The 2020–21 season was the 124th season of competitive

football in Scotland Association football is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of ...

. The domestic season began on 1 August 2020 with the first round of matches in the

2020–21 Scottish Premiership The 2020–21 Scottish Premiership was the eighth season of the Scottish Premiership, the 124th edition of the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 6 July 2020, with the season beginning on 1 August, following ...

. The start of all other domestic competitions were delayed until at least October 2020 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and most games were played

behind closed doors Behind Closed Doors may refer to: Film, television and radio Film * ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1929 film), an early talkie starring Virginia Valli * Behind Closed Doors (1961 film), ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1961 film), an Italian comedy film by Dino ...

due to Scottish Government restrictions.

Transfer deals

Due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the football calendar, the summer window for transfers in Scotland ran from 14 July to 5 October. Those dates used the full 12-week period permitted by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

, and the governing bodies also authorised clubs outside the Premiership to make loan signings during October 2020.

League competitions

Scottish Premiership

Scottish Championship

Scottish League One

Scottish League Two

Non-league football

Level 5

Level 6

Honours

Cup honours

The

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

teams (

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

) were eliminated from both national cup competitions before the semi-final stage, the first time this had occurred since the introduction of the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

75 years earlier. St Johnstone won both tournaments, becoming the first non-Old Firm side to win a "cup double" since

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 1989–90.

Non-league honours

Senior

Junior

;East Region ;North Region

Individual honours

PFA Scotland awards

SFWA awards

Scottish clubs in Europe

Summary

Due to scheduling pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic, qualifying rounds were played over just one tie instead of the usual two-leg format. * Season in progress

Celtic

UEFA Champions League Celtic entered the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defea ...

in the first qualifying round. UEFA Europa League Having lost in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, Celtic entered the Europa League in its third round of qualifying. ;Qualifying ;Group stage

Rangers

UEFA Europa League Rangers entered the UEFA Europa League in the second round of qualifying. ;Qualifying ;Group stage ;Knockout Stage

Motherwell

UEFA Europa League Motherwell entered the UEFA Europa League at the first qualifying round.

Aberdeen

UEFA Europa League Aberdeen entered the UEFA Europa League in the first qualifying round as fourth-place finishers in the 2019–20 Scottish Premiership, as the

2019–20 Scottish Cup The 2019–20 Scottish Cup was the 135th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament was sponsored by bookmaker William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill in what was the final season of a nine-year partnership ...

was not completed by the UEFA deadline.

Scotland national team

The Scotland national team qualified for their first major tournament in over two decades (since the 1998 World Cup) by winning through the Euro 2020 play-offs, defeating

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in penalty shootouts.

Women's football

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 women's season was declared null and void in July 2020. A new season (2020–21) started in October 2020 and ended in July 2021; Scottish Women's Football thus returned to the autumn–spring calendar for the first time since 2008–09.

League and Cup honours

Individual honours

SWPL awards

Scottish Women's Premier League

;SWPL 1 ;SWPL 2

UEFA Women's Champions League

Glasgow City

Glasgow City entered the

2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 20th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 12th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League. The final was held at the Gam ...

in the first qualifying round.

Scotland women's national team

Deaths

*13 July: Pat Quinn, 84, Albion Rovers, Motherwell, Hibernian, East Fife and Scotland forward; East Fife manager. *c.13 July: Eddie Beaton, 88, Greenock Morton, Berwick Rangers, Stranraer and Dumbarton forward. *21 July: Hugh McLaughlin, 75, St Mirren, Third Lanark and Queen of the South midfielder. *24 July: David Hagen, 47, Rangers, Hearts, Falkirk, Livingston, Clyde and Peterhead midfielder. *4 August: Willie Hunter, 80, Motherwell, Hibernian and Scotland forward; Queen of the South and Inverness Caledonian manager. *13 August: Jackie Wren, 84, Hibernian, Stirling Albion and Berwick Rangers goalkeeper. *14 August:

Tom Forsyth Thomas Forsyth (23 January 1949 – 14 August 2020) was a Scottish football player and coach. Forsyth played as a defender for Motherwell, Rangers and Scotland. Playing career Club Forsyth started his career at junior club Stonehouse Violet ...

