While the Scottish Premiership is always filled with excitement, the 2021/2022 season might just be able to stake a claim as one of the most exciting in recent years.
The 2021/2022 season truly had it all. There were last minute goals, tense shoot outs, dominant displays of skill and plenty of more light-hearted moments to remind us why the Scottish Premiership truly is one of the most enjoyable leagues to watch in the world.
With preparations underway for the 2022/2023 season, however, now is the perfect time to reflect on everything that happened last season. With that said, let’s take a look at the top five moments from the 2021/2022 Scottish Premiership!
Celtic secure title with dominant 32-game win streak
While Celtic are certainly known to be one of the best professional teams in the British Isles, an argument can be made that the 2021/2022 season saw them cement this legacy.
Following a 1-1 draw with Dundee United at Tannadice, Celtic were crowned the Scottish Premiership champions.
This was a remarkable victory for the giants of Scottish football in many respects.
Not only did it mark the 52nd occasion when the Celtic side was crowned the Champion of Scottish football, but it was also the 32nd game in a row they had won. This was even more remarkable given that few were predicting this level of success at the start of the season — particularly given their rather lacklustre performance in the 2020/2021 season.
While past performance is not necessarily a predictor of future success, this nevertheless spells good things for the upcoming season. If you think they can repeat this feat next season, then make sure to check out the best betting bonus sites over at bestbettingsites.co.uk before placing your bet!
Giorgos Giakoumakis stuns the Scottish Premiership
Admittedly this was not so much a single ‘moment’ in the 2021/2022 premiership as it was a sequence of ‘moments’ strung together over the course of the season. We would be practically negligent to not mention the rise of Giorgos Giakoumakis.
Having transferred from the Dutch side VVV-Venlo, Giakoumakis transferred to Celtic during the dying stages of the summer transfer window in August 2021. While this deal undoubtedly cost Celtic a few quid — with the deal reportedly worth millions — it had clearly paid off by the end of the season.
Following a series of stunning performances, which included multiple hat tricks and plenty of doubles, Giakoumakis ended the 2021/2022 season as the top goal scorer in the Scottish Championship for the year. This was despite only playing in 21 games during the course of the season, which was 16 fewer games than Regan Charles-Cook who came in joint first place.
Japanese phenom Kyogo Furuhashi proves his worth
Another highlight of the 2021/2022 season was the rise of Kyogo Furuhashi.
Originally hailing from Nara, Japan, Furuhashi has spent most of his professional career playing for Japanese football clubs. However, following a transfer deal worth a reported £4.5m signed in July 2021, Furuhashi has firmly proved his worth on the European circuit.
Furuhashi made his debut for Celtic in August 2021 and put in some incredible performances in the 2021/2022 season.
This included an incredible hat trick in a thrashing dished out to Dundee, with Furuhashi scoring 12 goals during the season. This put him in third place behind Giakoumakis and Charles-Cook for top goal scorer in the 2021/2022 season.
Gerard departs Rangers
Although this was certainly a low point for Rangers fans, you can’t help but acknowledge that this was one of the season’s most notable moments.
After stepping in as Rangers skipper ahead of the 2018-2019 season, Gerrard steered the team through plenty of highs and lows. This included a 12-game unbeaten streak, as well as an epic win over Celtic which was their first since 2012. It also included a record-breaking 2020-2021 season, where they claimed back-to-back wins over Celtic and won the Scottish Premiership title without losing a single league match.
However, despite any successes he might have been having at the club, Gerrard’s name was constantly linked to rumours that he was due to move to a Premier League side.
These rumours came true in November 2021, when Gerrard was appointed as head coach of Aston Villa on a three-and-a-half-year contract. While this move did result in a £4m pay-out to the club by Villa, fans were understandably less enthused!
McAdams hit with suspension for lobbing toilet roll
On the more light-hearted side of things, one of the funniest moments in the 2021-2022 season was when the Ayrshire keeper Aidan McAdams was hit with a two-match suspension for lobbing a toilet roll into the away end of the stand.
This took place during the infamous Ayrshire derby, which is one of the most hotly contested fixtures in Scottish league football.
While certainly not something we would condone, McAdams’ frustrated, unceremonious lobbing of the toilet roll into the stands was certainly a high point for hilarity in the season!