell capitalised on those clubs’ collapses, but they’ll do well to repeat the feat. That’s no slight on either side; instead, more an acceptance of the economic reality that each outfit work under.

Ross County, too, earned praise for shaking off early-season struggles to bag themselves a top-six berth. They must replace the goals of Regan Charles-Cook, who turned his back on interest from England and Scotland to move to Belgium with Eupen.

St Mirren and St Johnstone will look to kick on again – particularly the men from Perth who could so easily have been facing up to life in the Championship this term. Finally, the Premiership welcomes Kilmarnock back into the fold after Derek McInnes and his men edged out underdogs Arbroath for promotion. Killie gambled on keeping their first-team budget intact in the second tier, and it paid off. They won’t want to simply make up the numbers on their return…

AT THE LOWER LEVELS …

Dundee will hope for a short-lived stay in the Championship under new boss Gary Bowyer, but they won’t have it all their own way – as Arbroath proved last time out. It’s certainly worth keeping an eye on newly promoted pair Cove Rangers and Queen’s Park, too. League One is arguably the most exciting prospect in the SPFL, though, with a real dog-eat-dog campaign in store. Dunfermline and Falkirk need to get out of there fast, but they’re far from the only sides with a good shot of going up. League Two, meanwhile, welcomes Sean Connery’s formative club Bonnyrigg Rose, who deservedly won the Lowland League.