ALL four senior Scottish Leagues will kick off on August 6 this year, so if Celtic win 5 in a Row we can expect that to be Flag Day weekend, depending on TV schedules.
The Scottish Professional Football League revealed the 2016/17 Premiership, Championship, League One and League Two campaigns will all begin on the same weekend.
The domestic schedule will start three weeks earlier, with the first running of the new League Cup summer group stage which involves the SPFL’s 38 non-European qualifiers as well as the Highland and Lowland League champions.
The new format consists of eight groups of five teams who will play each other once in a round-robin format across five dates – July 16, 20, 23, 27 and 30 – subject to TV selections.
SPFL season 2016/17 will also see the reintroduction of a winter break – for the Premiership only – with the 12 top-flight clubs enjoying a three-week break from league games, equating to two full weekends without SPFL matches, in January 2017.
The full league fixture lists for next season are expected to be announced in June.
Celtic are currently 6 points ahead of Aberdeen and the teams face each other at Pittodrie a week on Wednesday. Celtic also have a vastly superior goal difference.
