Rangers boss Russell Martin begins Premiership reign with trip to Motherwell
Martin's first William Hill Premiership match in charge will see him go head to head with former Norwich team-mate Jens Berthel Askou, who was recently installed as Motherwell manager.
The fixture will kick off at 5.30pm on Saturday, August 2 and will mark the weekend of the 130th anniversary of the first game at Fir Park.
There is only one Premiership game taking place at 3pm on the Saturday, which sees Stuart Kettlewell start his Kilmarnock reign with the visit of newly-promoted Livingston.
Falkirk end their 15-year absence from the top flight with a home game against Dundee United the following afternoon in one of four matches to be screened live by Sky Sports over the opening fixture card.
Former Hearts captain Steven Pressley begins his first league campaign as Dundee head coach at home to Hibernian on the Sunday, following the Leith club's Europa League tie with Midtjylland. Champions Celtic will unfurl the league flag later that day ahead of hosting St Mirren in a 4.30pm kick-off.
Hearts and Aberdeen fans will need to wait until 8pm on the Monday to see their teams start the season at Tynecastle as new head coach Derek McInnes begins his Premiership campaign at home against one of his former clubs.
Martin's first league game at Ibrox will kick off at 5.30pm on August 9 with Dundee the visitors in a game to be shown live by Premier Sports.
Celtic have the chance to atone for their Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final defeat by Aberdeen when they travel to Pittodrie the following day for a 12.30pm kick-off.
There are no league games in the third weekend of August with the second round of the Premier Sports Cup taking place.
Rangers head coach Martin will experience his first derby in charge on Sunday, August 31, when Celtic visit Ibrox for a noon showdown.
The festive schedule is slightly less hectic than usual with only one midweek slot rather than the usual two. Six matches are scheduled for Saturday, December 27, including an Edinburgh derby at Easter Road, which has been earmarked for live television coverage at 12.30pm.
There is a full fixture card three days later with Celtic travelling to Fir Park before hosting Rangers in a 12.30pm kick-off on Saturday, January 3. All teams – including a Dundee derby at Tannadice – play that afternoon.
There are six midweek fixture dates in total including two in succession in early February, either side of the Scottish Cup fifth round.
The final games before the split are pencilled in for April 11, when St Mirren will be aiming to seal a fourth consecutive top-six finish when they travel to Celtic Park.
As in recent seasons, there is a full midweek card in the final week of the season, which ends on May 17-18.
The SPFL season in general will kick off on Friday, August 1 when Arbroath return to the Championship with a home game against Ayr United. St Johnstone return to second-tier football with a home game against Partick Thistle the following day and will face fellow relegated side Ross County in the second weekend of the season.
East Kilbride's first SPFL game will see Spartans visit K-Park in a League 2 encounter on August 2.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
40 minutes ago
- The National
Russell Martin provides Rangers transfer update
Rangers return for pre-season training on Monday, with Martin to meet his players for the first time. So far, Rangers have only announced the pre-contract signing of Lyall Cameron this summer. But Martin is keen to add to his squad. "[The aim is] to work them physically, tactically, to get them to understand what we are demanding very early on and what the team will look like," Martin said of pre-season aims. "And hopefully over the next couple of weeks, to add a few players to the group, and I think we're all expecting that. "I don't know [exact numbers], but I think we will have a few before the European game, that is for sure. Read more: "Everyone is working extremely hard, that's what the bulk of the work has been the last week or so, identifying character and talent we want in this building that can add to this group and add to us culturally and performance-wise. I am excited about the people we are starting to look at and will hopefully add." Martin is expecting Cyriel Dessers to be present at the Rangers Training Centre next week despite reports of a move to Greece in the summer window. The Ibrox boss said: "The updates will come as and when they're actually real. At the moment, I am expecting Cyriel to return on Monday and I am looking forward to working with him."
BBC News
43 minutes ago
- BBC News
Box-office bookends & daunting December - Buddies' standout games
As starts - and ends - to a season go, St Mirren are in for a stiff Robinson's side face last season's Scottish Premiership top three in the first four games of the new term, and the top two and Scottish Cup winners, in the final four. After lifting the curtain on the campaign away to champions Celtic, the Buddies welcome Motherwell to Paisley on Saturday, 9 Martin's Rangers come to town two weeks later, before St Mirren wrap up August in the capital against Hibernian.A jam-packed, six-game December sees festive trips to Aberdeen (6 December), Hearts (13 December) and Rangers (30 December).Fast forward to the end of the pre-split campaign and it's equally eye-opening. The Buddies wrap up the season where they started it at Celtic Park on Saturday, 11 April. The week before, the Dons are at the SMISA after Rangers visit two matchdays quite the start, middle and end for the Buddies... what do you make of it?Looking at the fixture list, where do you think St Mirren will be after 10 games? Tell us here.
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
Tough start & full-on festive schedule - Motherwell's fixture rundown
If Jens Berthel Askou was seeking a simple start to the Scottish Premiership, he might want a word with the Motherwell boss welcomes his former team-mate Russell Martin - and his Rangers side - to Fir Park on Saturday, 2 August at 17:45 BST in the first game of the league that wasn't a dive into the deep end enough, away trips to St Mirren (9 August) and Hearts (23 August) follow, before Stuart Kettlewell makes his return to ML1 with his new Kilmarnock side on 30 forward to a six-game December and it's not the most wonderful time of the year for days after Christmas, Motherwell travel to Ibrox before Celtic come to town on Tuesday, 30 December for a 19:45 pre-split campaign ends with a trip to Tynecastle on Saturday, 11 at the fixture list, where do you think Motherwell will be after 10 games? Tell us here.
