Rangers dethrone Celtic

Having finished runners-up twice in the last three Scottish Premier League seasons, Rangers ended their title drought by winning the championship crown for the 52nd time in their history. Now, they lead rivals Celtic by 10 league titles in the all-time list.

Rangers finished four points ahead of Celtic who will be coached by former West Brom boss Tony Mowbray next season following the departure of Gordon Strachan last month.

The upset of missing out on the title on the very last day of the league and their defeat at the hands of Zenit SP in the 2008 UEFA Cup final increased Rangers' motivation to gain success last season.

The SPL title was their no.1 target. Manager Walter Smith made it clear that he had no intention of retiring after Rangers' Scottish Cup win over Falkirk (1-0) gave them a domestic double − the 17th in their history, three more than Celtic who beat the Gers 2-0 in the League Cup final at Hampden Park.

Rangers are now on a total of 111 honours.

Championship title: 52 times. Scottish Cup: 33. League Cup: 25. Cup Winners' Cup: 1.

Rangers will go straight into the group phase of the Champions League next season but Celtic must play two qualifying rounds.

Scotland's Europa League representatives will be Hearts and Aberdeen, who finished third and fourth. Falkirk have also gained a berth in the Europa League after reaching the Scottish Cup final.

Motherwell will also play in the Europa League next season after earning another slot via the Fair Play competition.

St Johnstone, the First Division champions, have returned to the Premier League.

Hat-tricks

Hat-tricks scored during the league campaign:

November 1: Boyd for Rangers (home) vs Inverness 5-0.
December 6: Boyd for Rangers (home) vs Hamilton 7-1.
December 27: Porter for Motherwell (home) vs Inverness 3-2.
February 28: Nakamura for Celtic (home) vs St Mirren 7-1.
April 11: Kyle for Kilmarnock (home) vs Falkirk 3-0.

Individual prizes

Football Writers Player of the Year: Gary Caldwell (Celtic).
Premier Player of the Season: Caldwell.
Manager of the Year: Czabo Laszlo (Hearts).
Young Player of the Year: Steven Fletcher (Hibernian).
PFA Player of the Year: Scott Brown (Celtic).
PFA Young Player of the Year: James McCarthy (Hamilton).
PFA Manager of the Year: Gordon Strachan (Celtic).

Play-offs

Ayr-Airdrie 2-2; Airdrie-Ayr 0-1.

Ayr win 3-2 on agg. (promoted to Div. One).

Cowdenbeath-Stenhousemuir 0-0; Stenhousemuir-Cowdenbeath 0-0.

Stenhousemuir won 5-4 on penalties (promoted to Division Two).