2018–19 Scottish League One

The 2018–19 Scottish League One (known as the Ladbrokes League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season in the current format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018 and the season began on 4 August 2018.^[3]

Scottish League One

Season	2018–19
Dates	4 August 2018 – 4 May 2019
Champions	Arbroath
Promoted	Arbroath
Relegated	Stenhousemuir Brechin City
Matches played	180
Goals scored	522 (2.9 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kevin Nisbet (30 goals)[1]
Biggest home win	Raith Rovers 4–0 Forfar Athletic[2] (1 September 2018) Dumbarton 4–0 East Fife[2] (27 October 2018) Brechin City 4–0 Forfar Athletic[2] (10 November 2018) Raith Rovers 5–1 Stenhousemuir[2] (5 January 2019)
Biggest away win	Montrose 0–4 Arbroath[2] (4 August 2018) Dumbarton 1–5 Raith Rovers[2] (29 September 2018) Forfar Athletic 0–4 East Fife[2] (6 October 2018) Brechin City 1–5 Arbroath[2] (17 November 2018)
Highest scoring	Airdrieonians 3–4 Raith Rovers[2] (25 August 2018) Arbroath 5–2 Stenhousemuir[2] (1 December 2018) Stranraer 3–4 East Fife[2] (26 January 2019) Montrose 5–2 Brechin City[2] (2 February 2019) East Fife 3–4 Dumbarton[2] (23 February 2019)
Longest winning run	8 matches:[2] Arbroath
Longest unbeaten run	17 matches:[2] Arbroath
Longest winless run	9 matches:[2] East Fife
Longest losing run	6 matches:[2] Brechin City
Highest attendance	2,833[2] Raith Rovers 1–2 East Fife (29 December 2018)
Lowest attendance	219[2] Stranraer 1–1 Stenhousemuir (26 February 2019)
Total attendance	135,576[2]
Average attendance	753[2] (78)
← 2017–18 2019–20 → All statistics correct as of 4 May 2019.

Ten teams contested the league: Airdrieonians, Arbroath, Brechin City, Dumbarton, East Fife, Forfar Athletic, Montrose, Raith Rovers, Stenhousemuir and Stranraer.

Arbroath won the league following a 1–1 draw at Brechin City on 13 April 2019. Brechin were relegated after a 1–1 draw with Stenhousemuir on the final day.

Teams

The following teams have changed division since the 2017–18 season.

To League One Promoted from League Two Montrose Stenhousemuir Relegated from the Championship Brechin City Dumbarton

From League One Relegated to League Two Albion Rovers Queen's Park Promoted to the Championship Ayr United Alloa Athletic

Stadia and locations

Airdrieonians	Arbroath	Brechin City	Dumbarton
Excelsior Stadium	Gayfield Park	Glebe Park	Dumbarton Football Stadium
Capacity: 10,101[4]	Capacity: 6,600[5]	Capacity: 4,123[6]	Capacity: 2,020[7]
East Fife	Airdrieonians Arbroath Brechin City Dumbarton East Fife Forfar Athletic Montrose Raith Rovers Stenhousemuir Stranraer Location of teams in 2018–19 League One		Forfar Athletic
Bayview Stadium			Station Park
Capacity: 1,980[8]			Capacity: 6,777[9]
Montrose	Raith Rovers	Stenhousemuir	Stranraer
Links Park	Stark's Park	Ochilview Park	Stair Park
Capacity: 4,936[10]	Capacity: 8,867[11]	Capacity: 3,746[12]	Capacity: 4,178[13]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Airdrieonians	Ian Murray	Sean Crighton	Hummel[14]	Holemasters[15]
Arbroath	Dick Campbell	Mark Whatley[16]	Pendle[17]	Megatech[17]
Brechin City	Barry Smith	Paul McLean[18]	Pendle	JJKS Estates (Home) Ferguson Oliver (Away)
Dumbarton	Jim Duffy	Ross Forbes	Joma[19]	Turnberry Homes[19]
East Fife	Darren Young	Kevin Smith[20]	Joma	Liam Anderson Architectural Services (Home) EF Joinery (Away)
Forfar Athletic	Jim Weir	Michael Travis	Pendle	Orchard Timber Products
Montrose	Stewart Petrie	Paul Watson[21]	Nike[22]	Carnegie Fuels Ltd[22]
Raith Rovers	John McGlynn	Kyle Benedictus	Puma[23]	valmcdermid.com (Home)[23] Tag Games (Away)[23]
Stenhousemuir	Colin McMenamin	Graeme Smith	Mitre[24]	Warriors in the Community
Stranraer	Stephen Farrell	Jamie Hamill	Joma[25]	Stena Line[26]

