The forthcoming campaign will be the ninth season of the SPFL and the first with cinch as title sponsor, following the announcement last week of a five year-deal with the UK’s fastest-growing online used car marketplace.
The new season gets under way on Saturday July 31, with Rangers beginning the defence of their Premiership trophy against Livingston at Ibrox, live on Sky Sports at 1.30pm. Sky Sports will also show Heart of Midlothian v Celtic and Motherwell v Hibernian on the opening weekend.
Further TV selections for the early part of the season will be confirmed as soon as possible. Sky Sports have the rights to screen 48 cinch Premiership matches and BBC Scotland can show up to 20 live cinch Championship games.
The first meeting of Rangers and Celtic in 2021/22 is scheduled for the end of August, with the return of both the Edinburgh derby and Dundee derby on consecutive weekends in September.
The Ayrshire derby between Kilmarnock and Ayr United is among the highlights of the opening weekend while SPFL newcomers Kelty Hearts kick off their cinch League 2 campaign against local rivals Cowdenbeath at New Central Park.
Partick Thistle mark their return to the Championship with a home game against Queen of the South while League 2 champions Queen’s Park – who are groundsharing at Firhill – will receive their title flag the following weekend.
The festive period will see fixtures on Boxing Day, December 29 (for the Premiership and Championship) and January 2, when the traditional derby matches will be played. The Premiership winter break returns this season and the top flight will conclude on the weekend of May 14, 2022 – a fortnight after the Championship, League 1 and League 2.
The full fixture card for the opening weekend of season 2021/22 is:
cinch Premiership – Saturday July 31
Dundee v St Mirren
Heart of Midlothian v Celtic (Sky Sports, 8.00pm)
Rangers v Livingston (Sky Sports, 1.30pm)
Ross County v St Johnstone
cinch Premiership – Sunday August 1
Aberdeen v Dundee United
Motherwell v Hibernian (Sky Sports 4.30pm)
cinch Championship – Saturday July 31
Arbroath v Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Kilmarnock v Ayr United
Morton v Dunfermline Athletic
Partick Thistle v Queen of the South
Raith Rovers v Hamilton Academical
cinch League 1 – Saturday July 31
Airdrieonians v Montrose
Clyde v Dumbarton
Cove Rangers v Falkirk
East Fife v Queen's Park
Peterhead v Alloa Athletic
cinch League 2 – Saturday July 31
Annan Athletic v Forfar Athletic
Edinburgh City v Albion Rovers
Elgin City v Stranraer
Kelty Hearts v Cowdenbeath
Stenhousemuir v Stirling Albion
The complete fixture list for each division can be found via the links below:
