2016 Scottish Women's Premier League

The 2016 Scottish Women's Premier League was the 15th season of the SWPL, the highest division of women's football in Scotland since 2002. For the first time, the league was split into two divisions of eight teams each, SWPL 1 and SWPL 2.

The split into two divisions reduced the number of top-division teams from 12 to 8. The change was made to increase competitiveness in the league. ^[1] SWPL 2 became the new level 2 Scottish women's league, displacing the First Division (SWFL 1) to level 3.

The restructuring had begun in 2015 by requiring four SWPL clubs to be effectively relegated. Lewis Melee quoted a manager critical of the SWF's consultation and lack of notice for the league's new clubs: "Rather than saying we need to finish 11th for our first year in the league they were having to finish 8th and they didn’t have a 6 to 12-month plan to prepare… they were probably the ones that suffered more than anyone". ^[2]

At the end of the season in October 2016, Glasgow City were champions, ahead of Hibernian. ^{[3] [4]} City became the first senior football club to win ten Scottish league titles in succession. The champions of SWPL 2 were Hamilton Academical. ^[5]

Teams

Aberdeen

Edinburgh

Forfar

Glasgow

Hamilton

Inverness

Maud

Perth

Stirling

class=notpageimage|

Locations of teams in the 2016 SWPL

SWPL 1

Team	Location	Home ground	Capacity	2015 position
Aberdeen	Aberdeen	Heathryfold Park	2,200	4th
Celtic	Glasgow	K Park Training Academy, East Kilbride	1,000	3rd
Forfar Farmington	Forfar	Station Park	6,777	8th
Glasgow City	Glasgow	Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie	10,100	1st
Hibernian	Edinburgh	Albyn Park, Broxburn	1,000	2nd
Rangers	Glasgow	Tinto Park	2,000	6th
Spartans	Edinburgh	Spartans Academy	2,000	5th
Stirling University	Stirling	University of Stirling	1,000	7th

SWPL 2

Team	Location	Home ground	Capacity	2015 position
Buchan	Maud	Pleasure Park		2nd in SWFL1
Glasgow Girls	Glasgow	Budhill Park, Shettleston		1st in SWFL1
Hamilton Academical	Hamilton	New Douglas Park	6,018	10th in SWPL
Heart of Midlothian	Edinburgh	Kings Park, Dalkeith		9th in SWPL
Hutchison Vale	Edinburgh	Saughton Enclosure		11th in SWPL
Inverness City	Inverness	Millburn Academy		12th in SWPL
Jeanfield Swifts	Perth	McDiarmid Park 3G		3rd in SWFL1
Queen's Park	Glasgow	Toryglen Regional Football Centre		4th in SWFL1

SWPL 1

Scottish Women's Premier League 1

Season	2016
Champions	Glasgow City
Relegated	Forfar Farmington
Champions League	Glasgow City Hibernian
Matches played	80
Goals scored	302 (3.78 per match)
Biggest home win	Hibernian 9–0 Rangers (28 August 2016)
Biggest away win	Spartans 0–8 Glasgow City (20 April 2016)
Highest scoring	Nine goals: Hibernian 9–0 Rangers (28 August 2016) Glasgow City 8–1 Stirling University (23 May 2016)
Longest winning run	10 matches: Glasgow City
Longest unbeaten run	10 matches: Glasgow City
Longest winless run	13 matches: Forfar Farmington
Longest losing run	13 matches: Forfar Farmington
← 2015 2017 → All statistics correct as of 23 October 2016.

Format

In the first season after the reduction to eight teams a new format is played. Teams will play each other three times, with the bottom placed team being relegated after the season. The split into a championship and relegation group is discontinued. ^[6]

Standings

Teams will play 21 matches each.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Glasgow City (C)	21	20	0	1	78	12	+66	60	2017–18 Champions League
2	Hibernian (Q)	21	17	1	3	76	17	+59	52
3	Celtic	21	13	0	8	50	30	+20	39
4	Stirling University	21	9	1	11	28	45	−17	28
5	Rangers	21	9	0	12	35	57	−22	27
6	Spartans	21	7	1	13	24	54	−30	22
7	Aberdeen	21	5	1	15	17	46	−29	16
8	Forfar Farmington (R)	21	2	0	19	12	59	−47	6	2017 SWPL 2

