2017–18 Scottish League One

The 2017–18 Scottish League One (known as Ladbrokes League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 23 June 2017.^[3]

Scottish League One

Season	2017–18
Champions	Ayr United
Promoted	Ayr United Alloa Athletic
Relegated	Queen's Park Albion Rovers
Matches played	180
Goals scored	578 (3.21 per match)
Top goalscorer	Lawrence Shankland (26 goals)[1]
Biggest home win	Arbroath 7–1 Airdrieonians[2] (21 October 2017)
Biggest away win	East Fife 0–5 Raith Rovers[2] (26 August 2017) Forfar Athletic 0–5 Arbroath[2] (16 September 2017) Queen's Park 0–5 Raith Rovers[2] (16 September 2017) Forfar Athletic 0–5 Ayr United[2] (21 October 2017) East Fife 0–5 Arbroath[2] (14 April 2018)
Highest scoring	East Fife 5–4 Albion Rovers[2] (14 October 2017)
Longest winning run	8 matches:[2] Ayr United
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches:[2] Ayr United
Longest winless run	10 matches:[2] Forfar Athletic
Longest losing run	7 matches:[2] Albion Rovers
Highest attendance	4,496[2] Raith Rovers 0–0 Alloa Athletic (28 April 2018)
Lowest attendance	167[2] Albion Rovers 1–2 Arbroath (27 March 2018)
Total attendance	149,668[2]
Average attendance	831[2] ( 266)
← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 28 April 2018.

Ten teams contested the league: Airdrieonians, Albion Rovers, Alloa Athletic, Arbroath, Ayr United, East Fife, Forfar Athletic, Queen's Park, Raith Rovers and Stranraer.

Prize money

In April 2018, the SPFL confirmed the prize money to be allocated to the league members at the conclusion of the competitions. The League One winners would receive £119,000 with a total pot of £24.5 million to be distributed across the four divisions.^[4]

Teams

The following teams changed division prior to the 2016–17 season.

To League One Promoted from Scottish League Two Arbroath Forfar Athletic Relegated from Scottish Championship Ayr United Raith Rovers

From League One Relegated to Scottish League Two Peterhead Stenhousemuir Promoted to Scottish Championship Brechin City Livingston

Stadia and locations

Airdrieonians	Albion Rovers	Alloa Athletic	Arbroath
Excelsior Stadium	Cliftonhill	Recreation Park	Gayfield Park
Capacity: 10,101[5]	Capacity: 1,238[6]	Capacity: 3,100[7]	Capacity: 6,600[8]
Ayr United	Airdrieonians Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Arbroath Ayr United East Fife Forfar Athletic Queen's Park Raith Rovers Stranraer		East Fife
Somerset Park			Bayview Stadium
Capacity: 10,185[9]			Capacity: 1,980[10]
Forfar Athletic	Queen's Park	Raith Rovers	Stranraer
Station Park	Hampden Park	Stark's Park	Stair Park
Capacity: 6,777[11]	Capacity: 51,866[12]	Capacity: 8,867[13]	Capacity: 4,178[14]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Airdrieonians	Stevie Findlay	Marc Fitzpatrick[15]	Under Armour	Holemasters[16]
Albion Rovers	Brian Kerr	Gary Fisher	Adidas	Reigart Demolition
Alloa Athletic	Jim Goodwin	Andy Graham[17]	Pendle	The Energy Check[18]
Arbroath	Dick Campbell	Mark Whatley[19]	Pendle[20]	Megatech[20]
Ayr United	Ian McCall	Ross Docherty[21]	Adidas[22]	Bodog[22]
East Fife	Darren Young	Kevin Smith[23]	Joma	W Glendinning Haulage Contractors (Home) EF Joinery (Away)
Forfar Athletic	Jim Weir	Michael Travis	Pendle	Orchard Timber Products
Queen's Park	Gus MacPherson	Sean Burns[24]	Under Armour	Irn-Bru
Raith Rovers	Barry Smith	Kyle Benedictus	Puma[25]	valmcdermid.com (Home)[25] Tag Games (Away)[25]
Stranraer	Stephen Farrell	Scott Robertson	Stanno	Stena Line[26]

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Albion Rovers	Darren Young	Contract expired	6 May 2017[27]	Pre-season	Brian Kerr	8 May 2017[28]
Raith Rovers	John Hughes	Resigned	13 May 2017[29]		Barry Smith	29 May 2017[30]
East Fife	Barry Smith	Signed by Raith Rovers	29 May 2017[30]		Darren Young	3 June 2017[31]
Airdrieonians	Mark Wilson	Resigned	17 June 2017[32]		Willie Aitchison	4 August 2017[33]
Airdrieonians	Willie Aitchison	Sacked	19 August 2017	5th	Stevie Findlay	29 September 2017[34]
Forfar Athletic	Gary Bollan	Sacked	18 September 2017[35]	10th	Stuart Balmer Barry Sellars (joint-interims)	18 September 2017[35]
Forfar Athletic	Stuart Balmer Barry Sellars (joint-interims)	Interim ended	1 October 2017[36]	10th	Jim Weir[36]	1 October 2017

