WEEKEND ROUND-UP

➡️ WILLIAM HILL PREMIERSHIP

Celtic moved level on points with Hearts at the top of the Premiership. Livingston were officially relegated following Kilmarnock’s win over Dundee United. Killie moved into 10th, one point ahead of St Mirren.

Falkirk 1-0 Motherwell
Hibernian 1-2 Celtic

Dundee 1-0 St Mirren
Kilmarnock 3-0 Dundee United
Livingston 2-2 Aberdeen

View the Premiership table here

➡️ WILLIAM HILL CHAMPIONSHIP

A season to forget for Ross County as they were relegated on Friday night. Airdrieonians will compete in the play-offs to try and stay up via the play-offs for the second successive year. Partick Thistle went the whole Championship campaign undefeated at home.

Ayr United 0-1 St Johnstone
Dunfermline Athletic 0-0 Arbroath
Greenock Morton 1-1 Airdrieonians
Partick Thistle 1-1 Queen’s Park
Raith Rovers 3-2 Ross County

View the final Championship table here

➡️ WILLIAM HILL LEAGUE ONE

Congratulations to Inverness for winning the league. Hamilton Academical will be participating in the play-offs with the League Two clubs. Had Hamilton not received their point deduction, they would have finished third in the league.

Alloa Athletic 1-4 Queen of the South
Cove Rangers 0-0 East Fife
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-1 Hamilton Academical
Montrose 0-2 Stenhousemuir
Peterhead 0-2 Kelty Hearts

View the final League One table here

➡️ WILLIAM HILL LEAGUE TWO

And congratulations to East Kilbride, who won League Two. The Spartans will face Clyde in the play-offs after finishing second. Edinburgh City make the trip to Brora on Saturday for the pyramid play-off.

Annan Athletic 1-1 Forfar Athletic
East Kilbride 5-0 Clyde
Edinburgh City 5-0 Dumbarton
Elgin City 0-1 Stranraer
Stirling Albion 2-2 The Spartans

View the final League Two table here

🏆 SCOTTISH GAS WOMEN’S SCOTTISH CUP SEMI-FINALS

Celtic will now face Rangers in the final at Hampden on Sunday, 31st May.

Celtic 3-2 Glasgow City (after extra time)
Rangers 2-0 Montrose

⚽️ THE LATE GOALS SOCIETY
(goals scored in the 85th minute or later)

Jayden Carbon (Ross County- 90+6’), Josh Mullin (Raith Rovers- 90+8’)

Kevin O’Hara (Hamilton Academical - 85’), Nicky Clark (Queen of the South - 85’), Liam Smith (Queen of the South - 87’), Lewis Moore (Kelty Hearts - 87’), Arran Pettifer (Kelty Hearts - 90+2’)

Robbie Foster (Stranraer - 88’)

Amy Gallacher (Celtic Women - 92’), Shannon McGregor (Celtic Women - 105+5’), Emily Gray (Glasgow City - 120’)

🔴 THE RED CARD CLUB

Jamie McGrath (Hibernian), Lewis Strapp (Airdrieonians), Akil Wright (Ross County), Kai Kirkpartrick (Dumbarton)

NEWS

👏 More SPFL April award winners were announced. - SPFL website

William Hill Premiership Player of the Month: Will Ferry (Dundee United)
William Hill League One Player of the Month: Adam Emslie (Cove Rangers)
William Hill League Two Player of the Month: Scott Williamson (Clyde)
Glen’s League One Manager of the Month: Darian MacKinnon (Hamilton Academical)
Glen’s League Two Manager of the Month: Jim Weir (Forfar Athletic)

🎟️ There will now be away fans at Sunday’s Celtic v Rangers Premiership game after the SPFL ruled that it would not overrule the risk assessment carried out by Celtic regarding refusing the Union Bears tickets.

Rangers have expressed their disappointment at the decision but have accepted their allocation. - Callum Loudon, STV

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👏 It was the PFA Scotland Player of the Year Awards last night. Here are the winners:

Premiership Player of the Year: Claudio Braga (Heart of Midlothian)
Young Player of the Year: Mikey Moore (Rangers)
Championship Player of the Year: Josh McPake (St Johnstone)
League One Player of the Year: Oli Shaw (Hamilton Academical)
League Two Player of the Year: John Robertson (East Kilbride)
SWPL Player of the Year: Nicole Kozlova (Glasgow City)
SWPL Young Player of the Year: May Cruft (Rangers)
SPFL Manager of the Year: Derek McInnes (Heart of Midlothian)
SWPL Manager of the Year: Eva Olid (Heart of Midlothian)

⚽️ Youssef Chermiti’s goal for Rangers against Celtic has been voted the Sky Sports Premiership Goal of the Season.

📺 Every SPFL play-off match will be broadcast live for the first time as part of a new SPFL live streaming offering via Premier Sports.

Any play-off game not being broadcast on BBC Scotland, BBC Alba, or Sky Sports will be available on the Premier Sports Player for £9.99 per match. This also includes the Pyramid League Two Play-Off between Brora Rangers and Edinburgh City. - SPFL website

🚔 Police are investigating the disorder that took place at the end of the Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Hamilton Academical match on Saturday. Inverness fans spilled onto the pitch after Ross Munro saved an added-time penalty to confront the travelling support. - Gregor White, Inverness Courier

🔴 Hamilton Academical announced that the winding-up petition against them had been withdrawn.

✍️ Speaking last night to Sky Sports, East Kilbride winger John Robertson has confirmed he has signed a pre-contract at Raith Rovers. - Sky Sports Scotland on X

🔚 Ross County striker Jordan White and goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw have announced they will be leaving Ross County following their relegation to League One. - Paul Chalk, The Press & Journal

🟡 Annan Athletic have released Joel Mumbongo, Paul McGowan, Gio Clarke and Tommy Goss. - Annan Athletic website

⚫️ Elgin City defender Lyall Booth will be leaving the club at the end of his contract this summer. - Elgin City website

⚽️ Scottish strikers were amongst the goals on the final day of the EFL Championship season.

George Hirst opened the scoring and provided an assist in Ipswich Town’s 3-0 win over QPR. Ipswich were promoted and will be playing in the Premier League next season.

Tommy Conway scored in Middlesbrough’s 2-2 away draw at Wrexham. They will now face Ross Stewart’s Southampton in the play-offs. Stewart scored on Saturday, too, in Southampton’s 3-1 win over Preston North End.

Not to be outdone, Oli McBurnie scored twice in Hull City’s 2-1 win over Norwich City to clinch the final play-off spot. Hull will take on Alex Neill’s Millwall, who finished third.

Lyndon Dykes played 78 minutes of Charlton’s 3-1 defeat away to Swansea City. The next time Dykes and the likes of fellow Championship international team mates such as Kenny McLean and Dom Hyam will next be playing a match will be in four weeks’ time when Scotland take on Curacao in a friendly.

⚽️ Kieron Bowie scored for already-relegated Hellas Verona in their 1-1 draw away at Juventus.

Lennon Miller started Udinese’s 2-0 win over Torino over the weekend. Che Adams missed the game due to a hamstring injury.

🤕 John McGinn missed Aston Villa’s home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last night with a tight hamstring. - Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Speaking to Sky Sports at the PFA Scotland awards last night, Steve Clarke said his Scotland World Cup squad is ‘more or less set in my mind’ and there is only one or two positions to fill.

🏆 Several non-league titles were decided further down the pyramid on Saturday.

Hill of Beath Hawthorn won the East of Scotland Premier Division.
Irvine Meadow won the West of Scotland Football League First Division.
Bellshill Athletic won the West of Scotland Football League Second Division.

🏆 Troon won the Strathclyde Demolition WoSFL Cup yesterday. A 93rd-minute winner won the cup for the Ayrshire club over Auchinleck Talbot.

🏟️ Lowland League club Tranent are looking to raise £200,000 to help fund their Scottish FA Bronze Licence. Without the licence, they would not be eligible for future promotion to the SPFL.

Tranent are looking to widen their pitch, which will require relocation of dugouts and floodlights, install a new 100-seat stand, a new standing area, and professional financial audits. - Tranent GoFundMe

🔴 Speaking of bronze licences, Hamilton Academical were awarded theirs by the Scottish FA. - Hamilton Academical website

🏥 Sir Alex Ferguson was taken to the hospital as a precaution after he took ill ahead of Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Liverpool yesterday. - Simon Stone, BBC

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 40

BOOK YOUR TEAM FOR THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL KICK-OFF WORLD CUP QUIZ

Monday 1st June 2026
The Clubhouse, Princes Square, Glasgow
Hosted by Rory Hamilton
Arrival from 6pm for a 6.45pm start
Maximum team size of five.

Join Nutmeg Magazine, Scotland’s Coefficient and SPFL Mediawatch in entering a team.

Every person gets a free copy of Nutmeg magazine.

Enter your team

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

➡️ WILLIAM HILL PREMIERSHIP

Heart of Midlothian v Rangers (5.30pm - live on Sky Sports Main Event)

Plus matches in the North of Scotland League, East of Scotland League, and West of Scotland Football League and South of Scotland Cups. View all fixtures on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported.
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🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #300: 
Greenock Morton last played in the top flight during the 1987/88 season

A quick thank you for reading The Scottish Football Kick-Off on what is the 300th daily email.

NEWS

👏 The SPFL started announcing April award winners yesterday. - SPFL website

Glen’s Premiership Manager of the Month: Martin O’Neill (Celtic)
Glen’s Championship Manager of the Month: Simo Valakari (St Johnstone)
William Hill Championship Player of the Month: Jamie Gullan (St Johnstone)
William Hill SPFL Goal of the Month: Kyrell Wilson (Falkirk)

⚫️ St Mirren have re-signed St Johnstone goalkeeper Ross Sinclair on another seven-day emergency loan. - St Mirren on X

🔵 Kilmarnock have also joined the emergency loan party and have signed Rangers goalkeeper Kieran Wright on a seven-day loan. - Kilmarnock website

We are down to the final spaces for The Scottish Football Kick-Off World Cup Quiz. Every participant gets a copy of Nutmeg Magazine with several prizes to be won.

Enter Here

🧮 With one league game left in the lower divisions, here are your permutations for the weekend.

Championship

There are a few permutations around relegation in the Championship tonight.

The main scenarios to be aware of are that Ross County will be relegated from the Championship if they lose away to Raith Rovers. They will likely be relegated with a draw too, given goal difference.

If Ross County wins and Airdrieonians don’t win, Airdrie will be relegated, and Ross County will go into the play-offs.

Greenock Morton could go down if Ross County wins and Airdrie beat Morton with a four-goal swing between the two games. Morton will at least be in the relegation play-offs should they lose to Airdrie. - view the Championship table

League One

Inverness Caledonian Thistle will win the League One title this weekend with a draw (superior goal difference) or a win at home to Hamilton Academical. Stenhousemuir have to beat Montrose away to have any hope of winning the league.

A win for Hamilton Academical will secure their League One status. Cove Rangers or East Fife, who play each other, would go into the relegation play-off. Cove are currently two points ahead of East Fife and just need a draw to secure their survival.

A draw would be enough for Hamilton should Cove Rangers beat East Fife. - view the League One table

League Two

East Kilbride needs one point at home against Clyde to win the League Two title. Should EK lose, The Spartans would need to win and have a six-goal swing to win on goal difference. - view the League Two table

🏆 It is the Women’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Semi-Finals this weekend at Hampden. Glasgow City take on Celtic tomorrow, with Rangers v Montrose on Sunday.

🎟️ Dunfermline Athletic have confirmed they have been allocated just under 17,000 tickets for the Scottish Cup Final against Celtic.

Tickets cost between £42 and £57 for adults and £27-£32 for concessions. - Dunfermline Athletic website

🆘 West of Scotland Football League Second Division club Caledonian Locomotives have issued an urgent plea for sponsorship after the withdrawal of agreed funding next season.

The club has said that they have “no agreed sponsors in place and insufficient funds to start next season” and that it would be “irresponsible at the present time for the club to commit to competing again next season”.

📝 Former Scotland international James Morrison has been named the permanent manager of West Bromwich Albion. - Dan Wheeler, BBC

🏟️ St Johnstone are reintroducing their Family Stand at McDiarmid Park next season. - St Johnstone website

📺 BBC Scotland’s extended interview with Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay, ‘Serie A Scots: Return to Napoli’ will be available on BBC iPlayer today from 10am.

🌎 The Panini World Cup sticker album was released this week with Scotland featured for the first time since 1998. Reuters estimate it will cost about £1000 to complete if you were just to buy packets of stickers. - Matthew Fulton, STV

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 43

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

➡️ William Hill Scottish Premiership

Livingston v Aberdeen (7.45pm)

➡️ William Hill Championship

Ayr United v St Johnstone (7.45pm)
Dunfermline Athletic v Arbroath (7.45pm)
Greenock Morton v Airdrieonians (7.45pm)
Partick Thistle v Queen’s Park (7.45pm)
Raith Rovers v Ross County (7.45pm)

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ON TV THIS WEEKEND

📺 Friday

• Livingston v Aberdeen (Premier Sports: 7.45pm)

• Raith Rovers v Ross County (BBC Scotland: 7.45pm)

• A View From The Terrace (BBC Scotland: 10.30pm)

📺 Saturday

• Celtic Women v Glasgow City (BBC Alba: 12.30pm)

• Sportscene: Premiership Highlights (BBC Scotland: 7.15pm)

📺 Sunday

• Hibernian v Celtic (Sky Sports Main Event: 12pm)

• Rangers Women v Montrose Women (BBC One Scotland: 1.30pm)

• Sportscene: Premiership Highlights (BBC Scotland: 7.15pm)

  ---

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🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member.
📱 Latest subscriber number: 2845
🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #299: 
John McGlynn has been nominated for the PFA Scotland SPFL Manager of the Year for the third successive season.

LATEST SCOTTISH FOOTBALL RESULTS

➡️ ScottishPower SWPL 1

Glasgow City 1 - 1 Celtic
Rangers 1 - 0 Hibernian

plus matches in the Midlands League, East of Scotland League, and West of Scotland League. View all results on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

NEWS

🔝 Rangers and Glasgow City are four points behind SWPL 1 leaders Hearts.

Rangers beat Hibernian 1-0 thanks to a Katie Wilkinson penalty.

