2022–23 Scottish League One

The 2022–23 Scottish League One (known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season of Scottish League One, the third tier of Scottish football.

Scottish League One

Season	2022–23
Dates	30 July 2022 – 6 May 2023
Champions	Dunfermline Athletic
Promoted	Dunfermline Athletic Airdrieonians (via play-offs)
Relegated	Clyde (via play-offs) Peterhead
Matches played	180
Goals scored	533 (2.96 per match)
Top goalscorer	Calum Gallagher Ruari Paton 22 goals
Biggest home win	Airdrieonians 7–0 Peterhead (18 March 2023)
Biggest away win	Airdrieonians 0–6 Edinburgh (3 September 2022)
Highest scoring	Airdrieonians 3–5 Edinburgh (2 January 2023)
Longest winning run	Airdrieonians Falkirk 5 games
Longest unbeaten run	Dunfermline Athletic 24 games
Longest winless run	Clyde 21 games
Longest losing run	Clyde 11 games
Highest attendance	9,530 Dunfermline Athletic 2–0 Falkirk (7 March 2023)
Lowest attendance	229 Edinburgh 2–0 Peterhead (5 October 2022)
Total attendance	281,262
Average attendance	1,562
← 2021–22 2023–24 → All statistics correct as of 6 May 2023.

Ten teams contested the league: Airdrieonians, Alloa Athletic, Clyde, Dunfermline Athletic, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Kelty Hearts, Montrose, Peterhead and Queen of the South.

Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2021–22 season.

To League One Promoted from League Two Edinburgh Kelty Hearts Relegated from the Championship Dunfermline Athletic Queen of the South

From League One Relegated to League Two East Fife Dumbarton Promoted to the Championship Cove Rangers Queen's Park

Stadia and locations

Airdrieonians	Alloa Athletic	Clyde	Dunfermline Athletic
Excelsior Stadium	Recreation Park	New Douglas Park[1]	East End Park
Capacity: 10,101[2]	Capacity: 3,100[3]	Capacity: 6,018[4]	Capacity: 11,480[5]
Falkirk	Airdrie Alloa Clyde Dunfermline Falkirk Edinburgh Kelty Hearts Montrose Peterhead Queen of the South Location of teams in 2022–23 Scottish League One		Edinburgh
Falkirk Stadium			Meadowbank Stadium[6][7]
Capacity: 7,937[8]			Capacity: 1,280[9]
Kelty Hearts	Montrose	Peterhead	Queen of the South
New Central Park	Links Park	Balmoor	Palmerston Park
Capacity: 2,181[10]	Capacity: 4,936[11]	Capacity: 3,150[12]	Capacity: 8,690[13]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Airdrieonians	Rhys McCabe	Callum Fordyce	Umbro	Holemasters
Alloa Athletic	Brian Rice	Andy Graham	Pendle	Northern Gas and Power
Clyde	Jim Duffy	Brian McLean	Puma	HomesBook Factoring (Home) Whitemoss Dental (Away)
Dunfermline Athletic	James McPake	Kyle Benedictus	Joma	SRJ Windows
Falkirk	John McGlynn	Stephen McGinn	Puma	Crunchy Carrots
Edinburgh	Alan Maybury	Robbie McIntyre	Joma	Forth Capital
Kelty Hearts	John Potter	Michael Tidser	Joma	The Conservatory Converters
Montrose	Stewart Petrie	Paul Watson	Hummel	Carnegie Fuels Ltd
Peterhead	Jordon Brown and Ryan Strachan	Paul Dixon	Adidas	The Score Group
Queen of the South	Marvin Bartley	Josh Todd	Macron	Rosefield Salvage

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Falkirk	Kenny Miller	End of interim spell	30 April 2022[14]	Pre-season	John McGlynn	4 May 2022[15]
Edinburgh	Alan Maybury		13 May 2022[16]		Alan Maybury	19 May 2022[17]
Dunfermline Athletic	John Hughes	Mutual consent	19 May 2022[18]		James McPake	24 May 2022[19]
Airdrieonians	Ian Murray	Signed by Raith Rovers	24 May 2022[20]		Rhys McCabe	26 May 2022[21]
Kelty Hearts	Kevin Thomson	Resigned	31 May 2022[22]		John Potter	8 June 2022[23]
Clyde	Danny Lennon	Mutual consent	25 October 2022[24]	9th	Jim Duffy	7 November 2022[25]
Peterhead	Jim McInally	Resigned	14 November 2022[26]	10th	David Robertson	29 November 2022[27]
Queen of the South	Willie Gibson	Mutual consent	21 December 2022[28]	7th	Marvin Bartley	7 January 2023[29]
Peterhead	David Robertson	Sacked	21 March 2023[30]	10th	Jordon Brown and Ryan Strachan	21 March 2023

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Dunfermline Athletic (C, P)	36	23	12	1	63	21	+42	81	Promotion to the Championship
2	Falkirk	36	19	10	7	70	39	+31	67	Qualification for the Championship play-offs
3	Airdrieonians (O, P)	36	17	9	10	82	51	+31	60
4	Alloa Athletic	36	17	6	13	56	47	+9	57
5	Queen of the South	36	16	6	14	59	59	0	54
6	Edinburgh	36	15	6	15	60	55	+5	51
7	Montrose	36	13	9	14	50	55	−5	48
8	Kelty Hearts	36	10	10	16	39	54	−15	40
9	Clyde (R)	36	5	9	22	35	68	−33	24	Qualification for the League One play-offs
10	Peterhead (R)	36	3	7	26	19	84	−65	16	Relegation to League Two

