2020–21 Scottish League One

The 2020–21 Scottish League One was the eighth season of Scottish League One, the third tier of Scottish football. The season commenced later than usual, on the October 17th, being played over a shortened 22 game period due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.^[2]

Scottish League One

Season	2020–21
Dates	17 October 2020 – 6 May 2021
Champions	Partick Thistle
Promoted	Partick Thistle
Relegated	Forfar Athletic
Matches played	110
Goals scored	278 (2.53 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mitch Megginson (14 goals)[1]
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

Ten teams contested the league: Airdrieonians, Clyde, Cove Rangers, Dumbarton, East Fife, Falkirk, Forfar Athletic, Montrose, Partick Thistle and Peterhead.

On 11 January 2021, the league was suspended for three weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] On 29 January 2021, the suspension was extended until at least 14 February.^[4] In March 2021, the Scottish Government gave permission for the league to resume. On 4 March, League One and Two clubs proposed shortening the season to 22 matches, with each team playing all other teams twice, followed by a split in the table to determine the final four matches. The clubs suggested a restart date of 20 March, which was approved by the SPFL.^[5]

Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2019–20 season.^[6]

To League One

Promoted from League Two

• Cove Rangers

Relegated from the Championship

• Partick Thistle

From League One

Relegated to League Two

• Stranraer

Promoted to the Championship

• Raith Rovers

Stadia and locations

Airdrieonians	Clyde	Cove Rangers	Dumbarton
Excelsior Stadium	Broadwood Stadium	Balmoral Stadium	Dumbarton Football Stadium
Capacity: 10,101[7]	Capacity: 8,086[8]	Capacity: 2,602[9]	Capacity: 2,020[10]
East Fife	Airdrie Clyde Cove Rangers Dumbarton East Fife Falkirk Forfar Athletic Montrose Partick Thistle Peterhead Location of teams in 2020–21 Scottish League One		Falkirk
Bayview Stadium			Falkirk Stadium
Capacity: 1,980[11]			Capacity: 7,937[12]
Forfar Athletic	Montrose	Partick Thistle	Peterhead
Station Park	Links Park	Firhill Stadium	Balmoor
Capacity: 6,777[13]	Capacity: 4,936[14]	Capacity: 10,102[15]	Capacity: 3,150[16]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Airdrieonians	Ian Murray	Sean Crighton	Umbro	Holemasters[17]
Clyde	Danny Lennon	David Goodwillie	Uhlsport	North Lanarkshire Leisure (Home) HomesBook Factoring (Away)
Cove Rangers	Paul Hartley	Mitch Megginson	Adidas	ACE Group
Dumbarton	Jim Duffy	Stuart Carswell	Joma[18]	C&G Systems[19]
East Fife	Darren Young	Kevin Smith	Joma	BW Technology
Falkirk	Gary Holt (Interim)	Gary Miller	Puma[20]	Central Demolition[20]
Forfar Athletic	Gary Irvine	Gary Irvine	Pendle	Orchard Timber Products
Montrose	Stewart Petrie	Paul Watson	Hummel	Carnegie Fuels Ltd
Partick Thistle	Ian McCall	Thomas O'Ware	O'Neills	Just Employment Law[21]
Peterhead	Jim McInally	Scott Brown	Adidas	The Score Group

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Forfar Athletic	Stuart Malcolm	Resigned	9 April 2021[22]	10th	Gary Irvine	9 April 2021[23]
Falkirk	David McCracken Lee Miller	Sacked	21 April 2021	3rd	Gary Holt (interim)	21 April 2021

League summary

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Partick Thistle (C, P)	22	11	7	4	40	18	+22	40	Promotion to the Championship
2	Airdrieonians	22	12	2	8	35	24	+11	38	Qualification for the Championship play-offs
3	Cove Rangers	22	10	6	6	28	18	+10	36
4	Montrose	22	9	6	7	33	33	0	33
5	Falkirk	22	9	5	8	29	26	+3	32
6	East Fife	22	10	3	9	30	33	−3	33
7	Peterhead	22	9	2	11	24	27	−3	29
8	Clyde	22	8	2	12	27	38	−11	26
9	Dumbarton (O)	22	7	4	11	14	24	−10	25	Qualification for the League One play-offs
10	Forfar Athletic (R)	22	4	5	13	18	37	−19	17	Relegation to League Two

Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-to head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only for deciding promotion, play-off participation and relegation).^[24]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Teams play each other two times, making a total of 90 games, with each team playing 18, the league then splits in half for a further 4 matches.^[25] This was reduced from the normal 36 due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[25]

