Why were five Scottish Premiership games postponed?
There's hardly any matches taking place in the Scottish Premiership this weekend
We've found out why...
Author | Sean M
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| Pre match at Celtic Park |
The SPFL has a rule specifically intended to support Scottish clubs seeking to reach the league phase of UEFA competitions.
Clubs involved in a Champions League, Europa League or Conference League play-off are entitled to postpone the Premiership fixture scheduled between the two legs of their European tie. Crucially, they do not require the consent of their domestic opponents to do so.
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| View from the stands at Tynecastle |
The SPFL board approved the policy in April 2025 following a recommendation from its Competitions Working Group, and it has been retained for this season.
Five clubs requested to use the provision before the SPFL's July deadline:
Celtic
Hearts
Rangers
Motherwell
Hibernian
Those postponements became relevant once the clubs reached their respective UEFA play-off rounds.
The reasoning behind the policy is straightforward. The SPFL says its aim is: "to support clubs aiming to reach the league phase of UEFA competitions.”
Is this amount of postponements unusual?
Seeing five matches disappear from a six-game Premiership round is certainly unusual. The mechanism behind it, however, is deliberate rather than improvised.
The rule was introduced precisely because a Scottish league fixture can fall between the two legs of a UEFA play-off. What makes this weekend particularly unusual is the number of Scottish clubs reaching that stage at the same time and opting to exercise their right to postpone.
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