⚽️ The Kick-Off | Thursday 21st August 2025
Celtic draw 0-0 at home in Europe. Hamilton removed from CAS programme. Palmeiras sign Jefté. Rubezic departs Aberdeen. James Keatings in court.
📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #129:
The first ever Edinburgh derby took place on Christmas Day 1875. The match was played on the Meadows in Edinburgh.LATEST SCOTTISH FOOTBALL RESULTS
🏆 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAY-OFF ROUND FIRST LEG
Celtic 0 - 0 Kairat Almaty
🏆 EVENING EXPRESS ABERDEENSHIRE CUP QUARTER-FINAL
Banks o’ Dee 1 - 3 Aberdeen
Dyce 1 - 3 Buckie Thistle
Formartine United 1 - 0 Turriff United
Huntly 2 - 1 Hermes
🏆 NORTH OF SCOTLAND CUP QUARTER-FINAL
Brora Rangers 0 - 0 Clachnacuddin (Clach won 8-7 on penalties)
Forres Mechanics 3 - 0 Rothes
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 6 - 0 Strathspey Thistle
Wick Academy 0 - 3 Ross County
Plus results in the East of Scotland Football League, and Midlands League. View all results on the Scottish Football Fixtures website
NEWS
🟢 Celtic drew 0-0 with Kairat Almaty in their UEFA Champions League Play-off First Leg. On a disappointing night at Celtic Park, chants of “sack the board” were heard in the second half.
Alistair Johnston was stretchered off with a hamstring injury to round off a frustrating night at Parkhead.
❌ The Scottish FA issued a Club Academy Scotland update, which included the news that Hamilton Academical have been removed from the CAS programme and will not be allowed to participate in the Youth Cup after the club failed an audit.
The Scottish FA said: “Despite being provided with numerous opportunities to do so, the club was unable to provide assurances to the Licencing Committee in eight different key areas, including facilities, coaching qualifications and Child Wellbeing and Protection standards.
“All players in the Hamilton Academical CAS programme have now had their registrations cancelled by the Scottish FA, allowing those players to leave the club should they wish. The club will not retain any entitlement to training compensation in respect of any of those players.” - Scottish FA website
⚽️ Other key takeaways from the update included that Kelty Hearts have joined the CAS set-up for the 2025/2026 season, with Queen’s Park moving from Elite to Advanced Youth Level and Falkirk moving from Advanced Youth to Performance Level.
🔵 Jefté has left Rangers to sign for Brazilian club Palmeiras for an undisclosed fee.
The 21-year-old made 56 appearances for the Ibrox club. - Peter Cassidy, STV
🔴 Aberdeen have sold central defender Slobodan Rubezic to Polish side Korona Kielce for an undisclosed fee.
The 25-year-old made 57 appearances for the Dons. - Danny Law, The Press & Journal
📝 Co-managers David Gold and Colin Hamilton have signed two-year contract extensions at Championship club Arbroath. - Arbroath FC on X
👎 Dundee goalkeeper Trevor Carson has rejected a loan move to Ross County. - George Cran, The Courier
🆕 Albion Rovers’ Alan Reid broke the club record for appearances on Tuesday night. The captain has made 494 competitive appearances and broke the record held by Murdy Walls, which was set in 1936.
⭐️ The first SWPL Team of the Week was announced yesterday. - SWPL website
⚖️ James Keatings is facing jail after being caught by police with nearly £400,000 of laundered money.
The 33-year-old, who counts Hibs, Hearts, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and Dundee United as former clubs, was caught when transferring boxes of cash from a van last June. - BBC
SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY
🏆 UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE PLAY-OFF ROUND FIRST LEG
Aberdeen v FCSB (7.45pm - Live on BBC Scotland)
🏆 UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE PLAY-OFF ROUND FIRST LEG
Hibernian v Legia Warsaw (8pm - Live on SolidSport)
🙏🏼 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: 2051 🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.