Matches 1–18

Home \ Away	AIR	CLY	COV	DUM	EFI	FAL	FOR	MON	PAR	PET
Airdrieonians	—	5–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–1	3–1	0–1	2–4	2–0
Clyde	2–4	—	1–1	0–1	1–3	0–3	3–0	3–2	1–0	0–2
Cove Rangers	2–0	2–3	—	1–0	3–1	2–0	3–0	1–2	1–0	1–0
Dumbarton	0–1	1–0	1–0	—	2–1	0–3	0–1	0–0	0–2	0–1
East Fife	2–0	1–0	0–0	2–1	—	2–1	2–0	2–2	2–2	2–1
Falkirk	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	—	1–1	2–0	0–0	2–1
Forfar Athletic	1–3	1–3	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–2	—	2–3	0–2	1–1
Montrose	2–2	2–2	1–0	4–0	3–0	1–3	0–0	—	0–1	3–2
Partick Thistle	2–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–2	2–2	5–0	—	0–1
Peterhead	1–0	0–2	0–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–3	—

Source: SPFL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Post-Split Fixtures (Matches 19–22)

Top half Home \ Away AIR COV FAL MON PAR Airdrieonians — — 2–0 2–1 — Cove Rangers 0–2 — — — 2–2 Falkirk — 2–2 — 1–2 — Montrose — 0–2 — — 3–2 Partick Thistle 1–0 — 5–0 — — Source: SPFL Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Bottom half Home \ Away CLY DUM EFI FOR PET Clyde — 2–0 2–1 — — Dumbarton — — — 1–0 3–2 East Fife — 2–1 — — 1–3 Forfar Athletic 2–1 — 2–3 — — Peterhead 3–0 — — 1–2 — Source: SPFL Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 6 May 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mitch Megginson	Cove Rangers	14
2	David Goodwillie	Clyde	11
	Brian Graham	Partick Thistle
4	Dale Carrick	Airdrieonians	9
5	Graham Webster	Montrose	8
6	Jack Hamilton	East Fife	7
	Russell McLean	Montrose
	Scott Tiffoney	Partick Thistle

Source:^[1]

Hat-tricks

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

Player	For	Against	Score	Date
David Goodwillie	Clyde	Montrose	3–2 (H)	21 November 2020

Attendances

Games were mostly played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Limited attendance was allowed at some grounds with strict conditions under the Scottish Government Tier system, dependent on the club's geographical location.

Awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
October	Paul Hartley	Cove Rangers	Stuart McKenzie	Cove Rangers
November	David McCracken Lee Miller	Falkirk	Thomas Robert	Airdrieonians
December	Stewart Petrie	Montrose	Jack Hamilton	East Fife
January	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
February	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
March	David McCracken Lee Miller	Falkirk	Graham Webster	Montrose
April	Ian McCall	Partick Thistle	Scott Tiffoney	Partick Thistle

League One play-offs

The second bottom team, Dumbarton, entered into a 4-team playoff with the 2nd-4th placed teams in 2020–21 Scottish League Two. Edinburgh City along with Elgin City and Stranraer secured playoff spots.

Semi-final

First leg

Stranraer v Dumbarton

8 May 2021	Stranraer	0–0	Dumbarton	Stranraer
15:00		Report		Stadium: Stair Park Referee: Chris Graham

Elgin City v Edinburgh City

8 May 2021	Elgin City	0–1	Edinburgh City	Elgin
15:00		Report	Campbell 45'	Stadium: Borough Briggs Referee: Alan Newlands

Second leg

Dumbarton v Stranraer

11 May 2021	Dumbarton	1–0 (1–0 agg.)	Stranraer	Dumbarton
19:45	Wilson 36'	Report		Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Referee: Gavin Duncan

Edinburgh City v Elgin City

11 May 2021	Edinburgh City	2–2 (3–2 agg.)	Elgin City	Edinburgh
19:45	Handling 26' Campbell 88'	Report	McHardy 22', 42'	Stadium: Ainslie Park Referee: Craig Napier

Final

First leg

Edinburgh City v Dumbarton

17 May 2021	Edinburgh City	1–3	Dumbarton	Edinburgh
19:35	McIntyre 44'	Report	McGeever 53' Brindley 67' Neill 82'	Stadium: Ainslie Park Referee: Colin Steven

Second leg

Dumbarton v Edinburgh City

20 May 2021	Dumbarton	0–1 (3–2 agg.)	Edinburgh City	Dumbarton
19:35		Report	See 52'	Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Referee: Alan Newlands