- Aberdeen secured 3rd place in last season's cinch Premiership, finishing 3 points clear of Heart of Midlothian. This guarantees Barry Robson's side European group stage football this season in either the Europa League or Conference League. The Dons were the sixth different club in the last six seasons to finish 3rd in the cinch Premiership, following Rangers in 2017/18, Kilmarnock in 2018/19, Motherwell in 2019/20, Hibernian in 2020/21 and Heart of Midlothian in 2021/22.
- Annan Athletic are playing in the 3rd tier of Scottish football for the first time in their history. Peter Murphy's side gained promotion to League 1 via the play-offs last season, ending a 15-year stint in the bottom tier which started when they were elected to the Scottish Football League in 2008.
- The opening weekend of the SPFL season will see 3 matches broadcast live on television. Arbroath host Dundee United in the cinch Championship live on BBC Scotland at 7:45pm on Friday night, before Sky Sports have a Saturday double header, with Celtic v Ross County at 12:30pm and Kilmarnock v Rangers at 5:15pm
- Elgin City are getting ready for their 24th straight season in the fourth tier - this is the most consecutive seasons any lower league side has spent in their current division. City finished 9th in cinch League 2 last season, but have been close to promotion on a few occasions - they have lost out in the promotion play-offs on 3 separate occasions, most recently in 2020/21.
- Hamilton Academical will play in cinch League 1 following their relegation via the play-offs. It will be their first time in the third tier in exactly 20 years, since they gained promotion under Allan Maitland. Accies (and fellow relegated side Cove Rangers) will be hoping to emulate the 3 clubs in the last 6 seasons who have made an immediate return to the second tier. Ayr United, Partick Thistle and Dunfermline Athletic all gained promotion immediately back to the cinch Championship after being relegated.
Latest News
Tuesday 1st August 2023
cinch SPFL Season Preview - 3 Days to Go...
Resident statto @splstats brings us the numbers as we count down towards the start of the 23/24 season
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