The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has today published the 2022/23 fixture lists for the cinch Premiership, cinch Championship, cinch League 1 and cinch League 2.
The forthcoming campaign will be the 10th season of the SPFL and the second with cinch as title sponsor.
The new league season gets under way at the end of next month. Celtic will begin the defence of their cinch Premiership trophy at home to Aberdeen on Sunday July 31, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 4.30pm. Sky Sports will also show Livingston v Rangers on Saturday July 30, kick-off 12 noon.
TV selections for August 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 cinch Championship games.
The first meeting of Celtic and Rangers is scheduled for early September and there’s not long to wait for the first Edinburgh derby of 2022/23, with Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian going head to head at Easter Road on the first weekend in August.
Kilmarnock mark their return to the top flight with a home game against Dundee United while Cove Rangers will host Raith Rovers in their cinch Championship debut.
Kelty Hearts will begin their cinch League 1 campaign against fellow promoted side FC Edinburgh at New Central Park and SPFL newcomers Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic welcome Forfar Athletic to New Dundas Park for their first ever league match in the SPFL.
The cinch Premiership will break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after fixture round 16 on November 12, resuming on December 17 and finishing on the weekend of May 27/28, 2023. The other divisions will play through the World Cup period and will conclude on the weekend of May 5/6, 2023 before the play-offs get under way.
The festive period will see fixtures on Christmas Eve, December 28 (for the cinch Premiership) and January 2, when the traditional derby matches will be played.
SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “We are very much looking forward to the start of 2022/23, which will be the first season since 2019/20 that capacity crowds have been permitted from day one.
“Despite some pandemic-related restrictions last season, almost 4.5m fans attended games across SPFL competitions and it was fantastic to have supporters back in stadiums in those numbers. It’s a hugely exciting time for the Scottish game, with three of our clubs guaranteed European group stage football and lots to look forward to on the domestic front across all four divisions.
“The fixture calendar is somewhat different this year due to the winter World Cup in Qatar but the one constant is the huge interest in Scottish football. I’m sure we will again be treated to great games and plenty of drama between July and our final play-off matches in early June of 2023.”
“We welcome Lowland League champions Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic to the SPFL following their play-off win over Cowdenbeath last month and I would also like to wish our 42 member clubs all the very best for the forthcoming season.”
The fixture card for the opening weekend of season 2022/23 is:
cinch Premiership – Saturday July 30
Heart of Midlothian v Ross County
Kilmarnock v Dundee United
Livingston v Rangers (Sky Sports, 12 noon)
St Johnstone v Hibernian
St Mirren v Motherwell
cinch Premiership – Sunday July 31
Celtic v Aberdeen (Sky Sports, 4.30pm)
cinch Championship – Saturday July 30
Ayr United v Arbroath
Cove Rangers v Raith Rovers
Dundee v Partick Thistle
Hamilton Academical v Morton
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Queen's Park
cinch League 1 – Saturday July 30
Dunfermline Athletic v Alloa Athletic
Falkirk v Montrose
Kelty Hearts v FC Edinburgh
Peterhead v Airdrieonians
Queen of the South v Clyde
cinch League 2 – Saturday July 30
Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic v Forfar Athletic
Dumbarton v Stirling Albion
Elgin City v East Fife
Stenhousemuir v Albion Rovers
Stranraer v Annan Athletic
The full fixture lists can be found via the links below
cinch Premiership fixture list 2022/23
cinch Championship fixture list 2022/23
cinch League 1 fixture list 2022/23
cinch League 2 fixture list 2022/23
Notes
- Edinburgh City last night confirmed the club’s change of name to FC Edinburgh.
- St Mirren v Motherwell on the opening weekend is likely to move to Sunday July 31, pending fixture confirmation from UEFA of the dates of Motherwell’s Europa Conference League QR2 ties.
- A number of other cinch Premiership matches will require to be moved to Sundays in due course because of European ties on Thursday evenings.
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