In the evening’s other game, Glasgow City lost pace on Hearts by only drawing 1-1 with Celtic. City, who had led the league for much of the season, had been 1-0 up and played the whole second half against 10 players but couldn’t find the all-important winner. - view the SWPL 1 table

🏅 The PFA Scotland Manager of the Year nominees are in. - PFA Scotland website

SPFL Manager of the Year

Derek McInnes (Heart of Midlothian)
Gary Naysmith (Stenhousemuir)
John McGlynn (Falkirk)

SWPL Manager of the Year

Eva Olid (Heart of Midlothian)
Gary Holt (Partick Thistle)
Leanne Ross (Glasgow City)

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⚫️ Elgin City club captain Matthew Cooper is to leave the League Two club at the end of his contract this summer in pursuit of more regular football. - Elgin City website

🏟️ Ross County will be making the Global Energy Stadium a fully cashless stadium from next season. - Ross County website

🍺 The Scottish FA and M&S Food have partnered to create Scotland House in Boston for the World Cup. - Scottish FA website

🍺 Club Academy Scotland (CAS) Finals have been confirmed at various age levels. Check out all the details on the Scottish FA website.

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 44

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

No senior Scottish football fixtures today 👎

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported.
📱 Latest subscriber number: 2844
🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #298: 
The 2018-19 League One season was the last time all four senior Angus clubs (Arbroath, Brechin City, Forfar Athletic & Montrose) were last in the same division.

LATEST SCOTTISH FOOTBALL RESULTS

➡️ ScottishPower SWPL 1

Heart of Midlothian 3 - 0 Partick Thistle

➡️ Scottish FA Youth Cup Final

Queen’s Park 0 - 4 Heart of Midlothian

plus matches in the North of Scotland League, East of Scotland League, and West of Scotland League. View all results on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

NEWS

🔝 Hearts have moved five points clear at the top of the ScottishPower SWPL 1. Glasgow City and Rangers will look to close the gap tonight. - view the SWPL 1 table

🏆 It was Scottish FA Youth Cup glory for the Under-18 Hearts side as they beat Queen’s Park 4-0 at Hampden last night.

It was the first time the Edinburgh club had lifted the trophy since 2000.

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🏥 St Mirren’s Jonah Ayunga suffered an ACL injury in Saturday’s defeat to Livingston. - St Mirren website

⚽️ George Hirst was a 75th-minute substitute for Ipswich Town, and Ross Stewart was an 81st-minute substitute for Southampton last night as the two clubs played out a 2-2 draw. Ipswich are now in pole position to gain automatic promotion back to the Premier League with one game remaining.

Below is a comparison table across all competitions of all the main Scottish strikers plying their trade in the EFL Championship this season.

🚌 Scotland World Cup ticket holders will receive free shuttles to Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium for Scotland v Brazil. - Dan Sheldon, The Athletic

⭐️ Celtic’s Daizen Maeda has been named the star man in the SPFL Team of the Week. - SPFL website

❓ There are only three spaces for teams left for The Scottish Football Kick-Off World Cup Quiz at The Clubhouse, Glasgow, on Monday, 1st June.

If you are one of those who have been thinking it sounds like a fun night (it will be), and you’ll get around to asking some folk to make a team, then get on the group chats now and get your team entered before it is too late.

Hosted by none other than commentator Rory Hamilton, every person participating in the quiz will receive a copy of the excellent Nutmeg Magazine. - enter your team here

⚫️ St Mirren CEO Keith Lasley has been named the SPFL CEO of the Year by the Football Business Awards. He will find out if he has won the overall CEO of the Year next month.

The SPFL Trust and Scottish FA are also up for awards. - Football Business Awards website

👏 There were Scottish winners at the British Sports Journalism Awards this week.

BBC Scotland’s Romanov: Czar of Hearts podcast won Audio Documentary of the Year and Audio Podcast (Limited Series) of the Year.

Johnathan Norcroft was named SJA Football Journalist of the Year.

Ally McCoist was named SJA Pundit of the Year.

🎟️ And if you fancy winning tickets to McCoist & MacAulay Live World Cup Special at the SEC Armadillo on Friday, 15 May? Both The Hampden Roar Podcast and Football Park Scotland are running social media competitions to win a pair.

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 45

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

➡️ ScottishPower SWPL 1

Glasgow City v Celtic (7pm - live on Sky Sports)
Rangers v Hibernian (8pm)

plus matches in the Midlands League, East of Scotland League, and West of Scotland League. View all fixtures on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported.
📱 Latest subscriber number: 2843
🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #297: 
Dundee hold the record for most Scottish FA Youth Cup Final appearances without winning the trophy - four.

NEWS

🏅 The PFA Scotland Premiership, SWPL 1, and Young Player of the Year nominees have been announced. - PFA Scotland website

PFA Scotland Premiership Player of the Year Nominees

Claudio Braga (Heart of Midlothian)
Elijah Just (Motherwell)
Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian)
Tawanda Maswanhise (Motherwell)

PFA Scotland SWPL1 Player of the Year Nominees

Georgia Timms (Heart of Midlothian)
Katie Wilkinson (Rangers)
Lee Gibson (Glasgow City)
Nicole Kozlova (Glasgow City)

PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year Nominees

Barney Stewart (Falkirk)
Findlay Marshall (Arbroath - on loan from Aberdeen)
Luke Graham (Dundee)
Mikey Moore (Rangers)

⚽️ Voting for the Sky Sports Scottish Premiership Goal of the Season has opened.

On the shortlist are Marko Lazetic (Aberdeen), Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor, Sebastian Tounekti, and Hyun-Jun Yang (Celtic), Ethan Hamilton (Dundee), Zac Sapsford (Dundee United), Alexandros Kyziridis (Hearts), Kyrell Wilson (Falkirk), Ben Brannan (Kilmarnock), and Jayden Meghoma and Youssef Chermiti (Rangers). - View the goals and vote on the Sky Sports website

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🔵 St Johnstone have already started relaying their McDiarmid Park pitch ahead of their return to the Premiership next season. - Eric Nicolson, The Courier

📝 Stenhousemuir defender Kinlay Bilham has signed a one-year contract extension. - Stenhousemuir FC website

📺 While many thought the Greenock Morton v Airdrieonians game would be the BBC Scotland pick on Friday night, the cameras are instead headed to Kirkcaldy for Raith Rovers v Ross County.

The Staggies need to win to give them any chance of staying up via the relegation play-offs. - SPFL website

🏆 Queen’s Park take on Hearts in the Scottish FA Youth Cup Final tonight at Hampden. The game is live on BBC Scotland. The Jambos are looking to win the trophy for the fourth time, while this is the Spiders’ first appearance in the final. - Scottish FA website

🚔 The police made five arrests at the Edinburgh derby on Sunday. - Keiran Fleming, STV

⚽️ Lennon Miller was a 66th-minute substitute in Udinese’s 3-3 draw with Lazio last night. It was some final 10 minutes or so, with four goals scored from the 80th minute onwards.

📚 Scottish football commentator and Hampden Roar podcast host Andy Bargh has written a book about Scotland’s return to the World Cup. A Long Time Coming: The Inside Story of Scotland’s Return to the World Cup features insight and stories from 12 of the players who helped us qualify. The book is officially released on Monday, 4th May. - You can pre-order it here

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 46

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

➡️ Scottish FA Youth Cup Final

Queen’s Park v Heart of Midlothian (7.20pm - live on BBC Scotland)

plus matches in the North of Scotland League, East of Scotland League, and West of Scotland League. View all fixtures on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported.
📱 Latest subscriber number: 2840
🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #296: 
Stirling Albion last played in the top flight in the 1967/68 season

WEEKEND ROUND-UP

➡️ WILLIAM HILL PREMIERSHIP

Hearts now lead Celtic by three points and Rangers by four points. Four games left to go. Aberdeen should now be safe from any relegation fears. Livingston picked up only their second league win of the season. They are nine points behind Kilmarnock, who remain in 11th.

