This weekend's SPFL matches have all been postponed following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
A joint statement from the SFA and SPFL announced professional football would shut down as a mark of respect after the monarch's death aged 96 on Thursday. It follows similar decision in England and Northern Ireland, with the Premier League and the NIFL Premiership also calling off fixtures.
A date is yet to be confirmed for the Queen's funeral and it's possible this could lead to further postponements. There's further uncertainty surrounding midweek European matches, with Celtic, Rangers and Hearts scheduled to play in the Champions League and Europa Conference League over the next seven days. Friday's announcement also means the SPFL will be forced to rearrange a number of fixtures in what is already a congested and truncated first half of the 2022/23 top-flight season. Premiership football will be paused in November for the duration of the Qatar World Cup and there are now several matches which will be re-arranged.
Some, including Dundee United vs Hibs, Ross County vs Motherwell and Kilmarnock vs St Johnstone, could be pencilled in for a late October midweek slot (likely between October 22 and 29) following the upcoming international break. Said break could give clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two the chance to play their postponed games.
The Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals mean a number of clubs would not be able to play the league fixtures before then, although Hearts could potentially play their postponed match against St Mirren in amongst those, with both clubs already knocked out of the tournament.
That would leave Aberdeen vs Rangers and Celtic vs Livingston, and the Glasgow clubs' involvement in the Champions League and Premier Sports Cup means neither have any free midweeks between now and the World Cup. It appears the earliest opportunity to play those fixtures will come in January.
Both clubs may remain in Europe beyond Christmas but UEFA competitions do not restart until February. These fixtures could, therefore, potentially be played between January 2 and January 7 at the earliest.
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