The year 2023 is over. People who won have been crowned, and people who lost have been criticised.
If we look past the titles, cups, and relegations, what else can we learn from the past year?
Who has tackled more people, scored the most goals, set up the most goals, made the most saves, and played in the most games?
Who played in the most games?
Greg Kiltie, a player for St. Mirren, played in 42 Scottish Premiership games this year, more than anyone else.
A group of six players, including Marcus Fraser and Scott Tanser from Paisley, as well as Callum McGregor and Kyogo Furuhashi from Celtic, played 40 times.
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Some more Premiership stars, like Lawrence Shankland, Kyle Rowles, Matt O’Riley, and Blair Spittal, played 39 times.
Who got the most goals?
This one isn’t a big surprise.
Shankland of Hearts has scored more goals than anyone else in the division this season and in 2023.
He beats Kyogo and James Tavernier of the Old Firm, even though all three have played about the same number of games.
But Kevin van Veen deserves special praise. He stayed in fourth place on the chart even though he had only played half as many games as the players around him.
How helpful it would be for Motherwell if he stayed at Fir Park this season.
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What about the most helps?
Once more, fans of the Old Firm have to look up at a winner from a different team. This time, Danny Armstrong of Kilmarnock is the player who has set up the most goals.
In 2023, the Englishman, who is 26 years old, set up a goal for a Rugby Park club every three and a half games. That’s good for a team that was fighting to stay in the league for most of the year.
Still, a shout-out to Celtic’s Luis Palma, who is only a couple of games behind Armstrong even though he’s only played 16 times since coming from Aris in the summer.
Who saved the most?
The person is Ross Laidlaw. It was also far away.
In 37 games, the goalie for Ross County made 128 saves, or about 3.5 per game.
But Kevin Holt and Ross Docherty’s saves in the shootout for Partick Thistle in May’s play-off final will have been the most important. They kept Dingwall in the Premiership.
One more person who deserves recognition is Dimitar Mitov of St. Johnstone, who has made the eighth most saves even though he only joined in the summer.
How about the most tackles?
The first person on this list is Daniel Phillips of St. Johnstone.
The tough defender for Trinidad and Tobago only played 33 games in 2023, but he made an average of three tackles in every one of them.
Another player who only played in 33 games was Paul McGinn of Motherwell, who came in second on the list.
