2020–21 Livingston F.C. season

The 2020–21 season was the club's third consecutive season in the Scottish Premiership, the top flight of Scottish football. Livingston also competed in the Scottish Cup and the League Cup.

Livingston

2020–21 season
Chairman	Robert Wilson
Manager	Gary Holt (until 26 Nov 20)[1] David Martindale (from 21 Dec 20)
Stadium	Almondvale Stadium
Scottish Premiership	6th
Scottish Cup	Fourth round
Scottish League Cup	Runners–up
Top goalscorer	League: Scott Pittman (7) All: Alan Forrest (11)
Home colours Away colours
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

Season Summary

Goalkeeper Gary Maley signed a new contract after a Twitter poll "joke" vote from fans.^[2][3] Marvin Bartley was named as new captain for the season.^[4] On 19 August, Lyndon Dykes left the club to join Queens Park Rangers for £2,000,000, breaking the record for the fee of a player sold by the club but part of the fee will go to Queen of the South as a sell-on clause.^[5] Having signed on 22 August, Anthony Stokes left the club on 15 September without making an appearance for the club.^[6] After the defeat to Celtic, Livi were bottom of the table but back to back wins seen them move up to the top six before the October International break.^[7] On 26 November, Gary Holt resigned as manager after failing to win in five matches.^[1] David Martindale and Tony Caig took over as caretakers with Martindale insisting he was "a changed man".^[8] Martindale’s appointment saw the club’s form improve dramatically, with the club getting 8 consecutive wins and going 10 consecutive games unbeaten after a 2-2 draw with Celtic.^[9] Livi reached the League Cup final for the first time since 2004 after beating St Mirren at Hampden Park.^[10] The SFA's 'Fit and proper person' hearing was a positive outcome for manager Martindale, who was turned down in his application to be a club official a year earlier but had since been supported publicly.^[11] The winning run continued as Livi won at Pittodrie for the first time since 2004, making it 14 matches unbeaten.^[12] Livi progressed into the Top Six cut-off but finished Sixth, failing to win any of their post-split matches, dropping one place from last season. But still, a top-half finish and their second-highest points total in the Premiership is not to be scoffed at. Martindale has exceeded expectations this season and then some.^[13]

Results & fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Pre-season

Dundee United v Livingston

18 July 2020 Friendly	Dundee United	0–0	Livingston	Tannadice Park
		Report		Attendance: 0

Kilmarnock v Livingston

22 July 2020 Friendly	Kilmarnock	1–2	Livingston	Rugby Park
	McKenzie 25'	Report	Forrest 24' Ambrose 60'	Attendance: 0

Livingston v Ross County

25 July 2020 Friendly	Livingston	2–2	Ross County	Almondvale Stadium
14:00	Dykes 32' Kouider-Aïssa 49'	Report	Stewart 55' Fontaine 75'	Attendance: 0

Scottish Premiership

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish Premiership

St Mirren v Livingston

1 August 2020[14] 1	St Mirren	1–0	Livingston	St Mirren Park
15:00 BST	Tait 30'	Report		Attendance: 50 Referee: Don Robertson

Livingston v Hibernian

8 August 2020 2	Livingston	1–4	Hibernian	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 BST	Dykes 60' (pen.)	Report	Nisbet 24', 37', 88' (pen.) Doidge 41'	Referee: Euan Anderson

Motherwell v Livingston

12 August 2020 3	Motherwell	2–2	Livingston	Fir Park
19:45 BST	Turnbull 8' Campbell 35'	Report	Dykes 10' (pen.) Forrest 69'	Referee: Colin Steven

Livingston v Rangers

16 August 2020 4	Livingston	0–0	Rangers	Almondvale Stadium
16:30 BST		Report		Referee: Nick Walsh

Aberdeen v Livingston

23 August 2020[15] 5	Aberdeen	2–1	Livingston	Pittodrie Stadium
15:00 BST	Ferguson 49' Wright 55'	Report	Sibbald  42' Devlin  43' Pittman 69'