Celtic 3-1 Falkirk
Hibernian 1-2 Heart of Midlothian
Rangers 2-3 Motherwell

Aberdeen 1-0 Kilmarnock
Dundee United 3-0 Dundee
St Mirren 0-2 Livingston

View the Premiership table here

➡️ WILLIAM HILL CHAMPIONSHIP

With one game to go, Ross County can only finish ninth at best. They are one point behind Airdrieonians and three behind Greenock Morton. Morton host Airdrie on the final day. Ross County are away to Raith Rovers. Dunfermline Athletic secured the final play-off spot.

Airdrieonians 2-1 Ayr United
Arbroath 0-0 Partick Thistle
Queen’s Park 0-2 Dunfermline Athletic
Ross County 4-0 Greenock Morton
St Johnstone 2-0 Raith Rovers

View the Championship table here

➡️ WILLIAM HILL LEAGUE ONE

Given their goal difference advantage, Inverness Caledonian Thistle need one point at home to Hamilton to win the title. However, Accies need a win to avoid the relegation play-offs. The two teams above them, Cove Rangers and East Fife, play each other on the final matchday on Saturday.

East Fife 1-1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Hamilton Academical 3-1 Peterhead
Kelty Hearts 0-2 Cove Rangers
Queen of the South 2-2 Montrose
Stenhousemuir 1-0 Alloa Athletic

View the League One table here

➡️ WILLIAM HILL LEAGUE TWO

Just like League One, the League Two title is going down to the final day. And like Inverness, East Kilbride need one point at home to Clyde to win the title. EK are three points clear after The Spartans dropped points at home to Elgin. Forfar Athletic have secured the final play-off spot with a game to spare.

Clyde 3-1 Annan Athletic
Dumbarton 0-1 East Kilbride
Forfar Athletic 4-0 Edinburgh City
Stranraer 1-1 Stirling Albion
The Spartans 1-1 Elgin City

View the League Two table here

➡️ SCOTTISHPOWER SWPL 1

Will Hearts do the men’s and women’s title double? Hearts are two points clear of Glasgow City and four ahead of Rangers. Aberdeen will be playing in this season’s relegation play-off.

Hibernian Women 1-0 Celtic Women
Partick Thistle 0-2 Glasgow City
Rangers 1-2 Heart of Midlothian

Aberdeen 0-1 Montrose
Hamilton Academical 0-3 Motherwell

View the SWPL 1 table here

⚽️ THE LATE GOALS SOCIETY
(goals scored in the 85th minute or later)

Blair Spittal (Heart of Midlothian- 86’), Emmanuel Longelo (Motherwell - 90’)

Charlie McArthur (Airdrieonians - 85’)

Ewan Simpson (Hamilton Academical - 86’), Billy McKay (Inverness Caledonian Thistle - 89’)

Stuart Morrison (Forfar Athletic - 88’), Charlie Maxwell (Annan Athletic - 89’)

Mason Blyth-Clark (Motherwell Women - 86’), Calliste Brookshire (Rangers Women - 90+1’)

🔴 THE RED CARD CLUB

Raphael Sallinger (Hibernian), Felix Passlack (Hibernian), Jordan Stuart (Stranraer), Shelley Campbell (Hamilton Academical Women),

NEWS

🟢 Liam Scales and Luke McCowan have signed new deals at Celtic. The reaction to the news could be described as mixed, at best.

Scales has signed a two-year contract extension, with his contract now due to end in 2030. McCowan is now signed until 2028. - BBC

🎟️ It was hard to miss the news on Friday, but Celtic refused Rangers an away allocation for their visit to Parkhead next month.

Celtic had asked Rangers not to allocate seats to the Union Bears. This was refused, and as a result, no away fans will be in attendance. - Callum Loudon, STV

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📝 Queen’s Park manager Sean Crighton has signed a two-year contract extension. - Queen’s Park FC website

⚫️ St Mirren brought in St Johnstone goalkeeper Ross Sinclair on an emergency loan to face Livingston at the weekend. - St Mirren FC website

📝 Young St Mirren goalkeeper Grant Tamosevicius has signed a new contract after making his debut in the Scottish Cup Semi-Final against Celtic. - St Mirren FC website

🌎 In a BBC article about Scotland fans going to the World Cup, or not going as the case may be for some, there was a quote from Scottish FA President Mike Mulraney.

He said, “Our job isn’t to go to America and tell them how to do their business; the presumption of that is not something I’m comfortable with.

“Our job is how we mitigate the costs for our fans, and that’s something we’re working on.”

What the article fails to mention is that Mike Mulraney is also the chairman of the FIFA Finance Committee.

It will be interesting to see the plans for mitigating costs, given that the vast majority of those going will have already booked everything. - Chris McLaughlin, BBC

🎟️ In better World Cup news, Scotland fans have set up a World Cup ticket exchange website as a way of combating FIFA’s fees on the resale market.

There are no fees or commissions. The website is also raising money for the Tartan Army Sunshine Appeal in the process. - Ticket-Exchange website

⚽️ Andy Robertson scored with a great finish in Liverpool’s 3-1 home win over Crystal Palace.

Tommy Conway scored twice in Middlesbrough’s 5-1 win over Watford.

Liam Lindsay also scored a double as his Preston North End side beat Sheffield United 3-2.

⚽️ Scott McTominay was on the scoresheet again for Napoli at the weekend. He scored the opener in their 4-0 win over Cremonese. It was quite the game for McTominay, who also missed a penalty and played a massive role in Kevin De Bruyne’s goal by keeping the ball in play with a bicycle kick.

🏆 Scott McKenna has won the Croatian League Title with Dinamo Zagreb.

👏 Kenny McLean has been named the Norwich City Player of the Year.

🔵 Montrose chairman John Crawford is to step down at the end of the season after 10 years in the role. - Montrose FC website

🏆 Largs Thistle will face Auchinleck Talbot in the final of the Scottish Communities Cup at Broadwood.

📄 Drumchapel United, Renfrew FC, and Largs Thistle have all had their applications for Scottish FA Licences approved. The clubs will be eligible to play in the Lowland League West if they finish high enough in the West of Scotland Football League Premier Division. They will also get entry to the Scottish Cup.

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 47

BOOK YOUR TEAM FOR THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL KICK-OFF WORLD CUP QUIZ

Monday 1st June 2026
The Clubhouse, Princes Square, Glasgow
Hosted by Rory Hamilton
Arrival from 6pm for a 6.45pm start
£10 per person - maximum team size of five.

Join Nutmeg Magazine, Scotland’s Coefficient and SPFL Mediawatch in entering a team.

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SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

Matches in the Midlands League, West of Scotland Football League and South of Scotland League. View all fixtures on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

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Welcome to The Saturday Kick-Off email - a special bonus email for you as a paid subscriber. The free daily Kick-Off email will be back on Monday.

Safe travels to all those heading to a game this weekend.