, 71, Motherwell, Rangers and Scotland defender; Dunfermline Athletic manager. *24 August: Pat McCluskey, 68, Celtic, Dumbarton, Airdrieonians and Queen of the South defender and midfielder. *September: Archie Irvine, 74, Airdrieonians midfielder. *19 October: Jim Townsend, 75, Heart of Midlothian, St Johnstone and Greenock Morton midfielder. *23 October:

Ebbe Skovdahl Ebbe Skovdahl Hansen (5 July 1945 – 23 October 2020) was a Danish football manager. He most prominently was a successful manager at Brøndby, for whom he had also played in his active years. He helped turn the side into the most dominant Danis ...

, 75, Aberdeen manager. *24 October: Kevin McCarra, 62, journalist. *31 October: Marius Žaliūkas, 36, Heart of Midlothian and Rangers defender. *4 November: Matt Tees, 81, Airdrieonians forward. *15 November: Campbell Forsyth, 86, St Mirren, Kilmarnock and Scotland goalkeeper. *3 December: Bobby Wishart, 87, Aberdeen, Dundee, Airdrie and Raith Rovers forward. *12 December: John McSeveney, 89, Hamilton Academical winger. *December:

Joe Frickleton Joe Frickleton (c. 1935 – 14 December 2020) was a Scottish professional football player and manager, active primarily in South Africa Playing career Frickleton, who played as a wing half, played youth with Clydebank Juniors, before turning pr ...

, East Stirlingshire wing half. *24 December: Davie Sneddon, 84, Dundee, Kilmarnock and Raith Rovers inside forward; Kilmarnock and Stranraer manager. *26 December: Chic McLelland, 63, Aberdeen, Motherwell, Dundee and Montrose defender; Montrose manager. *26 December:

Jim McLean James Yuille McLean (2 August 1937 – 26 December 2020) was a Scottish football player, manager and director. He managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993, becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the club's history, winni ...

, 83, Hamilton Academical, Clyde, Dundee and Kilmarnock inside forward; Dundee United manager and chairman. *31 December:

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times bet ...

, 92, Celtic and Scotland right half; Scotland manager. *24 January: Jóhannes Eðvaldsson, 70, Celtic and Motherwell defender. *24 January: Barrie Mitchell, 73, Dunfermline Athletic, Aberdeen and Morton forward. *26 January: Jozef Vengloš, 84, Celtic manager. *28 January: Eddie Connachan, 85, Dunfermline Athletic, Falkirk and Scotland goalkeeper. *January: John Grant, 89, Hibernian, Raith Rovers and Scotland defender. *6 February: Columb McKinley, 70, Airdrie and Dumbarton half-back. *22 February: Jack Bolton, 79, Raith Rovers, Morton and Dumbarton defender. *2 March:

Ian St John John "Ian" St John (; 7 June 1938 – 1 March 2021) was a Scottish professional football player, coach and broadcaster. St John played as a forward for Liverpool throughout most of the 1960s. Signed by Bill Shankly in 1961, St John was a key m ...

, 82, Motherwell and Scotland forward; Motherwell manager. *3 March: Willie Whigham, 81, Albion Rovers, Falkirk and Dumbarton goalkeeper. *6 March: Jimmy Stevenson, 74, Hibernian wing half. *7 March: Alastair Alexander, 83, BBC Scotland football commentator. *20 March:

Peter Lorimer Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer who mainly played for Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever player ...

, 74, Scotland midfielder. *27 March: Alex Kiddie, 93, Aberdeen, Falkirk, Arbroath, Brechin City, Montrose and Forfar Athletic winger. *24 April: Walter Borthwick, 73, Morton, East Fife, St Mirren, St Johnstone and Dunfermline midfielder; Arbroath manager. *29 April: Frank Brogan, 78, Celtic winger. *7 May: John Sludden, 56, Celtic, St Johnstone, Airdrieonians, Ayr United, Kilmarnock, East Fife, Clydebank, Clyde and Stenhousemuir forward; Bo'ness United, Camelon Juniors and East Stirlingshire manager. *3 June: Alan Miller, 51, St Johnstone goalkeeper.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 in Scottish football Seasons in Scottish football

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...