Scottish League Champions Without the Old Firm

NOTE: The tables in this article were updated on the 15th May 2022 to include the results of the 2021/22 season.

Yet again, the fight for the title in Scotland is non-existent, as Celtic coast to another championship without any real challenge in the absence of Rangers.  Even when Rangers were in contention, there hasn’t been any serious third-party contender since Aberdeen in the 80s.

However, beneath the Old Firm duo in the table, there is always a much more exciting battle being fought for 3^rd place, or now for 2^nd.  Over the last fifteen years, 5 different teams have been second only to the Glasgow giants (or better than one in the case of Hearts in 2005/06).  The top division of Scottish football would be more exciting without the domination of these two clubs.

I decided to go through all league championships and compile a list of who would be Scotland’s most successful clubs if you were to remove the Old Firm from the equation (including points earned against them) to show how much more dynamic the league title battle could have been.

My methodology was to go back through the league tables and remove results against both Celtic and Rangers from the teams at the top to see who was the best “other” team that season.  In 40 seasons removing results against Old Firm teams changed the order of the top teams, so the actual runner-up or winner of the league might not be the winner without the Old Firm clubs.  The results also take into account that before 1921/22, teams level on points shared the position, resulting in shared titles.  Between then and 1971/72 goal average was used to separate teams, and from then on goal difference is used.  3 points for a win was introduced for the 1994/95 season.  The 2019/20 season was also decided on a points-per-game basis due to the coronavirus pandemic which curtailed the season.

At the moment, there have only been 11 champions of Scotland in 123 seasons.  This is because the Old Firm have won 105 between them (Rangers 54, Celtic 50).  Without the Old Firm, there would be a total of 19 champions.  For comparison, England has had 24 champions in its’ footballing history.

In only 5 seasons have both the Old Firm clubs finished outside the top two sides, and in only 1 have neither finished in the top three (in 1964-65 when Rangers finished 5^th and Celtic 8^th).  So removing them from contention changes the history of the game in Scotland significantly.

Here is the current table of teams that have won or been runners-up in the top division in Scotland:

	Winners	Runners-up
Rangers	55	33
Celtic	52	32
Aberdeen	4	17
Heart of Midlothian	4	14
Hibernian	4	6
Dumbarton	2	0
Motherwell	1	7
Kilmarnock	1	4
Dundee	1	4
Dundee United	1	0
Third Lanark	1	0
Airdrieonians	0	4
Falkirk	0	2
Morton	0	1

^{Note: includes shared title between Dumbarton & Rangers}

Without the Old Firm, and the actual order of the all-time winners table changes only slightly at the top.  Hearts would still be the most successful non-OF side in the country (a seldom highlighted fact), with Aberdeen and Hibs swapping places.  Motherwell would win a total of 13 titles, which is 12 more than they’ve actually won.  Kilmarnock would have won 6 more titles; Dundee United would go up to 6 titles from 1, but would also come 2^nd in the league 13 further times, which they have never achieved with the Old Firm in the mix.  Morton would have won the league 5 times, Airdrie 4 times and Partick Thistle 3 times, something which they have not once managed.  Falkirk, St. Mirren, Clyde, Dunfermline, St. Bernard’s, Livingston and Raith Rovers would all have titles to their name that they don’t at the moment.  Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that 8 teams would have won 5 or more titles, what could be considered a reasonable benchmark of historical success, whereas only Celtic and Rangers have managed this feat for now.

Here’s the table of winners and runners-up as it would be without the Old-Firm:

	Winners	Runners-up
Heart of Midlothian	27	24
Aberdeen	23	19
Hibernian	22	11
Motherwell	14	7
Kilmarnock	7	6
Dundee United	6	13
Dundee	5	5
Morton	5	3
Airdrieonians	4	4
Partick Thistle	3	5
Falkirk	2	3
St. Mirren	2	3
Clyde	2	2
Third Lanark	2	2
Dumbarton	2	0
Dunfermline Athletic	1	4
St. Bernard’s	1	1
Livingston	1	0
Raith Rovers	1	0
St. Johnstone	0	4
East Fife	0	2
Ayr United	0	1
Cambuslang	0	1
Inverness CT	0	2
Queen of the South	0	1
Hamilton Accies	0	0

^{Note: includes shared titles between Hearts/St. Bernard’s, Hearts/St. Mirren, Clyde/Partick Thistle, Kilmarnock/Morton & Dundee/Hearts and shared runners-up positions between Dundee/Hearts, Hibs/Partick Thistle, Hearts/Hibs}

Other interesting feats that would be accomplished include:

• An 8-in-a-row for Motherwell between 1926 and 1934
• A 5-in-a-row for Aberdeen between 2014 and 2019
• Hibs winning a 4-in-a-row twice (1949-53 & 1972-76)
• Airdrie (1922-25), Hearts (1956-59), Kilmarnock (1966-69), Aberdeen (1979-82), Motherwell (2011-14) all achieving 3-in-a-rows.

