2017–18 Scottish League Two

The 2017–18 Scottish League Two (known as Ladbrokes League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The last placed team entered a play-off with a team nominated by the Scottish Football Association from outside the SPFL determining which team enters League Two in the 2018–19 season.^[3] The fixtures were published on 23 June 2017.^[4]

Scottish League Two

Season	2017–18
Champions	Montrose
Promoted	Montrose Stenhousemuir
Matches played	180
Goals scored	500 (2.78 per match)
Top goalscorer	David Goodwillie (25 goals)[1]
Biggest home win	Peterhead 7–0 Elgin City[2] (2 January 2018)
Biggest away win	Stirling Albion 0–5 Montrose[2] (7 April 2018)
Highest scoring	Montrose 2–6 Peterhead[2] (30 December 2017)
Longest winning run	7 matches:[2] Peterhead
Longest unbeaten run	10 matches:[2] Montrose
Longest winless run	24 matches:[2] Cowdenbeath
Longest losing run	5 matches:[2] Cowdenbeath Edinburgh City
Highest attendance	2,380[2] Montrose 1–1 Elgin City (28 April 2018)
Lowest attendance	216[2] Cowdenbeath 0–2 Peterhead (24 February 2018)
Total attendance	88,681[2]
Average attendance	492[2]
← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 12 May 2018.

Ten teams contested the league: Annan Athletic, Berwick Rangers, Clyde, Cowdenbeath, Edinburgh City, Elgin City, Montrose, Peterhead, Stenhousemuir and Stirling Albion.

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 Two winners would receive £64,000 with a total pot of £24.5 million to be distributed across the four divisions.^[5]

Teams

The following teams changed division since the 2016–17 season.

To League Two Relegated from Scottish League One Peterhead Stenhousemuir

From League Two Promoted to Scottish League One Arbroath Forfar Athletic

Stadia and locations

Annan Athletic	Berwick Rangers	Clyde	Cowdenbeath
Galabank	Shielfield Park	Broadwood Stadium	Central Park
Capacity: 2,504[6]	Capacity: 4,099[7]	Capacity: 8,086[8]	Capacity: 4,309[9]
Edinburgh City	Annan Athletic Berwick Rangers Clyde Cowdenbeath Edinburgh City Elgin City Montrose Peterhead Stirling Albion Stenhousemuir 2017–18 Scottish League Two (Scotland)		Elgin City
Ainslie Park[10]			Borough Briggs
Capacity: 3,000			Capacity: 4,520[11]
Montrose	Peterhead	Stenhousemuir	Stirling Albion
Links Park	Balmoor	Ochilview Park	Forthbank Stadium
Capacity: 4,936[12]	Capacity: 3,150[13]	Capacity: 3,746[14]	Capacity: 3,808[15]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Annan Athletic	Peter Murphy	Peter Watson[16]	Stanno	M&S Engineering Ltd[17]
Berwick Rangers	Robbie Horn	Steven Notman	Mitre[18]	JMS Harkin (H)[19] P J Brown (A)[19]
Clyde	Danny Lennon	Kevin Nicoll[20]	Hummel[20]	Advance Construction Group (H)[21] Rock Regen (A)[20]
Cowdenbeath	Gary Bollan	Scott Rumsby[22]	Uhlsport[23]	Subsea Pressure Controls[23]
Edinburgh City	James McDonaugh	Josh Walker[24]	Joma[25]	CMC Property[26]
Elgin City	Gavin Price	Jon Paul McGovern[27]	EC 1893[28]	McDonald & Munro[28]
Montrose	Stewart Petrie	Paul Watson[29]	Nike[30]	Carnegie Fuels Ltd[30]
Peterhead	Jim McInally	David McCracken[31]	Adidas	Independent Oilfield Services
Stenhousemuir	Brown Ferguson	Michael Dunlop[32]	Mitre[33]	Warriors in the Community
Stirling Albion	Dave Mackay	Willie Robertson[34]	Macron	Prudential

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Clyde	Jon-Paul McGovern & Peter MacDonald (joint interim)	End of interim	6 May 2017	Pre-season	Jim Chapman	20 May 2017[35]
Annan Athletic	Jim Chapman	Signed by Clyde	20 May 2017[35]		Peter Murphy	2 June 2017
Cowdenbeath	Gary Locke	Signed by Heart of Midlothian	1 July 2017[36]		Billy Brown	1 July 2017[37]
Berwick Rangers	John Coughlin	Sacked	22 August 2017[38]	9th	Robbie Horn	29 August 2017[39]
Edinburgh City	Gary Jardine	Resigned	30 September 2017[40]	9th	James McDonaugh	10 October 2017[41]
Elgin City	Jim Weir	Signed by Forfar Athletic	1 October 2017[42]	6th	Gavin Price	12 October 2017[43][44]
Cowdenbeath	Billy Brown	Resigned	31 October 2017[45]	10th	Gary Bollan	14 November 2017[46]
Clyde	Jim Chapman	Sacked	31 October 2017[47]	8th	Danny Lennon	13 November 2017[48]