League Summary

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Ayr United (C, P)	36	24	4	8	92	42	+50	76	Promotion to the Championship
2	Raith Rovers	36	22	9	5	68	32	+36	75	Qualification for the Championship play-offs
3	Alloa Athletic (O, P)	36	17	9	10	56	43	+13	60
4	Arbroath	36	17	8	11	70	51	+19	59
5	Stranraer	36	16	5	15	58	66	−8	53
6	East Fife	36	13	3	20	49	67	−18	42
7	Airdrieonians	36	10	11	15	46	60	−14	41
8	Forfar Athletic	36	11	5	20	40	65	−25	38
9	Queen's Park (R)	36	7	10	19	42	72	−30	31	Qualification for the League One play-offs
10	Albion Rovers (R)	36	8	6	22	57	80	−23	30	Relegation to League Two

Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Positions by Round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.

	Leader - Promotion to 2018–19 Scottish Championship
	Qualification to Championship play-offs
	Qualification to League One play-offs
	Relegation to 2018–19 Scottish League Two

Team \ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36
Ayr United	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1
Raith Rovers	6	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	2
Alloa Athletic	5	9	6	7	6	7	7	8	8	7	6	3	3	4	4	3	4	3	3	3	3	5	5	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3
Arbroath	2	3	4	3	6	3	2	4	5	3	4	5	4	3	3	4	5	5	5	4	4	3	4	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	3	4
Stranraer	4	7	8	8	5	4	6	6	6	6	7	6	6	6	6	6	3	4	4	5	5	4	3	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5
East Fife	8	4	3	6	7	6	5	5	4	5	3	4	5	5	5	5	6	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	7	6	6	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6
Airdrieonians	7	8	5	4	4	8	8	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Forfar Athletic	3	6	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	10	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Queen's Park	9	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9
Albion Rovers	10	5	7	5	3	5	4	3	3	4	5	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Updated: 28 April 2018

Results

Teams play each other four times, twice in the first half of the season (home and away) and twice in the second half of the season (home and away), making a total of 36 games.

First half of season Home \ Away AIR ALB ALL ARB AYR EFI FOR QPA RAI STR Airdrieonians — 2–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–1 4–2 2–2 2–0 Albion Rovers 1–2 — 0–2 1–2 1–5 3–2 3–4 0–1 2–1 0–4 Alloa Athletic 1–0 2–5 — 5–3 1–2 4–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 Arbroath 7–1 1–4 1–1 — 1–4 2–3 2–1 2–0 1–2 1–2 Ayr United 2–2 3–2 3–3 1–2 — 3–0 3–0 3–2 3–0 2–0 East Fife 6–1 5–4 1–0 3–1 1–4 — 3–0 0–1 0–5 1–1 Forfar Athletic 2–1 0–2 0–2 0–5 0–5 2–0 — 0–3 1–1 1–1 Queen's Park 1–1 2–5 0–4 0–2 0–2 2–1 1–1 — 0–5 2–2 Raith Rovers 2–0 3–1 2–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 2–0 — 3–0 Stranraer 3–1 2–2 2–0 2–6 3–4 1–0 3–0 3–0 1–0 — Source: Scottish League One Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season Home \ Away AIR ALB ALL ARB AYR EFI FOR QPA RAI STR Airdrieonians — 2–0 2–2 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 2–1 1–2 2–1 Albion Rovers 2–2 — 1–3 1–2 2–3 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 1–3 Alloa Athletic 2–2 3–1 — 3–2 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 0–0 0–1 Arbroath 2–0 1–0 0–0 — 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 2–3 Ayr United 3–0 2–0 1–2 1–2 — 3–0 2–3 4–0 3–0 1–2 East Fife 2–1 2–0 2–1 0–5 2–3 — 1–2 0–2 2–3 2–3 Forfar Athletic 0–1 4–2 0–1 0–1 0–2 2–0 — 1–1 2–1 5–1 Queen's Park 0–0 2–2 1–2 3–0 1–4 2–3 2–2 — 1–3 2–2 Raith Rovers 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–0 — 3–0 Stranraer 3–2 2–3 1–0 1–4 1–5 0–2 2–0 2–3 0–3 — Source: Scottish League One Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of matches played on 28 April 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Lawrence Shankland	Ayr United	26
2	Alan Trouten	Albion Rovers	20
3	Craig Moore	Ayr United	19
4	Ryan Wallace	Stranraer/Arbroath	16
5	Lewis Vaughan	Raith Rovers	15
6	Chris Duggan	East Fife	14
7	Michael Moffat	Ayr United	11
	Greig Spence	Raith Rovers
9	Danny Denholm	Arbroath	10
	Liam Buchanan	Raith Rovers
	Scott Agnew	Stranraer

