⚽ The Kick-Off | Monday 24th February 2025
Weekend round up. Phillipe Clement sacked. Kevin Holt moves to Derry City. Lower League loan moves. SWNT beaten by Austria. Scotland fans to get 1600 tickets for Greece. Ferguson back for Bologna.
➡️ Random Scottish Football Fact #1: The penalty shootout was signed into the rules of world football in Inverness.
The Weekend Round Up
📈 SPFL Premiership
For the first time since February 2018, both Celtic and Rangers lost on the same day in the league. Hibs are now undefeated in 13 games as they beat Celtic 2-1. St Mirren beat Rangers 2-0 to win at Ibrox for the first time since 1991. Aberdeen won 1-0 at home to Kilmarnock to stay third. Dundee United also won by the same score line over Motherwell - Michael Wimmer’s first game in charge for The Well. Dundee’s poor form continued with a 3-1 defeat away to Ross County. St Johnstone remain bottom following their 2-1 defeat to Hearts yesterday. - View the full league table.
📈 SPFL Championship
Falkirk are now four points clear at the top following their win over Morton on Friday night and Livingston scored in the 96th minute to beat Ayr and leapfrog them into second. Raith Rovers closed the gap to four points on fourth-placed Partick Thistle. The Rovers beat Hamilton 2-0 while Airdrie held Thistle to a 1-1 draw. Queen’s Park and Dunfermline played out a 0-0 draw. - View the full league table.
📈 SPFL League One
There was another change at the top of the league as Cove Rangers returned to the summit after beating bottom side Dumbarton. Stenhousemuir is second on goal difference after beating title rivals Arbroath 2-0. Kelty Hearts' poor form continues following a 1-0 defeat to Inverness. Inverness closed the gap on Annan, who lost 4-3 to Alloa, and Montrose, who lost 3-0 to Queen of the South. - View the full league table.
📈 SPFL League Two
East Fife and Peterhead drew 0-0 in the top-of-the-table clash. East Fife remain four clear at the top. Elgin has now lost three on the bounce following defeat to Edinburgh City who are now third. Forfar beat relegation rivals Bonnyrigg 2-0 but it was a good 3-0 win for Stranraer over Stirling Albion to keep distance between themselves and the bottom. Spartans bounced back after two defeats to beat Clyde 2-0. - View the full league table.
News
🚪 Phillipe Clement has been sacked as Rangers manager following the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren on Saturday.
It was the second successive home defeat for the Ibrox side after losing 1-0 at home to Queen’s Park two weeks ago. - David Irvine, The Herald
🟠 Dundee United sold defender Kevin Holt to League of Ireland side Derry City over the weekend. The 32-year-old had been at Dundee United since 2023 after signing from Partick Thistle.
The Tannadice club was reluctant to sell but made it clear in their statement that the player and his representatives had threatened to be unavailable for selection should the transfer not go ahead. - Andy Coyle, STV
🇺🇸 Cammy MacPherson has joined Tampa Bay Rowdies on loan from St Johnstone. MacPherson hadn’t played for the Perth side since Simo Valakari took charge. Former Hearts and Dundee United manager, Robbie Neilson is the current Tampa Bay manager. - Matthew Elder, The Scotsman
⚫️ Dunfermline Athletic has signed Jay Hogarth on a seven-day emergency loan from Rangers following an injury to their goalkeeper Deniz Mehmet. - Josh McCafferty, Rangers Review
🔵 Cove Rangers confirmed that Aberdeen midfielder Adam Emslie had returned to Balmoral Park for a second loan spell this season. - Cove Rangers Website
✍️ Danny Denholm has signed for Forfar Athletic on loan from Spartans for the remainder of the season. Danny has played for the Station Park side in two previous stints, the last between 2014 and 2017.- Forfar Athletic Website
🏆 Rangers will face Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe in the last-16 of the UEFA Europa League. The first leg will take place in Turkey on Thursday 6th March before the second leg at Ibrox on Thursday 13th March.
The two clubs last met in 2001/02 UEFA Champions League qualifying with Fenerbahçe winning 2-1 on aggregate after a 0-0 first-leg draw at Ibrox. - SPFL Website
🏴 The Scotland Women’s National Team will be looking to bounce back against the Netherlands on Tuesday night after a disappointing 1-0 defeat away to Austria in the UEFA Nations League. Scotland fell to a first-half Austrian goal. - Charlotte Cohen, BBC
🏴 It was better news for the Scotland Women’s Under-19 side as they beat Iceland 2-1 in the second of their friendlies against each other at Broadwood. Scotland’s goals were scored by Laura Berry and Lisa Forrest. - Scotland NT on X
🟡 Annan Athletic has launched an ambitious new community share offer – with the aim of raising £100,000 during the initial launch.
The club is offering supporters the chance to buy shares in blocks of £5,000 between now and March 22 as part of ongoing work to strengthen their financial stability and build a platform to grow all aspects of the club for future generations. - Annan Athletic Website
It was confirmed by the Scottish FA on Friday that Scotland fans will have an allocation of 1600 tickets for the UEFA Nations League Group A Play-Off First Leg against Greece. The first leg takes place on Thursday 20th March in Athens. - Scott Burns & Fraser Clarke, Football Scotland
⚖️ The Scottish Government has approved a legal aid application for the private prosecution of David Goodwillie for rape.
Ministers announced on Sunday that legal aid had been granted to Denise Clair.- Sky Sports
🙌 Lewis Ferguson made his return to the Bologna team on Saturday. Lewis came on in the 84th minute away to a Parma side already winning 2-0. It was his first appearance since coming off after 10 minutes in a Champions League game at the end of January. - Robbie Chalmers, Football Scotland
⚽️ Ryan Gauld scored Vancouver Whitecaps’ first goal last night in a 4-1 away win against Portland Timbers in the opening weekend of the MLS. - Watch the goal on the Whitecaps’ Instagram
Scottish Football Fixtures Today
🏆 Men’s Under-16 UEFA Development Mini Tournament
Scotland v Northern Ireland (playing in Cyprus)
📈 SPFL Reserve League
Livingston v Queen’s Park (7pm)
Plus youth club fixtures - view all fixtures on the Scottish Football Fixtures website