St Johnstone marked their return to the Scottish Premiership with a 4-3 win over Kilmarnock — the highest-scoring match of the new season's opening weekend (Wikipedia).

Seven goals in ninety minutes is a start few fans expect from the first weekend, when players are still shaking off pre-season rust and defences are yet to settle. For St Johnstone, the spectacle carried extra weight: they were promoted back to the top flight after a single season away and entered the campaign as the only newly promoted side (Sky Sports). The club had also been winless on opening day in each of their last seven Premiership seasons (BBC Sport). That long, frustrating run is over.

Motherwell joined them in the win column, beating Hibernian at Easter Road — Hibernian's home ground in Edinburgh — to give their new manager Alfred Johansson a victory in his first Premiership match (Sky Sports). Johansson's debut had been chosen for live television, a stage that can unsettle a new boss. Instead, his side delivered three points on the road.

Both matches were played on the Sunday of the opening weekend, rounding off the first round of fixtures in Scotland's top division for 2026-27.

Motherwell's good weekend extended beyond the league. They travelled to the Faroe Islands for the second leg of a European qualifying tie against Havnar Bóltfelag — a club from Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands, a tiny North Atlantic archipelago between Iceland and Norway. Carrying a 2-0 lead from the first leg at home (Motherwell FC), they won the return 3-0 to complete a 5-0 aggregate victory (BBC Sport). Two wins in a weekend, one domestic and one European, and a clean sheet in the Faroes. Johansson could not have asked for more.

For St Johnstone, the afternoon carried a different kind of satisfaction. The Perth club finished last season top of the second tier on 77 points, crowned by a 1-0 win at Ayr United on the final day (St Johnstone FC). That promotion earned them a place back among the country's twelve top-flight clubs, where the gap in budget and quality between the Premiership and the division below is significant. A 4-3 win on day one does not close that gap on its own. But it sends an immediate message that St Johnstone intend to make their return count.

What makes this opening weekend stand out is its generosity. Seven goals in one match, a new manager winning on the road, a European tie wrapped up comfortably — all packed into a single Sunday. Scottish football's curtain-raiser rarely delivers this much. The long season ahead will bring its usual share of graft and grind, but the first weekend offered something every fan wants: goals, drama, and a reason to believe.