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
Scottish Football Association the full Scotland women's national football team, under-19 and under-17 teams. The Scottish Football Association organises the Scottish Cup and the Scottish Youth Cup. Although the SFA are not involved in the day-to-day operation of the Scottish Professional Football League or other league competitions, they do appoint referees to officiate the games in these leagues. The Scottish Football Association encourages quality of governance in football clubs through a system of club licence awards. All SFA member clubs are assessed annually in four areas (grounds, first team support, youth team support, and governance) and, if appropriate, awarded a licence at gold,