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Raith Rovers	Barry Smith	Resigned	4 September 2018	2nd	John McGlynn	25 September 2018
Airdrieonians	Stevie Findlay	Sacked	8 October 2018	6th	Ian Murray	19 October 2018
Dumbarton	Stephen Aitken	Sacked	8 October 2018	9th	Jim Duffy	21 October 2018
Brechin City	Darren Dods	Sacked	30 October 2018	6th	Barry Smith	5 November 2018
Stenhousemuir	Brown Ferguson	Sacked	6 November 2018	9th	Colin McMenamin	28 November 2018

League summary

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Arbroath (C, P)	36	20	10	6	63	38	+25	70	Promotion to the Championship
2	Forfar Athletic	36	19	6	11	54	47	+7	63	Qualification for the Championship play-offs
3	Raith Rovers	36	16	12	8	74	48	+26	60
4	Montrose	36	15	6	15	49	50	−1	51
5	Airdrieonians	36	14	6	16	51	44	+7	48
6	Dumbarton	36	12	10	14	60	60	0	46
7	East Fife	36	13	7	16	49	56	−7	46
8	Stranraer	36	11	9	16	45	57	−12	42
9	Stenhousemuir (R)	36	10	7	19	35	61	−26	37	Qualification for the League One play-offs
10	Brechin City (R)	36	9	9	18	42	61	−19	36	Relegation to League Two

Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (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 2019–20 Championship
	Qualification for Championship play-offs
	Qualification for League One play-offs
	Relegation to 2019–20 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
Arbroath	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Forfar Athletic	8	4	5	3	5	8	8	7	8	7	4	4	4	4	4	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	2	3	2	3	3	3	3	2	2	2
Raith Rovers	5	2	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	3	2	2	2	2	3	3	3
Montrose	10	8	3	6	7	10	9	9	10	10	10	6	9	8	7	4	5	4	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4
Airdrieonians	2	3	2	4	3	3	3	4	6	4	5	7	6	5	5	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	5
Dumbarton	3	5	6	8	9	6	6	8	9	9	9	10	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	10	8	7	7	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	6
East Fife	9	10	10	10	10	7	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	7
Stranraer	6	9	9	7	8	5	7	6	5	6	7	5	7	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	9	8	8	8	8	9	9	8	8	8	8	8
Stenhousemuir	4	7	8	9	6	9	10	10	7	8	8	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9
Brechin City	7	6	7	5	4	4	5	5	4	5	6	8	5	7	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	7	9	9	9	9	8	8	9	9	9	10	10

Source: BBC Sport
Updated: 4 May 2019

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	ARB	BRE	DUM	EFI	FOR	MON	RAI	STE	STR
Airdrieonians	—	0–1	1–3	1–1	4–2	0–1	0–1	3–4	0–1	2–0
Arbroath	3–1	—	2–2	3–1	1–0	3–1	2–0	0–2	5–2	3–1
Brechin City	0–1	1–5	—	3–2	1–0	4–0	1–3	1–1	1–2	1–1
Dumbarton	1–1	1–1	4–1	—	4–0	0–2	2–1	1–5	2–1	0–1
East Fife	2–1	0–3	3–1	0–2	—	1–0	0–2	2–1	2–0	3–3
Forfar Athletic	1–3	2–3	1–1	3–0	0–4	—	2–1	3–2	2–0	0–0
Montrose	0–3	0–4	2–1	1–0	0–2	2–2	—	3–2	3–1	1–1
Raith Rovers	2–0	1–1	2–1	4–2	2–2	4–0	1–1	—	2–0	2–1
Stenhousemuir	1–2	1–2	1–0	2–1	0–2	1–2	3–2	1–3	—	0–2
Stranraer	1–2	0–1	0–2	3–2	0–2	2–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	—

Source: Scottish League One
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season

Home \ Away	AIR	ARB	BRE	DUM	EFI	FOR	MON	RAI	STE	STR
Airdrieonians	—	3–0	0–1	2–2	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	3–0
Arbroath	3–2	—	1–0	1–1	2–1	0–2	1–0	2–2	0–2	1–1
Brechin City	0–3	1–1	—	1–0	0–0	2–2	0–3	2–1	1–1	1–2
Dumbarton	3–3	2–0	2–1	—	3–0	2–3	1–1	2–2	1–2	2–1
East Fife	1–2	1–1	0–2	3–4	—	2–3	0–2	1–2	1–1	3–1
Forfar Athletic	2–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	3–0	—	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–1
Montrose	2–1	1–1	5–2	1–3	0–2	2–0	—	1–1	2–0	3–1
Raith Rovers	1–0	0–1	3–2	4–1	1–2	1–1	4–1	—	5–1	2–3
Stenhousemuir	1–0	1–4	2–2	2–2	1–1	0–3	1–0	1–1	—	0–1
Stranraer	1–4	0–0	3–0	0–3	3–4	2–1	1–2	2–2	1–1	—