With the Old Firm teams in contention, only three other teams – Dumbarton (1890-92), Hibs (1950-52) and Aberdeen (1983-85) have won two titles in a row.

Also of interest, Livingston would have won the league in their first-ever season in the Premier League in 2001-02 and Hearts would have pipped Dundee United to the title in 2010-11 by one goal on goal difference (as they scored one more goal).

Here is a full summary of league titles in Scotland, including the non-Old Firm winner and runner-up and the actual winner and runner-up:

Season	Non-OF Winner	Non-OF Runner-Up	Actual Winner	Actual Runner-Up
1890-91	Dumbarton	Cambuslang	Dumbarton/Rangers
1891-92	Dumbarton	Hearts	Dumbarton	Celtic
1892-93	St. Mirren	Third Lanark	Celtic	Rangers
1893-94	Hearts/St. Bernard’s		Celtic	Hearts
1894-95	Hearts	St. Bernard’s	Hearts	Celtic
1895-96	Hibernian	Hearts	Celtic	Rangers
1896-97	Hearts	Hibernian	Hearts	Hibernian
1897-98	Hibernian	Hearts	Celtic	Rangers
1898-99	Hearts	Hibernian	Rangers	Hearts
1899-1900	Hibernian	Hearts	Rangers	Celtic
1900-01	Hibernian	Morton	Rangers	Celtic
1901-02	Hearts/St. Mirren		Rangers	Celtic
1902-03	Hibernian	Dundee/Hearts	Hibernian	Dundee
1903-04	Third Lanark	Hearts	Third Lanark	Hearts
1904-05	Third Lanark	Hibs/Partick Thistle	Celtic	Rangers
1905-06	Hearts	Airdrieonians	Celtic	Hearts
1906-07	Dundee	Airdrieonians	Celtic	Dundee
1907-08	Falkirk	Dundee	Celtic	Falkirk
1908-09	Dundee	Clyde	Celtic	Dundee
1909-10	Falkirk	Aberdeen	Celtic	Falkirk
1910-11	Aberdeen	Partick Thistle	Rangers	Aberdeen
1911-12	Clyde/Partick Thistle		Rangers	Celtic
1912-13	Airdrieonians	Hearts/Hibs	Rangers	Celtic
1913-14	Morton	Hearts	Celtic	Rangers
1914-15	Hearts	Morton	Celtic	Hearts
1915-16	Morton	Ayr United	Celtic	Rangers
1916-17	Morton	Airdrieonians	Celtic	Morton
1917-18	Kilmarnock/Morton		Rangers	Celtic
1918-19	Morton	Partick Thistle	Celtic	Rangers
1919-20	Motherwell	Dundee	Rangers	Celtic
1920-21	Dundee/Hearts		Rangers	Celtic
1921-22	Raith Rovers	Dundee	Celtic	Rangers
1922-23	Airdrieonians	Falkirk	Rangers	Airdrieonians
1923-24	Airdrieonians	Hibernian	Rangers	Airdrieonians
1924-25	Airdrieonians	Hibernian	Rangers	Airdrieonians
1925-26	Hearts	St. Mirren	Celtic	Airdrieonians
1926-27	Motherwell	Airdrieonians	Rangers	Motherwell
1927-28	Motherwell	Hearts	Rangers	Celtic
1928-29	Motherwell	Hearts	Rangers	Celtic
1929-30	Motherwell	Aberdeen	Rangers	Motherwell
1930-31	Motherwell	Partick Thistle	Rangers	Celtic
1931-32	Motherwell	St. Mirren	Motherwell	Rangers
1932-33	Motherwell	Hearts	Rangers	Motherwell
1933-34	Motherwell	Aberdeen	Rangers	Motherwell
1934-35	Hearts	St. Johnstone	Rangers	Celtic
1935-36	Aberdeen	Motherwell	Celtic	Rangers
1936-37	Aberdeen	Motherwell	Rangers	Aberdeen
1937-38	Hearts	Falkirk	Celtic	Hearts
1938-39	Hearts	Queen of the South	Rangers	Celtic
1946-47	Hibernian	Aberdeen	Rangers	Hibernian
1947-48	Hibernian	Partick Thistle	Hibernian	Rangers
1948-49	Dundee	Hibernian	Rangers	Dundee
1949-50	Hibernian	Hearts	Rangers	Hibernian
1950-51	Hibernian	Hearts	Hibernian	Rangers
1951-52	Hibernian	East Fife	Hibernian	Rangers
1952-53	Hibernian	East Fife	Rangers	Hibernian
1953-54	Partick Thistle	Hearts	Celtic	Hearts
1954-55	Aberdeen	Hearts	Aberdeen	Celtic
1955-56	Hibernian	Aberdeen	Rangers	Aberdeen
1956-57	Hearts	Aberdeen	Rangers	Hearts
1957-58	Hearts	Clyde	Hearts	Rangers
1958-59	Hearts	Motherwell	Rangers	Hearts
1959-60	Kilmarnock	Hearts	Hearts	Kilmarnock