Livingston v Ross County

29 August 2020 6	Livingston	1–0	Ross County	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 BST	Guthrie 64' Serrano  67'	Report	Draper  18' Tremarco  51' Gardyne  65' Donaldson  90+3'	Referee: John Beaton

Livingston v Hamilton Academical

12 September 2020 7	Livingston	1–2	Hamilton Academical	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 BST	Pittman 1'	Report	Templeton 57' Munro 85'	Referee: Don Robertson

Celtic v Livingston

19 September 2020 8	Celtic	3–2	Livingston	Celtic Park
15:00 BST	McGregor 20' Christie 23' Ajeti 52'	Report	Holt 16' (pen.) Serrano 78'	Referee: Gavin Duncan

Livingston v St Johnstone

26 September 2020 9	Livingston	2–0	St Johnstone	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 BST	Tiffoney 34' Forrest 35'	Report		Referee: Craig Napier

Dundee United v Livingston

2 October 2020 10	Dundee United	1–2	Livingston	Tannadice Park
19:45 BST	Clark 18'	Report	Guthrie 53' Forrest 90'	Referee: John Beaton

Livingston v Kilmarnock

17 October 2020 11	Livingston	1–3	Kilmarnock	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 BST	Pittman 11'	Report	Tshibola 24' Burke 37' (pen.) Kiltie 57'	Referee: Greg Aitken

Rangers v Livingston

25 October 2020 12	Rangers	2–0	Livingston	Ibrox Stadium
15:00 BST	Aribo 9' Defoe 16' Jack  89'	Report	Guthrie  68'	Referee: Nick Walsh

Livingston v Motherwell

31 October 2020 13	Livingston	0–2	Motherwell	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 GMT	Guthrie  45+1' Bartley  66'	Report	Lang 22' Watt 45+2',  73' Maguire  70'	Referee: John Beaton

Ross County v Livingston

6 November 2020 14	Ross County	1–1	Livingston	Global Energy Stadium
19:45 GMT	Shaw 28' Kelly  90'	Report	Devlin 56' Bartley  70'	Attendance: 300 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Livingston v St Mirren

21 November 2020 15	Livingston	0–1	St Mirren	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 GMT		Report	Doyle-Hayes 56'	Referee: Willie Collum

Livingston v Dundee United

5 December 2020 16	Livingston	2–0	Dundee United	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 GMT	Pittman 57' Bartley 73'	Report		Referee: Don Robertson

St Johnstone v Livingston

12 December 2020 17	St Johnstone	1–2	Livingston	McDiarmid Park
15:00 GMT	Kane 54'	Report	Guthrie 48' Robinson 65'	Attendance: 0 Referee: John Beaton

Hamilton Academical v Livingston

23 December 2020 19	Hamilton Academical	0–2	Livingston	New Douglas Park
18:00 GMT		Report	Guthrie 51' Mullin 90+1'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Gavin Duncan

Kilmarnock v Livingston

26 December 2020 20	Kilmarnock	1–2	Livingston	Rugby Park
15:00 GMT	Burke 48 pen.'	Report	Emmanuel-Thomas 51' Robinson 90+2'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Hibernian v Livingston

2 January 2021 22	Hibernian	0–3	Livingston	Easter Road
15:00 GMT		Report	Mullin 9' Guthrie 16' Robinson 47'	Attendance: 0 Referee: David Munro

Livingston v Ross County

9 January 2021 23	Livingston	3–1	Ross County	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 GMT	Robinson 9' Forrest 81' Hamilton 90+1'	Report	Lakin 28'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Alan Muir

Celtic v Livingston

16 January 2021 24	Celtic	0–0	Livingston	Celtic Park
15:00 GMT		Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: John Beaton

Livingston v Celtic

20 January 2021 18[N 1]	Livingston	2–2	Celtic	Almondvale Stadium
20:15 GMT	Brown 15' Emmanuel-Thomas 60'	Report	Elyounoussi 28' Bitton 28' Brown  83'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Willie Collum
Note: Game televised on Sky Sports.

