Scottish Premiership returns - all you need to know

A Club World Cup win, squad rebuilds going into the hundreds of millions, fancy US tours and new stadiums costing £800m. Pah.

Yes, the Premier League has a few plus points. But it's not the Scottish Premiership.

The juggernaut that is Scotland's top flight cranks up again on Saturday. It may not be all glamour, but you can bet your last Donald Trump-autographed Chelsea trophy photo that it will deliver jaw-dropping drama and more talking points than you could shake a kebab pie at.

Let's dive in to what potential story lines and plot twists may lie ahead.

Are Celtic & Rangers going to be in title race?

Whisper it, but this season may have a bit of needle between the big two.

Celtic's dominance has yielded 13 of the past 14 titles, tying Rangers for 55 in total. But will this campaign herald a return to a tussle at the top?

Celtic finished 17 points clear last time but questions linger over squad depth as unease grows among fans in the east end of Glasgow. Meanwhile, Rangers, under new boss Russell Martin, have started positively - albeit not wholly convincingly - getting past Panathinaikos to reach the third round of Champions League qualifying.

The new American ownership group at Ibrox have put their money on the line, bringing in nine players with the promise of more to come.

While Brendan Rodgers' side will start as favourites to lift title number 56, this season may see one of the closest races for a few years.

The Old Firm rivals meet at Ibrox at the end of August on what will be the fourth round of fixtures.

Are the big city clubs 'back'?

Outside of the Old Firm, this is one of the most highly anticipated seasons in years with fresh investment and high expectations to be met.

The traditional big clubs of the Scottish Premiership are arguably in the best position they have been for a long while, so will they occupy the top five spots in the table?

The Tony Bloom supercomputer is plugged into the Tynecastle mainframe and identifying fresh talents from across the globe, with Hearts fans ready for a fairy tale season under new boss Derek McInnes after a grim struggle last term. The former Aberdeen and Kilmarnock head coach has a huge squad to grapple with at the moment as he targets Europe and a shot at silverware.

David Gray's Hibernian transformed their fortunes in 2025 and, despite having European football to contend with as they drop into Conference League qualifying, they will hope to pick up where they left off, having gone from last to third during a remarkable run.

Key figures have been retained in a settled side at Easter Road, while Jamie McGrath and Josh Mulligan have been plucked from league rivals and Kieron Bowie provides a powerful presence after an injury-interrupted debut season.

Aberdeen know they have to juggle European and domestic football until the turn of the year after ending their long wait for Scottish Cup glory, so it's no wonder fans have turned out in record numbers for their season books.

Such a juggling act has been tricky for Scottish sides of late, but manager Jimmy Thelin is another who has been well backed by the healthy coffers at Pittodrie.

Meanwhile, on Tayside, Jim Goodwin is preparing his Dundee United side to follow up a mightily impressive return to the top flight.

As the newly-promoted side, they rocketed up the table and remained there, ultimately finishing fourth and securing some European jaunts for fans in the process. Rapid Vienna await in Conference League qualifying next week.

There has been a colossal turnover in players at Tannadice and it will be fascinating to see how all of the new arrivals settle in.

Crowds up, money up, quality up?

Last season, a record 5,336,353 supporters attended games across the SPFL, the highest total since 2012-13.

The top flight accounted for almost four million of those punters (3,986,145).

The addition of Falkirk to the top table brings with it a Bairns fanbase positively bursting with anticipation after successive promotions. By mid-July, they had sold all season tickets in the Kevin McAllister Stand and the Main Stand, with only a small number remaining in the ground, that's roughly 5,700 punters signed up for every home game.

After securing historic back-to-back top-six finishes, St Mirren say they are at "record numbers again" for their regulars.

With home turnstiles busy up and down the country, away tickets are harder and harder to come by.

Supporters are backing their sides in big numbers in the expectation of another blockbuster season.

Splashing the cash on transfers

Brighton owner Bloom has ploughed £10m into Hearts, Aberdeen are on a spending spree and Hibs broke their transfer record to sign Togo international striker Thibault Klidje from Luzern.

There's gold in them thar Premiership hills.

With attendances up, revenues usually follow and the bigger the club, the greater capacity to combine that with sponsorship deals, all culminating in the big-money signings.

So far, every top-flight club except Dundee United and newly-promoted Livingston have shelled out some dough for a transfer fee, all of which are officially "undisclosed".

Kilmarnock sold young asset Bobby Wales and invested that cash in a glut of new signings. That compensation is likely to be chicken feed compared to the money Motherwell generate from hot property Lennon Miller.

New managers take their seats

No fewer than five clubs will start out with a new gaffer, with David Martindale and John McGlynn also returning to top-flight dugouts in a major refresh of faces, even if most of them are familiar.

The 'new' boys are Martin at Rangers, McInnes at Hearts, Stuart Kettlewell at Kilmarnock, Jens Berthel Askou at Motherwell and Steven Pressley at Dundee.

The latter is under a degree of pressure already after a premature exit from the League Cup, stemming from losing his first two games to lower league opponents.

Four clubs ditched their managers during the last campaign, with Hearts doing it twice, so it would take a brave bet against further upheaval as we get going.

Follow it all with the BBC

BBC Scotland has it all covered.

On television, Open All Mics will take you through the best of the opening day on BBC One Scotland at 14:25 BST, before Sportscene highlights on BBC Scotland at 20:00.

Sunday's highlights will be brought to you by Jonathan Sutherland on BBC Scotland at 19:15.

Sportsound will be beaming out across the radio airwaves all weekend with games spread across Saturday, Sunday and Monday with a mixture of news, views and analysis.

And online we will bring you the best of the action right here. Remember, you can follow your favourite Scottish Premiership team's own dedicated page. Head HERE and scroll down to find your side. Don't forget to follow and subscribe.