1960-61	Kilmarnock	Third Lanark	Rangers	Kilmarnock
1961-62	Dundee	Dunfermline Athletic	Dundee	Rangers
1962-63	Partick Thistle	Kilmarnock	Rangers	Kilmarnock
1963-64	Kilmarnock	Dundee	Rangers	Kilmarnock
1964-65	Kilmarnock	Hearts	Kilmarnock	Hearts
1965-66	Kilmarnock	Dunfermline Athletic	Celtic	Rangers
1966-67	Clyde	Hibernian	Celtic	Rangers
1967-68	Hibernian	Dunfermline Athletic	Celtic	Rangers
1968-69	Dunfermline Athletic	Kilmarnock	Celtic	Rangers
1969-70	Hibernian	Dundee United	Celtic	Rangers
1970-71	Aberdeen	St. Johnstone	Celtic	Aberdeen
1971-72	Aberdeen	Hibernian	Celtic	Aberdeen
1972-73	Hibernian	Aberdeen	Celtic	Rangers
1973-74	Hibernian	Aberdeen	Celtic	Hibernian
1974-75	Hibernian	Dundee United	Rangers	Hibernian
1975-76	Hibernian	Motherwell	Rangers	Celtic
1976-77	Dundee United	Aberdeen	Celtic	Rangers
1977-78	Aberdeen	Dundee United	Rangers	Aberdeen
1978-79	Dundee United	St. Mirren	Celtic	Rangers
1979-80	Aberdeen	Morton	Aberdeen	Celtic
1980-81	Aberdeen	Dundee United	Celtic	Aberdeen
1981-82	Aberdeen	Dundee United	Celtic	Aberdeen
1982-83	Dundee United	Aberdeen	Dundee United	Celtic
1983-84	Aberdeen	Dundee United	Aberdeen	Celtic
1984-85	Aberdeen	Dundee United	Aberdeen	Celtic
1985-86	Hearts	Dundee United	Celtic	Hearts
1986-87	Dundee United	Hearts	Rangers	Celtic
1987-88	Hearts	Aberdeen	Celtic	Hearts
1988-89	Aberdeen	Dundee United	Rangers	Aberdeen
1989-90	Hearts	Aberdeen	Rangers	Aberdeen
1990-91	Aberdeen	Hearts	Rangers	Aberdeen
1991-92	Hearts	Dundee United	Rangers	Hearts
1992-93	Aberdeen	Dundee United	Rangers	Aberdeen
1993-94	Aberdeen	Motherwell	Rangers	Aberdeen
1994-95	Hibernian	Falkirk	Rangers	Motherwell
1995-96	Aberdeen	Hearts	Rangers	Celtic
1996-97	Dundee United	Hearts	Rangers	Celtic
1997-98	Hearts	Kilmarnock	Celtic	Rangers
1998-99	Kilmarnock	St. Johnstone	Rangers	Celtic
1999-2000	Hearts	Motherwell	Rangers	Celtic
2000-01	Hibernian	Hearts	Celtic	Rangers
2001-02	Livingston	Aberdeen	Celtic	Rangers
2002-03	Hearts	Kilmarnock	Rangers	Celtic
2003-04	Hearts	Dunfermline Athletic	Celtic	Rangers
2004-05	Hibernian	Aberdeen	Rangers	Celtic
2005-06	Hearts	Kilmarnock	Celtic	Hearts
2006-07	Aberdeen	Hearts	Celtic	Rangers
2007-08	Motherwell	Aberdeen	Celtic	Rangers
2008-09	Hearts	Aberdeen	Rangers	Celtic
2009-10	Dundee United	Hibernian	Rangers	Celtic
2010-11	Hearts	Dundee United	Rangers	Celtic
2011-12	Motherwell	Dundee United	Celtic	Rangers
2012-13	Motherwell	Inverness CT	Celtic	Motherwell
2013-14	Motherwell	Aberdeen	Celtic	Motherwell
2014-15	Aberdeen	Inverness CT	Celtic	Aberdeen
2015-16	Aberdeen	Hearts	Celtic	Aberdeen
2016-17	Aberdeen	St Johnstone	Celtic	Aberdeen
2017-18	Aberdeen	Hibernian	Celtic	Aberdeen
2018-19	Aberdeen	Kilmarnock	Celtic	Rangers
2019-20	Motherwell	Aberdeen	Celtic	Rangers
2020-21	Hibernian	Aberdeen	Rangers	Celtic
2021-22	Hearts	Motherwell	Celtic	Rangers

^{Note: No Championship held between 1939 & 1946 owing to World War II, 2019-20 decided on points-per-game basis due to coronavirus pandemic}

With the much-discussed topic of Celtic and Rangers moving into other competitions, like competing in the English league system, dead in the water for several different reasons – it is only a hypothetical question as to how exciting Scotland’s top football league would be without the two. But I think looking at the history books would show that for neutral and non-Old Firm fans that a top division without Celtic and Rangers would be far more exciting than with them.