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“The business end of the season”, “The run-in”, “Players are already on the beach”, “Playing for contracts”, “Just want the season to end” - are there any cliches to throw in the mix at this time of the season?

When I am pulling The Scottish Football Kick-Off, I on occasion find myself falling down a rabbit hole, especially when digging out new Scottish football facts.

Allow me to take you down one of the rabbit holes I have been on.

While there is an element of truth that, for some clubs, it is now about preparing for next season, there is so much still to be decided in Scottish football. Last year, I put together the Scottish Football Almanac. I will be doing the same again this year.

I don’t know if you are like me, but I find it fascinating looking at the journeys of clubs that I have no affiliation with.

So, last weekend I found myself looking at league tables from yesteryear. Some clubs, Elgin City, I am looking at you, haven’t moved in the last 25 years. Some have seen every division in the SFL/SPFL, Hamilton Accies, I am looking at you.

Join me for a trip down memory lane.

15 Years Ago - 2010/11 Season

SPL

The tail-end of the SPL era. Rangers won their third title in a row in Walter Smith’s last season as Rangers manager.

Only three of the current Premiership teams, Falkirk, Dundee, and Livingston, didn’t feature.

First Division

Five of the current Championship 10 were playing in the same tier 15 years ago.

Cowdenbeath have dropped three tiers over the past 15 years. This was the last time Stirling Albion have featured in the second tier.

Second Division

Read more

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #295: 
Tommy Sloan has been in charge of Auchinleck Talbot for exactly 1000 games.

NEWS

👏 The shortlists for the annual PFA Scotland Player of the Year awards have been announced. - PFA Scotland website

PFA Championship Player of the Year

Andrew Tod (Dunfermline Athletic)
Ben Stanway (Partick Thistle)
Jamie Gullan (St Johnstone)
Josh McPake (St Johnstone)

PFA League One Player of the Year

Alfie Stewart (Inverness Caledonian Thistle)
Keiran Shanks (Peterhead)
Oli Shaw (Hamilton Academical)
Ross Taylor (Stenhousemuir)

PFA League Two Player of the Year

John Robertson (East Kilbride)
Lewis Reid (Stranraer)
Mark Stowe (The Spartans)
Wullie Gibson (Annan Athletic)

⚫️ St Mirren confirmed that goalkeeper Ross Mullen suffered a thigh muscle tear during Sunday’s Scottish Cup Semi-Final defeat to Celtic. He will be out for three months as he recovers from surgery.

The Buddies have brought in St Johnstone goalkeeper Ross Sinclair on an emergency loan, with first-choice goalkeeper Shamal George also out injured. - St Mirren website

🟢 James Forrest has signed a one-year contract extension at Celtic. The 34-year-old made his debut 16 years ago. - Celtic website

The Nutmeg World Cup special offers an unparalleled 196-page blend of quality writing, fine design and wonderful photography. Offering nostalgic tales from new angles and unique insight on modern times it is the perfect escape from the everyday before the tournament gives us many more. Click on the link to get your copy.

Get your copy

🏆 The Scottish FA has confirmed that the 2025/2026 Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup Final will kick off at 3pm on Saturday, 23 May. - Scottish FA website

🟢 Josh Mulligan is back in training for Hibernian after a lengthy injury lay-off. - Patrick McPartlin, Hibs Observer

⚽️ Falkirk will be without goalkeeper Scott Bain and defenders Liam Henderson and Filip Lissah for tomorrow’s trip to Celtic Park. - Gavin McCafferty, The Herald

🧮 With just two games left in the lower divisions, here are your permutations for the weekend.

Ross County will be relegated from the Championship if they lose at home to Greenock Morton, and Airdrieonians beat Ayr United at home.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle will win the League One title this weekend if they match or better Stenhousemuir’s result. Inverness are away to East Fife. Stenhousemuir are at home to Alloa Athletic.

If Kelty Hearts fail to win at home to Cove Rangers tomorrow, they will be relegated to League Two. They will also be relegated if Hamilton Academical win at home to Peterhead.

East Kilbride will win the League Two title if they beat Dumbarton and The Spartans lose at home to Elgin City.

🌎 The Panini World Cup sticker album is now available to pre-order. - Panini website

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 50

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

➡️ William Hill Championship

St Johnstone v Raith Rovers (7.45pm)

➡️ SWPL 1

Hibernian v Celtic (7pm)
Partick Thistle v Glasgow City (7.35pm)
Rangers v Heart of Midlothian (4.30pm)

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ON TV THIS WEEKEND

📺 Friday

• Rangers Women v Heart of Midlothian Women (Sky Sports: 4.30pm)

• Partick Thistle Women v Glasgow City (BBC Alba: 7.35pm)

• St Johnstone v Raith Rovers (BBC Scotland: 7.45pm)

• A View From The Terrace (BBC Scotland: 10.30pm)

📺 Saturday

• Celtic v Falkirk (Sky Sports Football: 5.30pm)

• Sportscene: Premiership Highlights (BBC Scotland: 8pm)

📺 Sunday

• Dundee United v Dundee (Premier Sports 1: 2pm)

• Hibernian v Heart of Midlothian (Sky Sports Main Event: 4.30pm)

• Sportscene: Premiership Highlights (BBC Scotland: 7.15pm)

  ---

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Don’t want to become a paid subscriber, but want to support? You can ‘buy me a pint’ via the button below. (I know the normal thing to say here is ‘buy me a coffee,’ but I’ll be honest, I don’t drink coffee.)

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🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
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📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #294: 
Alloa Athletic won promotion to the top flight of Scottish football for only the second time in the 1938-39 season but the season was curtailed after five games due to the Second World War. The leagues were re-organised post-war and Alloa were placed in the second division. They haven't been promoted to the top flight since.

NEWS

🔵 James Tavernier will leave Rangers at the end of the season after more than a decade at the club. - Andy Campbell, BBC

🏥 Hearts defender Oisin McEntee has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. He joins Tomas Magnusson and Ageu in missing the title run-in. - Joel Sked, Hearts Standard

📝 Dumbarton manager Frank McKeown and his backroom staff have signed contract extensions. - Dumbarton FC website

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⚽️ Greg Docherty was on the scoresheet for Charlton Athletic last night. He opened the scoring against Ipswich Town, but the London club lost 2-1. George Hirst played the final 12 minutes for the Tractor Boys.

🏟️ Ross County are set to make £300,000 worth of improvements to their stadium this summer. - Andrew Henderson, Ross-shire Journal

🔵 Following the news that Kerr Waddell will be leaving Montrose, the Links Park club have also announced that defender Evan Towler will be departing. - Montrose FC website

🚶🏻‍♂️ Craig Ferguson has reached the halfway mark of his 3000 mile walk across the United States.

🗓️ Another date for the diary. Next season’s SWPL fixtures will be announced on Friday, 26 June at 12 noon.

📺 All the Scottish Youth FA finals taking place this weekend will be streamed live on their YouTube channel. The action begins on Friday night with the Under-18s final as East Kilbride take on Hampden Football Club.

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 51

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

No senior Scottish football fixtures today 👎

Hosted by none other than commentator Rory Hamilton, expect general World Cup knowledge rounds, a Scotland at the World Cup round, and much more.

Last five teams remaining.

Find out more & enter a team here

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported.
📱 Latest subscriber number: 2814
🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #293: 
Sunday's Scottish Cup Semi-Final between Celtic and St Mirren was the highest scoring semi since Rangers beat Morton 7-2 in the 1896/97 season.

