2019–20 Scottish League One

The 2019–20 Scottish League One (known as Ladbrokes League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th season in the current format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published in June 2019 and the season began on 3 August 2019.^[3]

Scottish League One

Season	2019–20
Dates	3 August 2019 – 15 April 2020
Champions	Raith Rovers
Promoted	Raith Rovers
Relegated	Stranraer
Matches played	139
Goals scored	387 (2.78 per match)
Top goalscorer	David Goodwillie (20 goals)[1][2]
Biggest home win	Falkirk 6–0 Dumbarton (10 August 2019)[2] Falkirk 6–0 Forfar Athletic (25 January 2020)[2]
Biggest away win	Stranraer 0–3 Falkirk (21 September 2019)[2] Forfar Athletic 1–4 Airdrieonians (26 October 2019)[2]
Highest scoring	East Fife 3–5 Raith Rovers (28 December 2019)[2]
Longest winning run	6 matches:[2] Montrose
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches:[2] Falkirk
Longest winless run	15 matches:[2] Stranraer
Longest losing run	6 matches:[2] Forfar Athletic Montrose Stranraer
Highest attendance	4,060 Falkirk 6–0 Dumbarton (10 August 2019)[2]
Lowest attendance	190 Stranraer 0–1 Montrose (10 March 2020)[2]
Total attendance	159,617[2]
Average attendance	1,148[2](395)
← 2018–19 2020–21 → All statistics correct as of 1 May 2020.

Ten teams contested the league: Airdrieonians, Clyde, Dumbarton, East Fife, Falkirk, Forfar Athletic, Montrose, Peterhead, Raith Rovers and Stranraer.

On 13 March 2020 all SPFL leagues were indefinitely suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4] On 8 April, with the pandemic continuing, the SPFL board proposed to curtail the 2019–20 League One season and use the points per game earned by each team to date as the final standings.^[5] The plan was approved on 15 April, meaning the league was declared over and Raith Rovers were crowned champions and Stranraer relegated to League 2.^[6]

Teams

The following teams have changed division since the 2018–19 season.

To League One Promoted from League Two Peterhead Clyde Relegated from the Championship Falkirk

From League One Relegated to League Two Stenhousemuir Brechin City Promoted to the Championship Arbroath[7]

Stadia and locations

Airdrieonians	Clyde	Dumbarton	East Fife
Excelsior Stadium	Broadwood Stadium	Dumbarton Football Stadium	Bayview Stadium
Capacity: 10,101[8]	Capacity: 8,086[9]	Capacity: 2,020[10]	Capacity: 1,980[11]
Falkirk	Airdrie Clyde Dumbarton East Fife Falkirk Forfar Athletic Montrose Peterhead Raith Rovers Stranraer Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish League One		Forfar Athletic
Falkirk Stadium			Station Park
Capacity: 7,937[12]			Capacity: 6,777[13]
Montrose	Peterhead	Raith Rovers	Stranraer
Links Park	Balmoor	Stark's Park	Stair Park
Capacity: 4,936[14]	Capacity: 3,150[15]	Capacity: 8,867[16]	Capacity: 4,178[17]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Airdrieonians	Ian Murray	Sean Crighton	Joma	Holemasters[18]
Clyde	Danny Lennon	David Goodwillie	Kappa	North Lanarkshire Leisure (Home) Advance Construction (Away)
Dumbarton	Jim Duffy	Stuart Carswell	Joma[19]	Turnberry Homes[19]
East Fife	Darren Young	Kevin Smith	Joma	East Fife Supporters Club
Falkirk	David McCracken and Lee Miller	Gregor Buchanan	Puma[20]	Central Demolition[20]
Forfar Athletic	Stuart Malcolm	Michael Travis	Pendle	Orchard Timber Products
Montrose	Stewart Petrie	Paul Watson	Hummel	Carnegie Fuels Ltd
Peterhead	Jim McInally	Scott Brown	Adidas	Prime Seafoods
Raith Rovers	John McGlynn	Kyle Benedictus	Puma[21]	valmcdermid.com (Home)[21] Tag Games (Away)[21]
Stranraer	Stephen Farrell	Jamie Hamill	Joma[22]	Stena Line[23]

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Forfar Athletic	Jim Weir	Resigned	3 November 2019[24]	10th	Stuart Malcolm	10 November 2019[25]
Falkirk	Ray McKinnon	Sacked	16 November 2019[26]	4th	David McCracken and Lee Miller (interim)	19 November 2019[27]
Falkirk	David McCracken and Lee Miller (interim)	End of interim	13 December 2019[28]	4th	David McCracken and Lee Miller	13 December 2019[28]

League summary

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Promotion, qualification or relegation[a]
1	Raith Rovers (C, P)	28	15	8	5	49	33	+16	53	1.89	Promotion to the Championship
2	Falkirk	28	14	10	4	54	18	+36	52	1.86
3	Airdrieonians	28	14	6	8	38	27	+11	48	1.71
4	Montrose	28	15	2	11	48	38	+10	47	1.68
5	East Fife	28	12	9	7	44	36	+8	45	1.61
6	Dumbarton	28	11	5	12	35	44	−9	38	1.36
7	Clyde	28	9	7	12	35	43	−8	34	1.21
8	Peterhead	27	7	5	15	30	44	−14	26	0.96
9	Forfar Athletic	28	6	6	16	26	47	−21	24	0.86
10	Stranraer (R)	27	2	10	15	28	57	−29	16	0.59	Relegation to League Two

Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. All play-off matches were cancelled, as clubs voted to curtail the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[29]

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	AIR	CLY	DUM	EFI	FAL	FOR	MON	PET	RAI	STR
Airdrieonians	—	3–1	3–1	4–0	0–0	0–2	1–3	2–1	0–1	2–2
Clyde	3–1	—	1–2	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–2	1–2	2–2	6–1
Dumbarton	0–1	1–2	—	2–4	1–1	3–1	0–2	1–0	0–1	3–1
East Fife	4–1	0–0	2–2	—	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	4–2	1–1
Falkirk	1–2	0–1	6–0	0–0	—	3–0	2–1	4–0	1–1	3–0
Forfar Athletic	1–4	0–0	3–4	1–2	0–2	—	2–0	2–1	1–2	1–0
Montrose	0–1	4–0	1–2	1–3	2–3	3–0	—	4–3	0–1	2–1
Peterhead	1–2	1–1	2–3	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	—	2–0	3–0
Raith Rovers	1–0	5–2	0–2	1–1	2–2	0–0	3–0	4–0	—	3–1
Stranraer	0–2	3–0	0–0	0–2	0–3	2–4	2–2	1–2	3–2	—

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

Second half of season

Home \ Away	AIR	CLY	DUM	EFI	FAL	FOR	MON	PET	RAI	STR
Airdrieonians	—	2–0	N/A	1–0	1–1	1–0	N/A	N/A	0–1	0–0
Clyde	N/A	—	2–0	2–1	3–2	N/A	2–1	N/A	N/A	3–3
Dumbarton	0–0	1–0	—	N/A	N/A	2–0	N/A	N/A	1–0	1–1
East Fife	2–2	N/A	4–2	—	N/A	N/A	N/A	1–0	3–5	4–2
Falkirk	N/A	N/A	3–0	2–0	—	6–0	1–0	3–0	N/A	N/A
Forfar Athletic	N/A	2–1	N/A	0–1	N/A	—	2–3	N/A	1–1	1–1
Montrose	1–0	N/A	2–1	1–0	N/A	N/A	—	4–3	N/A	4–1
Peterhead	0–2	2–0	1–0	N/A	1–3	1–1	N/A	—	N/A	N/A
Raith Rovers	N/A	1–0	N/A	N/A	1–1	2–1	4–3	2–1	—	N/A
Stranraer	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1–1	N/A	0–1	N/A	1–1	—

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

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	David Goodwillie	Clyde	20
2	Declan McManus	Falkirk	19
3	Dale Carrick	Airdrieonians	12
4	Calum Gallagher	Airdrieonians	11
5	Blair Lyons	Montrose	10
6	Scott Agnew	East Fife	9
	Graham Webster	Montrose
	Jamie Gullan	Raith Rovers
9	Isaac Layne	Dumbarton	8
	Scott Brown	Peterhead

Source:^[30]

Hat-tricks

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

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Declan McManus	Falkirk	Dumbarton	6–0 (H)	10 August 2019	[31]
David Goodwillie5	Clyde	Stranraer	6–1 (H)	14 September 2019	[32]
David Goodwillie	Clyde	Stranraer	3–3 (H)	4 January 2020	[33]
Declan McManus	Falkirk	Peterhead	3–1 (A)	11 January 2020	[34]

Note

⁵ Player scored five goals

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Airdrieonians	15,567	2,530	600	1,037	+35.9%†
2	Clyde[a]	13,369	2,048	507	954	+49.5%†
3	Dumbarton	9,268	982	364	662	+7.3%†
4	East Fife	11,533	1,998	425	823	+18.1%†
5	Falkirk[b]	51,987	4,060	3,289	3,713	−21.7%†
6	Forfar Athletic	9,029	998	370	644	−3.2%†
7	Montrose	9,293	1,095	423	663	−16.0%†
8	Peterhead[a]	9,611	1,513	443	640	−5.5%†
9	Raith Rovers	25,746	3,235	975	1,839	+18.3%†
10	Stranraer	4,204	549	190	350	+3.2%†
	League total	159,617	4,060	190	1,148	+52.5%†

Source: ^[35]

1. Club was playing in League Two during the previous season.
2. Club was playing in Championship during the previous season.

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Ref.
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Darren Young	East Fife	Marc McCallum	Forfar Athletic
September	John McGlynn	Raith Rovers	Steven Anderson	Raith Rovers
October	Stewart Petrie	Montrose	Graham Webster	Montrose
November	Ian Murray	Airdrieonians	Dale Carrick	Airdrieonians
December	Stewart Petrie	Montrose	Andrew Steeves	Montrose
January	David McCracken Lee Miller	Falkirk	Declan McManus	Falkirk
February	Darren Young	East Fife	Scott Agnew	East Fife