League summary

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Montrose (C, P)	36	23	8	5	60	35	+25	77	Promotion to League One
2	Peterhead	36	24	4	8	79	39	+40	76	Qualification for the League One play-offs
3	Stirling Albion	36	16	7	13	61	52	+9	55
4	Stenhousemuir (O, P)	36	15	9	12	56	47	+9	54
5	Clyde	36	14	9	13	52	50	+2	51
6	Elgin City	36	14	7	15	54	61	−7	49
7	Annan Athletic	36	12	11	13	49	41	+8	47
8	Berwick Rangers	36	9	10	17	31	59	−28	37
9	Edinburgh City	36	7	9	20	37	62	−25	30
10	Cowdenbeath (O)	36	4	10	22	23	56	−33	22	Qualification for the League Two play-off final

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

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 League One
	Qualification to League One play-offs
	Qualification to League Two play-offs

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
Montrose	2	3	2	2	2	2	4	3	2	2	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	2	2	1	1	1	1
Peterhead	4	2	3	4	4	3	2	4	3	3	3	3	4	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	2	2
Stirling Albion	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	3	3	4	4	5	4	5	5	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Stenhousemuir	7	7	4	6	3	4	3	2	4	4	4	4	5	5	6	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	4	4	4
Clyde	9	5	8	8	6	8	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	6	4	6	6	5	5	5
Elgin City	6	8	6	3	5	7	5	6	5	5	5	5	3	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	4	5	6	6	6
Annan Athletic	8	9	7	9	7	6	8	7	6	7	7	7	6	6	5	5	5	5	4	5	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Berwick Rangers	1	6	9	5	8	5	6	5	7	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8
Edinburgh City	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9
Cowdenbeath	5	4	5	7	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	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 180 games, with each team playing 36.

First half of season Home \ Away ANN BER CLY COW EDC ELG MON PET STE STI Annan Athletic — 0–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 Berwick Rangers 1–5 — 3–1 1–0 1–1 3–2 0–1 2–3 0–0 1–0 Clyde 2–1 0–0 — 1–1 2–3 2–4 0–0 1–4 1–1 1–1 Cowdenbeath 1–1 0–1 0–3 — 1–0 1–3 1–3 0–4 1–1 0–3 Edinburgh City 0–1 1–0 0–3 0–0 — 0–3 1–3 0–3 1–2 1–2 Elgin City 0–1 5–1 3–2 1–1 1–1 — 3–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 Montrose 1–1 3–0 3–2 1–0 1–0 3–0 — 2–6 1–1 1–3 Peterhead 1–0 0–2 2–1 3–2 3–0 3–0 1–1 — 2–3 2–4 Stenhousemuir 1–3 3–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 4–1 0–1 3–1 — 2–3 Stirling Albion 3–2 4–0 2–3 1–0 2–0 2–2 0–1 0–1 1–2 — Source: Scottish League Two Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season Home \ Away ANN BER CLY COW EDC ELG MON PET STE STI Annan Athletic — 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–3 4–1 0–1 3–3 2–0 3–1 Berwick Rangers 0–2 — 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–2 1–3 2–2 0–1 Clyde 0–0 1–2 — 2–0 3–2 1–0 3–0 1–0 0–3 2–1 Cowdenbeath 0–2 1–3 1–0 — 0–2 3–1 0–3 0–2 1–1 1–2 Edinburgh City 3–2 3–0 1–3 1–1 — 4–0 0–2 0–0 1–4 2–2 Elgin City 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 — 2–2 0–1 2–0 3–0 Montrose 2–1 1–0 1–3 1–1 3–0 1–1 — 3–2 1–0 2–1 Peterhead 1–0 1–1 3–0 1–0 2–1 7–0 0–1 — 1–2 4–3 Stenhousemuir 3–2 4–0 2–3 1–2 1–0 0–2 0–2 1–4 — 2–1 Stirling Albion 3–0 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–2 3–1 0–5 0–1 1–1 — Source: Scottish League Two 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	David Goodwillie	Clyde	25
2	Darren L. Smith	Stirling Albion	22
3	Rory McAllister	Peterhead	20
	Mark McGuigan	Stenhousemuir
5	Blair Henderson	Annan Athletic	16
6	Russell McLean	Peterhead	15
7	Aidan Smith	Annan Athletic	12
8	Lewis Milne	Montrose	11
	Chris Templeman	Montrose
10	Brian Cameron	Elgin City	10