Livingston v Kilmarnock

27 January 2021 25	Livingston	2–0	Kilmarnock	Almondvale Stadium
19:45 GMT	Kabia 89' Pittman 90'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: Steve Kirkland

Livingston v Aberdeen

30 January 2021 21[N 1]	Livingston	0–0	Aberdeen	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 GMT	Holt  85'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: Steven McLean

Aberdeen v Livingston

2 February 2021 26	Aberdeen	0–2	Livingston	Pittodrie Stadium
18:00GMT	Ferguson  32' Hoban  77'	Report	Lewis 7' (o.g.) Devlin 16' Longridge  44'	Referee: Nick Walsh

Livingston v St Johnstone

6 February 2021 27	Livingston	1–2	St Johnstone	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 GMT	Pittman 83'	Report	Tanser 45+2' Rooney 51'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Euan Anderson

Dundee United v Livingston

13 February 2021 28	Dundee United	3–0	Livingston	Tannadice Park, Dundee
15:00	Sporle 1' Pawlett  31' Shankland 35', 83'	Report	Fitzwater  61'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Nick Walsh

St Mirren v Livingston

20 February 2021 29	St Mirren	1–1	Livingston	St Mirren Park, Paisley
15:00	MacPherson 32'	Report	McCarthy 8 o.g.'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Willie Collum

Livingston v Rangers

3 March 2021 30	Livingston	0–1	Rangers	Almondvale Stadium
18:00 GMT		Report	Morelos 87'	Attendance: 0 Referee: John Beaton

Motherwell v Livingston

6 March 2021 31	Motherwell	3–1	Livingston	Fir Park, Motherwell
15:00	Cole 31 pen.', 59' Long 69'	Report	Fitzwater 60'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Colin Steven

Livingston v Hamilton Academical

13 March 2021 32	Livingston	2–1	Hamilton Academical	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 GMT	Emmanuel-Thomas 16' Pittman 36'	Report	Smith 30'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Livingston v Hibernian

20 March 2021 33	Livingston	1–1	Hibernian	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 GMT	Sibbald 28'	Report	Doidge 41'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Nick Walsh

Celtic v Livingston

10 April 2021 34	Celtic	6–0	Livingston	Celtic Park
15:00	Forrest 30' Turnbull 38' Fitzwater 50 o.g.' Elyounoussi 54', 66' Christie 87'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: Nick Walsh

Hibernian v Livingston

21 April 2021 35	Hibernian	2–1	Livingston	Easter Road
15:00	Nisbet 8' Boyle 26 pen.'	Report	Emmanuel-Thomas 85 pen.'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Craig Napier

Livingston v Aberdeen

1 May 2021 36	Livingston	1–2	Aberdeen	Almondvale Stadium
15:00 GMT	Emmanuel-Thomas 80'	Report	Hendry 52' Hedges 74'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Grant Irvine

Livingston v Rangers

12 May 2021 37	Livingston	0–3	Rangers	Almondvale Stadium
18:00 GMT		Report	Tavernier 42 pen.' Kent 57' Hagi 83'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Don Robertson

St Johnstone v Livingston

15 May 2021 38	St Johnstone	0–0	Livingston	McDiarmid Park
12:30		Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: Craig Napier

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish League Cup

Group stage

Edinburgh City v Livingston

6 October 2020 Group H	Edinburgh City	1–5	Livingston	Ainslie Park
19:45	Handling 70' (pen.)	Report	Robinson 7' Mullin 22', 40' Poplatnik 65' Lokotsch 77'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Willie Collum

Livingston v Alloa Athletic

10 October 2020 Group H	Livingston	2–1	Alloa Athletic	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Forrest 46' Mullin 50'	Report	Thomson 31'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Alan Muir

Stenhousemuir v Livingston

10 November 2020 Group H	Stenhousemuir	0–4	Livingston	Ochilview Park
19:30		Report	Forrest 1', 8' Poplatnik 30' Taylor-Sinclair 65'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Colin Steven

Livingston v Airdrieonians

14 November 2020 Group H	Livingston	4–1	Airdrieonians	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Forrest 57', 83' Emmanuel-Thomas 58' (pen.), 67'	Report	Robert 52'	Attendance: 0 Referee: David Munro

