NOTE: This article has been updated on the 18th of May 2020 to include the results of the 2019/20 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 3rd place, or now for 2nd. 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 5th and Celtic 8th). 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 54 32 Celtic 51 31 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 2nd 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 26 24 Aberdeen 24 17 Hibernian 20 12 Motherwell 14 6 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.

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 Aberdeen Hibernian 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

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.