Updated to match(es) played on 30 October 2016. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champion; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1 to 14 Home \ Away ABE CEL FOR GLA HIB RAN SPA STI Aberdeen 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–0 1–2 4–0 0–1 Celtic 5–0 4–0 2–3 1–2 5–1 6–0 0–3 Forfar Farmington 0–3 2–3 2–4 1–3 0–2 0–3 2–0 Glasgow City 1–0 1–0 8–0 2–0 7–0 0–3 8–1 Hibernian 8–0 3–2 3–0 0–4 3–1 4–0 5–0 Rangers 2–0 1–2 3–1 0–3 0–6 1–0 4–1 Spartans 2–1 0–2 3–1 0–8 1–6 1–0 3–1 Stirling University 1–3 2–1 1–0 0–1 0–3 1–0 2–2 Updated to match(es) played on 9 October 2016. Source: Scottish Women's Football Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 15 to 21 Home \ Away ABE CEL FOR GLA HIB RAN SPA STI Aberdeen 0–3 1–0 0–2 0–6 Celtic 5–0 3–1 1–0 Forfar Farmington 0–3 1–5 0–1 0–1 Glasgow City 7–0 5–0 3–1 5–3 Hibernian 3–0 9–0 5–1 5–0 Rangers 3–0 5–4 0–5 Spartans 0–3 0–1 0–3 Stirling University 2–1 3–4 0–3 Updated to match(es) played on 30 October 2016. Source: Scottish Women's Football Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

SWPL 2

Scottish Women's Premier League 2

Season	2016
Relegated	Inverness City Queen's Park
Matches played	79
Goals scored	408 (5.16 per match)
Biggest home win	Hamilton Academical 11–0 Inverness City (22 May 2016) Glasgow Girls 11–0 Inverness City (9 October 2016)
Biggest away win	Queen's Park 0–13 Jeanfield Swifts (22 May 2016)
Highest scoring	Queen's Park 0–13 Jeanfield Swifts (22 May 2016)
Longest winning run	8 matches: Glasgow Girls
Longest unbeaten run	8 matches: Glasgow Girls
Longest winless run	10 matches: Inverness City
Longest losing run	7 matches: Inverness City
← 2015 2017 → All statistics correct as of 23 October 2016.

Format

In the first season after the reduction to eight teams a new format is played. Teams will play each other three times, with the bottom placed team being relegated after the season. The split into a championship and relegation group is discontinued. ^[7]

Standings

Teams will play 21 matches each.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hamilton Academical (C, P)	21	17	0	4	87	25	+62	51	2017 SWPL 1
2	Heart of Midlothian	21	15	4	2	71	16	+55	49
3	Glasgow Girls	21	16	1	4	59	21	+38	49
4	Hutchison Vale [lower-alpha 1]	21	9	4	8	52	42	+10	31
5	Jeanfield Swifts	21	9	1	11	70	45	+25	28
6	Buchan	21	6	3	12	46	58	−12	21
7	Queen's Park (R)	21	3	0	18	22	115	−93	9	2017 SWFL 1
8	Inverness City (R)	21	2	1	18	24	109	−85	7

Updated to match(es) played on 30 October 2016. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Hutchison Vale were deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player in their win over Heart of Midlothian on 21 August 2016. The result was reversed and Hearts were awarded a 3-0 win. ^[8]

Results

Matches 1 to 14 Home \ Away BUC GLG HAM HOM HUT INV JFS QPA Buchan 1–5 1–2 2–2 3–3 5–0 1–4 4–3 Glasgow Girls 3–1 2–1 0–2 1–3 2–1 3–2 3–0 Hamilton Academical 5–2 2–0 1–3 5–2 11–0 4–0 5–1 Heart of Midlothian 4–1 0–2 1–0 1–1 7–0 2–1 5–0 Hutchison Vale 0–3 0–2 2–1 0–3 6–0 0–0 11–1 Inverness City 2–1 0–2 3–5 1–10 1–1 0–3 5–1 Jeanfield Swifts 7–2 0–2 2–3 1–4 2–4 6–1 5–1 Queen's Park 4–2 0–1 1–10 1–7 1–2 4–3 0–13 Updated to match(es) played on 9 October 2016. Source: Scottish Women's Football Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 15 to 21 Home \ Away BUC GLG HAM HOM HUT INV JFS QPA Buchan 1–1 5–2 3–0 Glasgow Girls 4–1 4–0 11–0 3–2 Hamilton Academical 3–1 4–2 3–1 6–0 Heart of Midlothian 1–1 3–0 7–0 6–0 Hutchison Vale 0–3 0–6 3–2 Inverness City 1–6 0–5 2–6 Jeanfield Swifts 4–3 3–5 0–1 9–0 Queen's Park 0–6 0–4 0–9 4–2 Updated to match(es) played on 30 October 2016. Source: Scottish Women's Football Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

1. "SWPL Reconstruction: Will It Work? | Scottish Women's Football". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
2. Melee, Lewis. "An exploration of the Scottish Women's Premier League 2016 league restructure" (PDF). Abertay University. p. 49 ('41'). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2022.
3. "City close in on 10 in a row". Glasgow City FC. 9 Oct 2016.
4. "Glasgow City clinch 10 league titles in a row by beating Hibs". BBC Sport. 23 Oct 2016.
5. "Where Are They Now? – 2016 The First SWPL 2 Title Winners". Accies WFC. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020.
6. "New SWPL 1 & SWPL 2 season 2016". scottishfa.co.uk. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
7. "New SWPL 1 & SWPL 2 season 2016". scottishfa.co.uk. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
8. "SWF Statement – SWPL 2 league standings (11/10/2016)". Scottish Women's Football. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.

External links

• Season at soccerway.com