Source: ^[31]
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).^[32]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–18 Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away. Home \ Away AIR ALO CLY DNF EDI FAL KEL MON PET QOS Airdrieonians — 2–0 5–0 3–4 0–6 4–0 1–0 4–0 1–1 3–3 Alloa Athletic 2–0 — 2–1 0–3 2–4 1–1 3–1 2–1 5–0 5–1 Clyde 0–1 2–4 — 0–2 0–2 3–3 3–0 1–3 2–2 1–2 Dunfermline Athletic 1–1 1–0 2–2 — 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–2 1–1 Edinburgh 3–1 4–3 2–0 0–3 — 0–3 2–0 2–2 2–0 0–3 Falkirk 1–1 3–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 — 2–3 0–0 3–1 3–1 Kelty Hearts 1–0 1–1 2–1 0–0 0–2 2–0 — 1–3 3–0 1–0 Montrose 4–2 0–0 2–1 2–0 1–2 1–1 3–0 — 3–0 0–0 Peterhead 0–2 0–2 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–4 2–1 0–2 — 1–4 Queen of the South 1–1 1–1 1–4 0–2 4–1 1–3 1–2 4–0 2–0 — Source: [33] 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. Matches 19–36 Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away. Home \ Away AIR ALO CLY DNF EDI FAL KEL MON PET QOS Airdrieonians — 4–0 1–0 1–1 3–5 1–3 6–1 3–0 7–0 1–3 Alloa Athletic 0–1 — 3–1 0–2 2–1 1–4 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 Clyde 1–5 2–2 — 1–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 1–1 Dunfermline Athletic 1–1 2–0 2–1 — 0–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 4–0 5–0 Edinburgh 1–4 0–2 3–0 0–1 — 1–2 2–2 1–1 4–0 1–3 Falkirk 2–2 1–0 4–0 2–2 1–2 — 0–0 2–1 5–0 5–2 Kelty Hearts 1–1 0–1 0–0 1–2 1–2 1–2 — 1–2 2–1 3–0 Montrose 2–4 0–4 2–0 1–3 3–3 1–2 3–3 — 2–1 1–0 Peterhead 0–3 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–3 1–1 0–0 — 1–3 Queen of the South 3–2 1–2 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 4–1 2–3 2–1 — Source: [33] 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

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Calum Gallagher	Airdrieonians	22
	Ruari Paton	Queen of the South
3	Craig Wighton	Dunfermline Athletic	16
4	Gabby McGill	Airdrieonians	15
5	Conor Sammon	Alloa Athletic	13
	Danny Handling	Edinburgh
	John Robertson	Edinburgh

Awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Rhys McCabe	Airdrieonians	Calum Gallagher	Airdrieonians
September/October	James McPake	Dunfermline Athletic	Danny Handling	Edinburgh
November			Jordan Allan	Clyde
December	Alan Maybury	Edinburgh	John Robertson	Edinburgh
January	John McGlynn	Falkirk	Callumn Morrison	Falkirk
February			Kyle Benedictus	Dunfermline Athletic
March	Marvin Bartley	Queen of the South	Gabby McGill	Airdrieonians
April	James McPake	Dunfermline Athletic	Craig Wighton	Dunfermline Athletic

The SPFL League One manager of the year was James McPake of Dunfermline Athletic.

The SPFL League One player of the year was Kyle Benedictus of Dunfermline Athletic.

League One play-offs

The semi-finals were contested by the teams placed second to fourth in League Two, as well as the team placed ninth in League One. The winners advanced to the final, with the highest-ranked team hosting the second leg.^[34]

Qualified teams

Team	Rank
Clyde	1
Dumbarton	2
Annan Athletic	3
East Fife	4

Semi-finals

First leg

Annan Athletic v Dumbarton

9 May 2023	Annan Athletic	6–0	Dumbarton	Annan
19:45	Goss 7' Kilsby 24' Muir 40' Smith 62' Docherty 83' Luissint 89'	[35]		Stadium: Galabank Attendance: 840 Referee: Calum Scott

East Fife v Clyde

9 May 2023	East Fife	0–1	Clyde	Methil
20:00		[36]	Rennie 53'	Stadium: Bayview Stadium Attendance: 1,206 Referee: Barry Cook

Second leg

Clyde v East Fife

12 May 2023	Clyde	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–1 agg.)	East Fife	Hamilton
19:45	Rennie 107'	[37]	Shepherd 10'	Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 1,012 Referee: Craig Napier

Dumbarton v Annan Athletic

13 May 2023	Dumbarton	0–0 (0–6 agg.)	Annan Athletic	Dumbarton
15:00		[38]		Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Attendance: 296 Referee: Ian Snedden

Final

First leg

Annan Athletic v Clyde

16 May 2023	Annan Athletic	3–1	Clyde	Annan
19:35	Kilsby 18', 67' Šuľa 82' (o.g.)	[39]	Cameron 33'	Stadium: Galabank Attendance: 1,160 Referee: Graham Grainger

Second leg

Clyde v Annan Athletic

19 May 2023	Clyde	1–2 (2–5 agg.)	Annan Athletic	Hamilton
19:35	McDonald 47'	[40]	Luissint 78', 90+3'	Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 1,202 Referee: Colin Steven