Source:^[1][37]

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Craig Moore	Ayr United	Albion Rovers	5–1	6 August 2017	[38]
Ryan McCord	Arbroath	Stranraer	6–2	23 September 2017	[39]
Michael Moffat	Ayr United	Forfar Athletic	5–0	21 October 2017	[40]
Ross C. Stewart	Alloa Athletic	Arbroath	5–3	6 March 2018	[41]
Lawrence Shankland	Ayr United	Queen's Park	4–0	24 March 2018	[42]

Discipline

Player

Yellow cards As of matches played on 28 April 2018 Rank Player Club Cards 1 Iain Davidson Raith Rovers 12 2 Sean Burns Queen's Park 11 3 Ross Davidson Albion Rovers 10 Mark Millar Forfar Athletic Gregor Fotheringham Queen's Park 6 Aaron Dunsmore East Fife 9 Source:[37][43]

Red cards As of matches played on 28 April 2018 Rank Player Club Cards 1 Luke Watt Airdrieonians 2 Jason Marr Albion Rovers Eddie Malone Forfar Athletic Andy Munro Forfar Athletic Scott Robertson Stranraer 6 24 players 1 Source:[37][43]

Club

Yellow cards As of matches played on 28 April 2018[44] Rank Club Cards 1 Queen's Park 72 2 Forfar Athletic 71 3 Albion Rovers 61 Source:[44]

Red cards As of matches played on 28 April 2018[44] Rank Club Cards 1 Forfar Athletic 7 2 Airdrieonians 6 Albion Rovers Source:[44]

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Raith Rovers	33,954	4,496	1,260	1,886	−28.3%†
2	Ayr United	28,596	2,441	1,139	1,588	−14.9%†
3	Arbroath	13,904	1,110	600	772	+6.3%†
4	Airdrieonians	13,832	1,129	450	768	−7.5%†
5	Queen's Park	12,376	1,233	428	687	+6.7%†
6	East Fife	12,301	1,850	390	683	+9.1%†
7	Alloa Athletic	11,663	1,749	363	647	+21.8%†
8	Forfar Athletic	11,133	990	428	618	−3.1%†
9	Albion Rovers	8,219	1,032	167	456	+1.6%†
10	Stranraer	7,967	1,143	201	442	+8.1%†
	League total	149,668	4,496	167	831	+47.1%†

Updated to games played on 28 April 2018
Source: ^[2][45]

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Ref.
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Barry Smith	Raith Rovers	Lewis Vaughan	Raith Rovers	[46]
September	Brian Kerr	Albion Rovers	Ryan McCord	Arbroath
October	Ian McCall	Ayr United	Michael Moffat	Ayr United
November	Ian McCall	Ayr United	Lawrence Shankland	Ayr United
December	Barry Smith	Raith Rovers	Alan Trouten	Albion Rovers
January	Dick Campbell	Arbroath	Angus Beith	Stranraer
February	Dick Campbell	Arbroath	Willis Furtado	Raith Rovers
March	Ian McCall	Ayr United	Lawrence Shankland	Ayr United

League One play-offs

The second bottom team entered into a 4-team playoff with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th placed teams in League Two.

Semi-finals

First leg

Stenhousemuir v Queen's Park

1 May 2018	Stenhousemuir	1–1	Queen's Park	Stenhousemuir
19:30	Scott 27'	BBC Report	Leitch 47'	Stadium: Ochilview Park Attendance: 657 Referee: Alan Newlands

Stirling Albion v Peterhead

2 May 2018	Stirling Albion	0–1	Peterhead	Stirling
19:45		BBC Report	Robertson 29'	Stadium: Forthbank Stadium Attendance: 729 Referee: Colin Steven

Second leg

Queen's Park v Stenhousemuir

5 May 2018	Queen's Park	1–2 (2–3 agg.)	Stenhousemuir	Glasgow
15:00	McLauchlan 41'	BBC Report	McGuigan 17, 80'	Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 948 Referee: Euan Anderson

Peterhead v Stirling Albion

5 May 2018	Peterhead	3–0 (4–0 agg.)	Stirling Albion	Peterhead
15:00	Robertson 38' McAllister 57' Brown 65'	BBC Report		Stadium: Balmoor Stadium Attendance: 861 Referee: Barry Cook

Final

First leg

Stenhousemuir v Peterhead

9 May 2018	Stenhousemuir	2–0	Peterhead	Stenhousemuir
19:45	Dunlop 61', 76'	BBC Report		Stadium: Ochilview Park Attendance: 796 Referee: Gavin Duncan

Second leg

Peterhead v Stenhousemuir

12 May 2018	Peterhead	1–0 (1–2 agg.)	Stenhousemuir	Peterhead
15:00	McLean 54'	BBC Report		Stadium: Balmoor Stadium Attendance: 880 Referee: Greg Aitken