Knockout rounds

Livingston v Ayr United

28 November 2020 Second round	Livingston	4–0	Ayr United	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Chalmers 4' (o.g.) Fitzwater 6', 12' Forrest 44'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: David Munro

Livingston v Ross County

15 December 2020 Quarter-final	Livingston	2–0	Ross County	Almondvale Stadium
19:45	Sibbald 4' Forrest 24'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: Steven McLean

Livingston v St Mirren

24 January 2021 Semi-final	Livingston	1–0	St Mirren	Hampden Park
16:00	Robinson 9'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: David Munro Man of the Match: Robinson

St Johnstone v Livingston

28 February 2021 Final	St Johnstone	1–0	Livingston	Hampden Park
14:00	Rooney 32'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: Don Robertson

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish Cup

Livingston v Raith Rovers

3 April 2021 Third Round	Livingston	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Raith Rovers	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Fitzwater 70' Poplatnik 109'	Report	Vaughan 13'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Bobby Madden

Aberdeen v Livingston

17 April 2021 Fourth Round	Aberdeen	2–2 (5–3 p)	Livingston	Pittodrie Stadium
17:30	McGinn 77' Kamberi 95'	Report	Emmanuel-Thomas 37', 93 pen.'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Colin Steven

Squad statistics

Appearances

As of 15 May 2021

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premiership		League Cup		Scottish Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	SCO	Robby McCrorie	18	0	16	0	1	0	1	0
2	DF	SCO	Nicky Devlin	46	2	35+1	2	7+1	0	2	0
3	DF	NIR	Ciaron Brown	18	1	13+3	1	0+2	0	0	0
4	DF	SCO	Alan Lithgow	3	0	1+1	0	0	0	0+1	0
5	DF	ENG	Jack Fitzwater	27	4	20	1	4+1	2	2	1
6	MF	ENG	Marvin Bartley (c)	41	1	32+1	1	6	0	2	0
8	MF	SCO	Scott Pittman	47	7	37+1	7	7	0	2	0
9	FW	ENG	Jay Emmanuel-Thomas	31	9	14+10	5	3+2	2	2	2
10	MF	SCO	Craig Sibbald	41	2	29+3	1	5+2	1	2	0
11	MF	SCO	Alan Forrest	38	11	21+8	4	7	7	2	0
12	DF	FRA	Julien Serrano	30	2	19+5	2	5+1	0	0	0
14	FW	SCO	Josh Mullin	30	6	16+6	3	7	3	0+1	0
15	FW	SVN	Matej Poplatnik	25	3	5+14	0	2+2	2	0+2	1
17	MF	SCO	Scott Robinson	31	6	16+10	4	5	2	0	0
18	MF	SCO	Jason Holt	37	1	24+4	1	4+3	0	2	0
19	FW	SCO	Salim Kouider-Aissa	4	0	0+4	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW	SCO	Gavin Reilly	7	0	3+2	0	0+2	0	0	0
21	DF	SCO	Jack McMillan	12	0	4+4	0	2+1	0	0+1	0
22	MF	SCO	Scott Tiffoney	13	1	4+7	1	1+1	0	0	0
23	MF	SCO	Jackson Longridge	13	0	9+1	0	0+1	0	2	0
25	DF	NGA	Efe Ambrose	28	0	17+5	0	4+2	0	0	0
27	DF	ENG	Jon Guthrie	42	4	34	4	6	0	2	0
28	MF	FRA	Djibril Diani	5	0	2+2	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
29	DF	SCO	Aaron Taylor-Sinclair	11	1	6	0	2+2	1	0+1	0
32	GK	POL	Max Stryjek	27	0	21	0	5	0	1	0
33	DF	TOG	Steve Lawson	16	0	7+7	0	2	0	0	0
37	FW	IRL	Jaze Kabia	9	1	1+7	1	0	0	0+1	0
39	MF	SCO	Carlo Pignatiello	3	0	0+1	0	0+2	0	0	0
40	GK	SCO	Gary Maley	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Players who left the club during the season
9	FW	SCO	Lyndon Dykes	3	2	3	2	0	0	0	0
13	FW	GER	Lars Lokotsch	5	1	2+2	0	0+1	1	0	0
16	MF	SCO	Robbie Crawford	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW	TUN	Aymen Souda	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
23	MF	ITA	Raffaele De Vita	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0	0
30	GK	USA	Brian Schwake	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	FW	SCO	Jack Hamilton	5	1	2+3	1	0	0	0	0