LATEST SCOTTISH FOOTBALL RESULTS

➡️ William Hill Championship

Dunfermline Athletic 0 - 2 St Johnstone

plus matches in the North of Scotland League, East of Scotland League, and West of Scotland League. View all results on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

NEWS

🔵 Congratulations to St Johnstone on winning the William Hill SPFL Championship last night.

Their 2-0 win over Dunfermline Athletic sealed the title and a return to the Premiership at the first time of asking.

Reece McAlear and Ruari Paton got the goals. - view the Championship table

⚽️ Both Ross Stewart and Oli McBurnie were amongst the goals again in the EFL Championship last night.

Stewart scored Southampton’s equaliser in their 2-2 draw with Bristol City. McBurnie also scored an equaliser in Hull City’s 2-2 draw with Leicester City.

🗓️ A date for the diary. Next season’s SPFL fixtures will be announced on Thursday, 18 June at 12 noon.

🔴 Hamilton Academical are disputing a winding-up petition that has been served on behalf of former Director of Football Gerry Strain. - Hamilton Academical website

🗣️ Ross County Chief Executive Steven Ferguson told a fans forum that the club will be looking to reduce the size of their squad next season, regardless of what division they are in, and will introduce KPIs to the football department, which haven’t been in place before.

He told fans: “We’ve never done that before, which might seem strange, but it is there across every other department of the club.

“I don’t think we’re the only club that doesn’t do it on the football side. Our model was that the manager has the final say on the football department, and the rest of the club’s responsibility is to support that.

“That served us well for 20 years but our takeaway from the discussion is that we need to KPI our football department.” - Paul Chalk, The Press & Journal

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💜 Kelty Hearts Chairman Jordan Gardner has issued a statement and reasoning as to why the club are temporarily pausing their Under-17 and Under-19 Academy.

The three main reasons are that the academy was hastily set up and not fully compliant. It has had extremely poor financial management, and it doesn’t have a proper academy director. - Kelty Hearts website

📝 Partick Thistle’s Cammy Logan has signed a one-year contract extension after the club triggered the option to extend. - Partick Thistle website

🔵 Montrose defender Kerr Waddell will leave the club at the end of the season after seven years at Links Park. - Montrose FC website

🏅 Hibernian Women’s Rosie Livingstone has won the SWPL 1 Player of the Month award for March. Natalie Bandura won the SWPL 2 award following her performances for The Spartans. - SWPL website

👏 Falkirk FCF Ladies are to become Falkirk FC Women from next season as they become an official part of the club. Up until now, the side has been under the auspices of the Falkirk Football Community Foundation. - Falkirk FC website

🌎 Another FIFA World Cup ticket drop is taking place in their ‘Last-Minute Sales Phase’. Tickets for all 104 games will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from 4pm UK time tomorrow.

As we know, FIFA has come under increased scrutiny about its ticketing practices, and The Athletic has been reporting that sales for the USA’s opening game are lagging significantly behind games such as Iran v New Zealand. - FIFA website

🍺 Fife pubs are to get extended opening hours during the World Cup. - Clare Buchanan, Dunfermline Press

🍺 More than 50 North Ayrshire pubs have applied for extended hours during the World Cup. - BBC

🗣️ The Lowland League issued a statement regarding the news that Linlithgow Rose will not compete in this season’s Pyramid Play-Off.

As part of the statement, they said: “To safeguard the integrity of the pyramid and fulfil our obligations within Scottish football, the SLFL Board will now look to develop a comprehensive plan to ensure, as far as possible, that we consistently have eligible, Bronze licensed clubs ready to contest the play-off in future seasons.

As part of this, the Board will implement a proactive framework designed to guide our member clubs towards achieving and maintaining the necessary Scottish FA Club Licensing criteria well in advance of the season’s end.” - Lowland League website

🏟️ East of Scotland club Arniston Rangers have been the victims of more vandalism at Newbyres Park. This time, their pie hut was broken into, stealing money, equipment, and stock. Previous damage included vandals smashing their dugouts, a £7,000 storage container being set on fire, and doors being damaged.

The club has set up a GoFundMe to help cover the costs of repairs and install CCTV.

⚽️ Former Scotland international Callum Paterson was named in the EFL League Two Team of the Season over the weekend after starring for high-flying MK Dons.

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 52

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

Matches in the Midlands League, East of Scotland League, West of Scotland Football League, South of Scotland League and cups. View all fixtures on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

Hosted by none other than commentator Rory Hamilton, expect general World Cup knowledge rounds, a Scotland at the World Cup round, and much more.

Last five teams remaining.

Find out more & enter a team here

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported.
📱 Latest subscriber number: 2814
🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #292: 
Gala Fairydean applied to join the Scottish Football League in 1966, 1994, 2000 and 2002, but were unsuccessful on each occasion.

NEWS

🆕 Ayr United are the first SPFL club to reveal their new home shirt for next season.

🙃 The fallout from the Scottish FA banning Michael Stewart from Hampden has continued.

The Scottish Senior Football Referees’ Association released a statement yesterday morning, ultimately supporting the action by the Scottish FA.

Michael Stewart subsequently hit out at the ban, branding it “petty and pathetic”. - Mark Hendry, The Herald

🗣️ The Scottish FA released a statement regarding Linlithgow Rose and the Pyramid Play-Off.

They said: “As noted by the club, they did not obtain the requisite Bronze-level club licence owing to six variances in the criteria confirmed by the Scottish FA Licensing Committee on March 31.

They applied to the SPFL Board for a period of grace until June however, this was rejected, as it would have meant Brora Rangers and/or Edinburgh City potentially losing their opportunity to participate in next season’s SPFL to a club that was not compliant with SPFL Membership Criteria.” - Scottish FA website

🔵 3000 St Johnstone fans are expected at East End Park tonight as the Perth club looks to secure the Championship title. - Eric Nicolson, The Courier

🏰 Edinburgh Castle was illuminated to mark ScottishPower renewing their partnership with the SWPL for another three years. - SWPL website

📝 Stenhousemuir midfielder Finn Robson has signed a one-year contract extension. - Stenhousemuir FC website

🔵 Rangers captain James Tavernier has confirmed he hasn’t been offered a new contract as of yet. - BBC

🏟️ Peebles Rovers have officially resigned from the East of Scotland Football League. The Borders club decided against taking part in this year’s second division after failing to find an alternative ground by last summer’s deadline, which meant they would automatically be relegated to the third division.

They have now resigned completely, with a club spokesman saying: “It is with great disappointment that we’ve had to tender our resignation from the EoSFL.

“With no leeway being given on the requirement for a permanent perimeter fence and with proposed costings completely prohibitive, we have been left with nowhere to turn to preserve the short-term future of Peebles Rovers.”

They have insisted they are not folding the club as they look to work more closely with the town’s youth club, Peebles FC. - Darin Hutson, Southern Reporter

🎙️ Continuing the non-league theme, if you would like to learn more about Highland League club Nairn County, their history, heritage, and what the club has been up to off the pitch including how they achieved record kit sales, give the Football Heritage podcast a listen. It features your favourite daily email’s creator.

