Aribo’s Rangers earn Europa place as Celtic win 51st league title

 

Super Eagles and Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo has Europa league guaranteed next season  after the Scottish Football Association announced end to the Covid-19 tormented season on Monday.

Celtic were thus crowned league champions for the ninth successive season even as they claimed the sole Champions league slot for next season.

Second place finishers Rangers and third place finishers Motherwell book their place in the Europa. It was however not a sweet story for Hearts who were relegated, their second relegation spell since 2014.

The SPFL held a board meeting on Monday morning where they decided to bring the season to an end, meaning a 51st league title for Celtic.

Neil Lennon’s side held a 13-point lead over Rangers when the season was suspended on March 13, having played one more game.

At the other end, Hearts drop out of the top flight, although the club’s owner Ann Budge had threatened to take further action if the season was not completed.

In April, the 42 SPFL clubs voted – after some controversy – to end the season in the Championship, League One and League Two amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The SPFL board were also given the power to end the season in the Premiership if it became clear the fixtures could not be played.

However, the Scottish season has not been completely cancelled. The SFA remains committed to completing the Scottish Cup, with the tournament at the semi-final stage.

Aribo who joined Rangers last year from Charlton Athletic has so far made 27 appearances for the side with three goals to his credit.

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The former Staines Town ace had been tipped to post more impressive runs for Rangers before the league was called off no thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Aribo was also impressive for Super Eagles within the season scoring two goals in four appearances for the Gernot Rohr tutored side.