2016–17 in Scottish football 2016–17 in Scottish football The 2016–17 season was the 120th season of competitive football in Scotland. The domestic season began on 16 July 2016, with the first round of the 2016–17 Scottish League Cup. The 2016–17 Scottish Professional Football League season commenced on 6 August. Celtic, Aberdeen, Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian qualified for European competition. Jane Ross and Caroline Weir were both nominated for the (English) PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year award. The Scotland women's national football team qualified for a major tournament for the first time. A loss by Finland against Portugal confirmed that Scotland would
Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada each paid a $150 million expansion fee, a significant increase from the $100 million that New York City FC paid to join MLS in 2015. For comparison, the Ottawa Redblacks paid C$7 million to join the Canadian Football League. All of the top four major leagues exhibit stability in most of their franchises. No team from the top four leagues has collapsed outright since the 1970s. The last team to cease operations was the NHL's Cleveland Barons in 1978, when financial pressures forced a merger with the Minnesota North Stars. MLB voted in 2001 to contract from 30 teams to