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
4	Aberdeen	38	15	11	12	36	38	−2	56	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
5	St Johnstone	38	11	12	15	36	46	−10	45	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round[b]
6	Livingston	38	12	9	17	42	54	−12	45
7	St Mirren	38	11	12	15	37	45	−8	45
8	Motherwell	38	12	9	17	39	55	−16	45

Source: ^[16]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-Head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification, second stage group allocation or relegation).^[17]
Notes:

1. Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
2. St Johnstone qualified as the 2020–21 Scottish Cup winners.

League Cup table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LIV	ALO	EDI	AIR	STE
1	Livingston	4	4	0	0	0	15	3	+12	12	Qualification for the Second round		—	2–1	—	4–1	—
2	Alloa Athletic	4	3	0	0	1	9	5	+4	9			—	—	2–1	—	4–2
3	Edinburgh City	4	1	0	1	2	5	9	−4	4			1–5	—	—	—	2–2p
4	Airdrieonians	4	1	0	0	3	3	7	−4	3			—	0–2	0–1	—	—
5	Stenhousemuir	4	0	1	0	3	4	12	−8	2			0–4	—	—	0–2	—

Source: ^[18]
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) goal difference, 3) goals scored, 4) away goals scored, 5) matches won, 6) away matches won, 7) drawing of lots.^[19]

Transfers

Main articles: List of Scottish football transfers summer 2020 and List of Scottish football transfers winter 2020–21

Players in Player From Fee Alan Forrest Ayr United Free[20] Jack Fitzwater West Bromwich Albion Free[21] Matej Poplatnik Kerala Blasters Free[21] Salim Kouider-Aissa Queen's Park Free[22] Max Stryjek Eastleigh Free[23] Jason Holt Rangers Free[24] Lars Lokotsch SV Rödinghausen Free[25] Anthony Stokes Persepolis Free[26] Jay Emmanuel-Thomas PTT Rayong Free[27] Josh Mullin Ross County Free[28] Gavin Reilly Carlisle United Free[29] Jaze Kabia Shelbourne Free[30] Jackson Longridge Bradford City Free[31]

Players out Player To Fee Craig Henderson East Stirlingshire Free[32] Ricki Lamie Motherwell Free[33] Steven Lawless Burton Albion Free[34] Chris Erskine East Kilbride Free[35] Hakeem Odoffin Hamilton Academical Undisclosed[36] Lyndon Dykes Queens Park Rangers £2,000,000[5] Dolly Menga Free[37] Cécé Pepe Free[37] Anthony Stokes Retired[6] Aymen Souda Free[38] Lars Lokotsch FSV Zwickau Free[39] Robbie Crawford Motherwell Free[40]

Loans in Player From Fee Robby McCrorie Rangers Loan[41] Ciaron Brown Cardiff City Loan[42] Julien Serrano AS Monaco Loan[25] Djibril Diani Grasshopper Loan[43]

Loans out Player To Fee Ross Stewart Heart of Midlothian Loan[44] Jack Hamilton East Fife Loan[45] Brian Schwake Linlithgow Rose Loan[46] Salim Kouider-Aissa Partick Thistle Loan[47] Robbie Crawford Motherwell Loan[48] Raffaele De Vita Edinburgh City Loan[49] Lars Lokotsch Raith Rovers Loan[50] Jack Hamilton Arbroath Loan[51] Salim Kouider-Aissa Queen's Park Loan[52]

See also

List of Livingston F.C. seasons

Footnotes

1. Rearranged match after postponement