Source:^[1][49]

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Blair Henderson	Annan Athletic	Stenhousemuir	3–1	9 December 2017	[50]
Russell McLean	Peterhead	Annan Athletic	3–3	20 February 2018	[51]
Lewis Milne	Montrose	Stirling Albion	5–0	7 April 2018	[52]
Blair Henderson	Annan Athletic	Stirling Albion	3–1	21 April 2018	[53]

Discipline

Player

Yellow cards As of matches played on 28 April 2018 Rank Player Club Cards 1 Kevin Nicoll Clyde 13 2 Peter Watson Annan Athletic 12 Fraser Mullen Cowdenbeath 4 Steven Swinglehurst Annan Athletic 11 Craig Thomson Edinburgh City 6 Robbie Buchanan Cowdenbeath 10 Kyle Miller Cowdenbeath Darryl McHardy Elgin City Thomas Reilly Elgin City Source:[49][54]

Red cards As of matches played on 28 April 2018 Rank Player Club Cards 1 Kevin Nicoll Clyde 2 2 24 players 1 Source:[49][54]

Club

Yellow cards As of matches played on 28 April 2018 Rank Club Cards 1 Annan Athletic 74 2 Cowdenbeath 72 3 Berwick Rangers 67 Source:[55]

Red cards As of matches played on 28 April 2018 Rank Club Cards 1 Clyde 5 Cowdenbeath 3 Annan Athletic 4 Edinburgh City Source:[55]

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Montrose	13,023	2,380	353	723	+19.5%†
2	Stirling Albion	11,839	1,012	395	657	+2.8%†
3	Peterhead	11,013	1,049	394	611	+21.2%†
4	Elgin City	10,933	883	393	607	−11.6%†
5	Clyde	8,865	804	402	492	−6.5%†
6	Berwick Rangers	7,807	596	295	433	+1.6%†
7	Stenhousemuir	6,598	976	220	420	−1.9%†
8	Annan Athletic	6,236	507	248	346	−10.4%†
9	Edinburgh City	5,794	464	223	321	−19.7%†
10	Cowdenbeath	5,751	406	216	319	−7.5%†
	League total	88,681	2,380	216	492	−8.4%†

Updated to games played on 28 April 2018
Source: ^[2][56]

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Ref.
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Dave Mackay	Stirling Albion	Darren L. Smith	Stirling Albion	[57]
September	Brown Ferguson	Stenhousemuir	Mark McGuigan	Stenhousemuir
October	Gavin Price	Elgin City	Craig Johnston	Montrose
November	Stewart Petrie	Montrose	Cammy Ballantyne	Montrose
December	Jim McInally	Peterhead	Rory McAllister	Peterhead
January	Jim McInally	Peterhead	Darren L. Smith	Stirling Albion
February	Dave Mackay	Stirling Albion	Peter MacDonald	Stirling Albion
March	Danny Lennon	Clyde	Chris McStay	Clyde

League Two play-offs

The first round was contested between the winners of the 2017–18 Highland Football League (Cove Rangers) and the 2017–18 Lowland Football League (Spartans). The winners then played against the bottom club in League Two, and would have been promoted to League Two for the 2018–19 season if they had won.

Due to fixture congestion in the Highland League preventing a champion being crowned in time, the dates for the first round were pushed back a week.^[58]

First round

First leg

Cove Rangers v Spartans

28 April 2018	Cove Rangers	4–0	Spartans	Inverurie
15:00	Megginson 42' McManus 49' (pen.), 67' Watson 52'	The Scotsman		Stadium: Harlaw Park Referee: David Munro

Second leg

Spartans v Cove Rangers

1 May 2018	Spartans	2–1 (2–5 agg.)	Cove Rangers	Edinburgh
19:45	Dishington 78' Atkinson 87'	Edinburgh Evening News	McManus 67'	Stadium: Ainslie Park Attendance: 655 Referee: Steven Reid

Second round

First leg

Cove Rangers v Cowdenbeath

5 May 2018	Cove Rangers	0–0	Cowdenbeath	Inverurie
15:00		Report		Stadium: Harlaw Park Attendance: 650 Referee: John McKendrick

Second leg

Cowdenbeath v Cove Rangers

12 May 2018	Cowdenbeath	3–2 (3–2 agg.)	Cove Rangers	Cowdenbeath
14:00	Swann 7' (pen.), 50' Smith 70'	Report	Megginson 9, 22'	Stadium: Central Park Attendance: 1762 Referee: Steven Kirkland