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 53

Subscribe now

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

➡️ William Hill Championship

Dunfermline Athletic v St Johnstone (7.45pm - live on BBC Scotland)

plus matches in the North of Scotland League, East of Scotland League, and West of Scotland League. View all fixtures on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported.
📱 Latest subscriber number: 2814
🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #290: 
Dundee United lost six Scottish Cup Finals before winning the trophy in 1994 with a 1-0 win over Rangers in 1994, thanks to a goal from Craig Brewster.

NEWS

⭐️ It is awards season. PFA Scotland announced their League One and League Two Teams of the Year.

The League One Team of the Year - PFA Scotland website

Darren Jamieson (Stenhousemuir)

Charlie Dewar (Alloa Athletic)
Daniel Devine (Inverness Caledonian Thistle)
Gregor Buchanan (Stenhousemuir)
Remi Savage (Inverness Caledonian Thistle)

Reece Lyon (Queen of the South)
Alfie Stewart (Inverness Caledonian Thistle)
Callum Burnside (Alloa Athletic)

Kieran Shanks (Peterhead)
Oliver Shaw (Hamilton Academical)
Ross Taylor (Stenhousemuir)

The League Two Team of the Year - PFA Scotland website

Patrick Martin (The Spartans)

Sean Fagan (East Kilbride)
Ayrton Sonkur (The Spartans)
Logan Dunachie (Clyde)
Lewis Reid (Stranraer)

Jack Leitch (East Kilbride)
Joao Balde (East Kilbride)
Wullie Gibson (Annan Athletic)

Mark Stowe (The Spartans)
John Robertson (East Kilbride)
Leighton McIntosh (Dumbarton)

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📝 Jamie Murphy has signed a one-year contract extension at Ayr United. The 36-year-old will continue his dual role as player-coach for interim boss John Rankin. - Ayr United on X

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Oli McBurnie revealed he had called Steve Clarke ahead of his latest Scotland squad announcement to get an idea of where he stands in the pecking order.

“I don’t really sit anywhere,” he told Hull Live. “I rang the manager when his last squad was getting announced, just to kind of see his feelings on things. He said to me that he builds his squads on loyalty, and that Che (Adams) and Dikesy (Dikes) have done really well for him, so he sees them two ahead of me.

“He doesn’t see me as a third or fourth-choice striker, so he’s comparing me against Che and Dikesy, and he sees them ahead of me.” - Barry Cooper, Hull Live

⛔️ St Johnstone defender Jack Baird has received a two-match ban after elbowing Aidan Fitzpatrick in last month’s Championship match against Partick Thistle. - Sean Hamilton, The Courier

⚫️ Queen’s Park successfully appealed the red card shown to Rickie Lamie during the week against Raith Rovers. - Queen’s Park FC website

✍️ Queen’s Park also confirmed 16-year-old Harris Afzal will join Southampton this summer. - Queen’s Park FC website

😬 Scotland Women’s Under-19s narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Under-19 European Championships after falling to a 2-1 defeat to Norway yesterday. A point would have been enough to see them qualify. Austria qualified as a result of beating Norway 2-0. Scotland had beaten the Austrians 2-1.

😬 A reminder that it is the final weekend of the Park’s Motor Group Lowland League. Here are the permutations you need to know:

If Linlithgow Rose beat Bonnyrigg Rose or match Clydebank’s result, they win the title.

Unless Clydebank lose and Bonnyrigg beat Linlithgow by six goals. This would hand the title to Bonnyrigg.

Clydebank will win the title if they beat Caledonian Braves and Linlithgow Rose drop points to Bonnyrigg. - view the Lowland League Table here

🏆 The Pie & Bovril Tenz competition is back for the Scottish Cup Semi-Finals this weekend. As always, it is free to enter, and there is a top prize of £100 to the winner. - enter here

😄 The special guests for McCoist and MacAulay Live at the SEC Armadillo were recently announced.

Joining Ally and Fred on stage on Friday, 15 May are Greg Hemphill, Gordon Strachan, Dougray Scott, Claire Grogan, Gregor Townsend, and John Gordon Sinclair. Nathan Evans will also be performing live. - get your tickets here

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 57

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

➡️ South of Scotland League

Abbey Vale v Lochar Thistle (6.30pm)
Creetown v St Cuthbert Wanderers (8pm)

➡️ West of Scotland Football League Third Division

Knightswood v Glasgow University (8pm)

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ON TV THIS WEEKEND

📺 Friday

• A View From The Terrace (BBC Scotland: 10.30pm)

📺 Saturday

• Dunfermline Athletic v Falkirk (BBC One Scotland: 12.30pm)

• Belgium Women v Scotland Women (BBC Alba: 7.30pm)

📺 Sunday

• Celtic v St Mirren (Premier Sports 1: 2pm)

• Sportscene: Scottish Cup Highlights (BBC Scotland: 7.15pm)

  ---

ENJOY THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL KICK-OFF?

The weekday Kick-Off will always be free, but if you would like to receive the Saturday Kick-Off and support The Scottish Football Kick-Off in general, join the growing number of paid subscribers via the button below.

Subscribe now

Don’t want to become a paid subscriber, but want to support? You can ‘buy me a pint’ via the button below. (I know the normal thing to say here is ‘buy me a coffee,’ but I’ll be honest, I don’t drink coffee.)

'Buy me a pint'

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member.
📱 Latest subscriber number: 2814
🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #289: 
Stirling Albion were the first professional British football team to play in Japan (fact via the SPFL)

NEWS

⬆️ Brora Rangers benefactor Ben Mackay has made it very clear he and the rest of the club want to be promoted to the SPFL this season.

He told The Press & Journal: “There’s all this talk about do Brora want to go up – let’s be crystal clear – Brora Rangers want to go up.” - Callum Law, The Press & Journal

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🔵 Peterhead midfielder Dylan Forrest has signed a new two-year deal. - Peterhead FC website

🏟️ Motherwell’s average crowd at Fir Park this season has been 8205. This is up 41% on last season and their highest average crowd this century.

⚽️ The Scottish FA has appointed former Rangers Academy Director Craig Mulholland as their new Chief Football Officer.

He is now working his notice as Head of Football Development at Nottingham Forest before he starts at Hampden in the summer. - Stephen McGowan, The Herald

📰 A reminder that every person who attends The Scottish Football Kick-Off World Cup Quiz will receive a free Nutmeg magazine.

Hosted by Rory Hamilton, more and more teams have been snapped up for the quiz in The Clubhouse, Glasgow on Monday, 1 June. Don’t miss out. - enter your team here

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 58

Subscribe now

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

🏆 UEFA Women’s Under-19 European Championship Qualifier

Scotland v Norway (1pm - live on Scotland National Team YouTube)
match to be played at Kirkintilloch Sports Complex

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported.
📱 Latest subscriber number: 2814
🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #288: 
Scotland Women's National Team have only failed to score once in six major tournament games.

LATEST SCOTTISH FOOTBALL RESULTS

🌎 FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 Qualifier

Scotland 1 - 1 Belgium

➡️ William Hill Championship

Airdrieonians 2 - 2 Dunfermline Athletic
Queen’s Park 0 - 2 Raith Rovers

➡️ William Hill League One

Peterhead 0 - 2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle

plus matches in the North of Scotland League, East of Scotland League, South of Scotland League and cups. View all results on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

NEWS

😅 A 95th-minute equaliser from Kathleen McGovern has kept the Scotland Women’s National Team’s 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup aspirations alive.