Source: Scottish League One
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 4 May 2019

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Kevin Nisbet	Raith Rovers	29
2	Bobby Linn	Arbroath	21
3	John Baird	Forfar Athletic	16
	Mark McGuigan	Stenhousemuir
5	Leighton McIntosh	Airdrieonians	15
6	Dom Thomas	Dumbarton	14

Source:^[27]

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League hat-tricks § Scottish League One

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Liam Buchanan	Raith Rovers	Airdrieonians	3–4 (A)	25 August 2018	[28]
Bobby Linn	Arbroath	Forfar	3–1 (H)	15 September 2018	[29]
Bobby Linn	Arbroath	Forfar	2–3 (A)	8 December 2018	[30]
Bobby Linn	Arbroath	Airdrieonians	3–2 (H)	23 February 2019	[31]
Dom Thomas	Dumbarton	East Fife	3–4 (A)	23 February 2019	[32]
Leighton McIntosh	Airdrieonians	Stranraer	1–4 (A)	4 May 2019	[33]

Note

(H) = Home, (A) = Away

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Airdrieonians	13,743	1,140	600	763	−0.7%†
2	Arbroath	17,109	1,808	532	950	+23.1%†
3	Brechin City	10,457	1,509	355	580	−37.2%†
4	Dumbarton	11,116	756	456	617	−26.4%†
5	East Fife	12,561	1,756	323	697	+2.0%†
6	Forfar Athletic	11,976	1,342	459	665	+7.6%†
7	Montrose	14,210	1,666	486	789	+9.1%†
8	Raith Rovers	28,004	2,833	1,089	1,555	−17.6%†
9	Stenhousemuir	10,286	797	362	571	+36.0%†
10	Stranraer	6,108	432	219	339	−23.3%†
	League total	135,576	2,833	219	753	−9.4%†

Updated to games played on 4 May 2019
Source: ^{[2] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43]}

Awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Ref.
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Dick Campbell	Arbroath	Ryan Wallace	Arbroath	[44]
September	Darren Young	East Fife	Bobby Linn	Arbroath
October	Dick Campbell	Arbroath	Kevin Nisbet	Raith Rovers
November	Dick Campbell	Arbroath	Ricky Little	Arbroath
December	Stewart Petrie	Montrose	Martin Rennie	Montrose
January	Jim Weir	Forfar Athletic	Anton Dowds	East Fife
February	Jim Duffy	Dumbarton	Dom Thomas	Dumbarton
March	Jim Weir	Forfar Athletic	Dale Hilson	Forfar Athletic
April	Jim Duffy	Dumbarton	Calum Gallagher	Dumbarton

League One play-offs

The second bottom team (Stenhousemuir) entered into a four-team playoff with the second, third, and fourth placed teams in League Two (Clyde, Edinburgh City and Annan Athletic). Clyde were promoted to League One after defeating Annan 2–0 in the final. Stenhousemuir were relegated to League Two after defeat to Annan in the semi-final.

Semi-final

First leg

Annan Athletic v Stenhousemuir

7 May 2019	Annan Athletic	2–0	Stenhousemuir	Annan
19:45	Johnston 8' Sonkur 39'	Report		Stadium: Galabank Attendance: 637 Referee: Steven Reid

Edinburgh City v Clyde

7 May 2019	Edinburgh City	0–1	Clyde	Edinburgh
19:45		Report	Syvertsen 15'	Stadium: Ainslie Park Attendance: 617 Referee: Barry Cook

Second leg

Stenhousemuir v Annan Athletic

11 May 2019	Stenhousemuir	1–2 (1–4 agg.)	Annan Athletic	Stenhousemuir
15:00	Marsh 37'	Report	Bradley 10' Swinglehurst 73'	Stadium: Ochilview Park Attendance: 794 Referee: David Munro

Clyde v Edinburgh City

11 May 2019	Clyde	3–0 (4–0 agg.)	Edinburgh City	Cumbernauld
15:00	Syvertsen 14' Love 48' Goodwillie 58'	Report		Stadium: Broadwood Stadium Attendance: 1,204 Referee: Craig Napier

Final

First leg

Annan Athletic v Clyde

14 May 2019	Annan Athletic	1–0	Clyde	Annan
19:45	Johnston 22'	Report		Stadium: Galabank Attendance: 1,006 Referee: Greg Aitken

Second leg

Clyde v Annan Athletic

18 May 2019	Clyde	2–0 (2–1 agg.)	Annan Athletic	Cumbernauld
15:00	McNiff 60' Love 86' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Broadwood Stadium Attendance: 2,725 Referee: Bobby Madden