Scotland weren’t without chances, but it took until deep into added time for the Hibernian striker to cancel out Belgium’s first-half opener. - view the standings here

⚽️ Dunfermline Athletic came from two goals down away to Airdrieonians to draw 2-2. It was a much-changed line-up for the Pars. Lucas Fyfe scored the equaliser four minutes from time.

Airdrie are three points clear of Ross County and 10 goals better off.

In the Championship’s other game, Raith Rovers beat Queen’s Park 2-0 in Glasgow. Lewis Vaughan scored a double, making it 100 goals for Raith Rovers. - view the Championship table

🔝 Inverness Caledonian Thistle went back to the top of League One by one point after beating Peterhead 2-0 away.

Alfie Stewart and Chanka Simba got the goals. Peterhead’s play-off dreams are hanging by a thread. They are seven points behind fourth-placed Queen of the South with three games to go. - view the League One table

Alfie Stewart’s 30-yard free-kick opener was an absolute belter.

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🔵 Montrose’s all‑time appearance holder, Terry Masson, has announced he will be retiring at the end of the season. - Montrose FC website

⭐️ Partick Thistle striker Alex Samuel was named as the star man in the SPFL Team of the Week. - SPFL website

🚌 The World Cup money grab continues. The World Cup host committee for Boston is providing an alternative service to $80 MBTA trains to Gillette Stadium, a $95 bus service. - Matthew Fulton, STV

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 59

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SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

Matches in the North of Scotland League, Midlands League, West of Scotland Footbal League, South of Scotland League and J Haig Gordon Memorial Trophy. View all fixtures on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

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📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #287: 
Buckie Thistle hold the record for successive wins in a Highland League season - 23

NEWS

🗣️ Falkirk have published a message to fans after it transpired Rangers fans acquired tickets in the home end and caused disorder, including a steward requiring medical attention.

The club ‘also received complaints about sectarian singing from a large portion of away fans’. - Falkirk FC website

⚽️ Latest findings from UEFA Grow research show that football is now the number one sport for girls and women in Scotland, taking over from tennis for the first time. - Scottish FA website

See the treasures of Scottish football and explore the national stadium as part of a fun and fact-filled family day out at the Scottish Football Museum. Book online now, open 7 days!

Book online here

✍️ Peterhead have signed Buckie Thistle forward Lyall Keir on a three-year deal. The 22-year-old will join the Blue Toon during the summer. - Peterhead FC website

🔵 Rangers will host a meeting of Premiership clubs on Thursday, 23 April, to discuss concerns over the standard of refereeing. - Stephen McGowan, The Herald

🍾 Glasgow City Council has said there are “no powers” to stop any football fans gathering in the city centre for title celebrations. - Matthew Fulton, STV

🚌 A teenager has been charged after an Inverness Caledonian Thistle supporters’ bus window was smashed after their League One match away to Stenhousemuir on Saturday. - Will Clark, Inverness Courier

🔴 Scotland captain Andy Robertson is in advanced talks about joining Tottenham Hotspur. However, any deal will hinge on Spurs remaining in the Premier League. - Sami Mokbel, BBC

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 60

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SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

➡️ FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 Qualifier

Scotland v Belgium (7.30pm - live on BBC Scotland)
at Easter Road Stadium, Edinburgh

➡️ William Hill Championship

Airdrieonians v Dunfermline Athletic (7.45pm)
Queen’s Park v Raith Rovers (7.45pm)

➡️ William Hill League One

Peterhead v Inverness Caledonian Thistle (7.45pm)

plus matches in the North of Scotland League, East of Scotland League, South of Scotland League and cups. View all fixtures on the Scottish Football Fixtures website.

WORLD CUP EVENTS

🌎 Yes Hire Fanzone (Falkirk FC)
Falkirk Stadium - All Scotland games

Falkirk FC are opening our doors for every Scotland fixture, creating the biggest and best viewing party in the area. If you want to watch the match with 600+ Tartan Army fans, this is the only place to be.

Get your tickets at FalkirkFC.co.uk

If you are organising a World Cup event and would like it featured, fill in this form.

🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported.
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🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #285: 
Dunfermline Athletic's record win is 11–2 against Stenhousemuir in 1930

NEWS

🔴 It has been confirmed that Andy Robertson will be leaving Liverpool this summer. The Scotland captain has spent nine seasons at Anfield. - Lorraine McKenna, BBC

🆚 Scotland’s final World Cup warm-up will be against Bolivia in New Jersey on Saturday, 6th June. It will kick off at 9pm UK time. - Scottish FA website

🏅 Dundee United’s Jim Goodwin has been named the Glen’s Vodka Premiership Manager of the Month for February. - SPFL website

See the treasures of Scottish football and explore the national stadium as part of a fun and fact-filled family day out at the Scottish Football Museum. Book online now, open 7 days!

Book online here

🔚 Hearts Women’s Manager Eva Olid is to leave the club at the end of the season. Hearts currently sit top of SWPL 1. - Blair Meikle, Hearts Standard

🔴 Hamilton Academical have made Rebecca Nuttall their permanent CEO, alongside her role at Haverfordwest County A.F.C. - Hamilton Academical website

🔵 Morton in the Community will be hosting a Boots + Pieces collection on Saturday, 18th April, before Greenock Morton’s match against Queen’s Park.

They will be located on Sinclair Street, collecting pre-loved sports items such as football boots, trainers, tops, shorts, tracksuits, and more. - Greenock Morton on X

🌎 No Scottish referees have been selected amongst the 52 referees, 88 assistant referees, and 30 video match officials chosen for the World Cup. - FIFA website

🍺 A bar in Boston is stocking up on Tennent’s ahead of the World Cup. The Haven in Boston, owned by Jason Waddleton from Stonehaven, is Boston’s only Scottish bar and restaurant. - Matthew Fulton, STV

🌎 In the prize pot for The Scottish Football Kick-Off World Cup Quiz hosted by Rory Hamilton on Monday, 1st June in Glasgow are annual Nutmeg subscriptions, a £100 gift voucher for the Scottish Football Museum, and Scott McTominay commemorative coins courtesy of Zenith Coins, with more to be added.

Fancy joining Nutmeg Magazine, Scotland’s Coefficient, and SPFL Mediawatch in entering teams? Of course you do. - enter your team here

🌎 Days until Haiti v Scotland at the World Cup: 64

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY

➡️ William Hill Championship

Queen’s Park v Ross County (7.45pm)

➡️ Park’s Motor Group Lowland League

Celtic B v Cowdenbeath (7.45pm)
Heart of Midlothian B v Albion Rovers (7.45pm)

🏆 UEFA Women’s Under-19 European Championship Qualifier

Austria v Scotland (1pm - Kirkintilloch Sports Complex)

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ON TV THIS WEEKEND

📺 Friday

• Queen’s Park v Ross County (BBC Scotland: 7.45pm)

• A View From The Terrace (BBC Scotland: 10.30pm)

📺 Saturday

• Sportscene: Open All Mics (BBC One Scotland: 4.30pm)

• Stenhousemuir v Inverness Caledonian Thistle (BBC Alba: 5.30pm)

• Sportscene: Premiership Highlights (BBC Scotland: 7.15pm)

📺 Sunday

• Falkirk v Rangers (Sky Sports: 12 noon)

• Sportscene: Premiership Highlights (BBC Scotland: 7.15pm)

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🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off.              
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