2023–24 Livingston F.C. season

The 2023–24 season was Livingston's sixth consecutive season in the Scottish Premiership, the top flight of Scottish football. Livingston also competed in the League Cup and the Scottish Cup.

Livingston

2023–24 season
Chairman	John Ward
Manager	David Martindale
Stadium	Almondvale Stadium
Scottish Premiership	12th (relegated)
Scottish League Cup	Quarter-final
Scottish Cup	Quarter-final
Top goalscorer	League: Bruce Anderson (7) All: Bruce Anderson (10)
Highest home attendance	8,396, vs. Celtic, Premiership, 31 March 2024
Lowest home attendance	872, vs. Clyde, League Cup, 29 July 2023
Home colours Away colours
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

Season Summary

On 1 June it was announced that chairman Robert Wilson would retire from his position.^[1] The following week the club promoted Chief Executive John Ward to the position of Chairman, with Dave Black becoming the new Chief Executive, having previously been Business Development Manager and Head of Commercial & Media Operations - Black had in fact once been a ball boy for the club. ^[2]

On 24 September 2023, Livingston announced a takeover of the club with new ownership led by businessman John McIlvogue and his company Baycup Ltd. McIlvogue would be taking up the role of chief commercial officer.^[3][4] The move was cast into doubt weeks later as former directors launched a legal challenge to the sale of the club.^[5] Manager David Martindale reported that the dispute was still ongoing at the end of the season, and his future was likely to be determined by the outcome of an upcoming court case.^[6] As of 4 June 2024, the case remains unresolved - no changes have been made in respect of the ownership or directors of the club resultant from the 'takeover'.^[7] There have however been changes to the board of the club's majority owner, Opcco6 Ltd, in January 2024 with the removal as director of the club's chairman John Ward. At the same time the company reported the appointments of Neil Hogarth and Carolyn Sumner as directors and, in March, Neil Rankine as company secretary. ^[8] Rankine's appointment came shortly after the club reported that they had been able to settle a long-running feud with the former director in court.^[9]

On the pitch, the club enjoyed a strong showing in the League Cup, winning their group after three wins and a draw (losing the bonus point in a penalty shootout) against Hamilton Academical. In the second round they defeated Ayr United before succumbing to Glasgow giants Rangers in the quarter-finals.

In the Scottish Cup, they suffered a similar fate, succumbing to Celtic at the quarter-final stage after wins over Championship sides Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle (after extra time).

In the Premiership, Livi made a reasonable start but, after beating Motherwell on 7 October, failed to win again in 2023. They entered the winter break after a home defeat by Hearts, completing a run of two points from 13 games. During this run the team suffered seven losses in a row, including six successively without scoring, making them the first team to suffer six successive top-flight defeats with no goals since Aberdeen in 1999.^[10]

By February the team had surpassed the club's previous longest-ever winless run in league games, lasting 17 games between 21 October 2023 and 7 February 2024. The club's previous longest winless run in league games was between 14 May 2005 and 5 November 2005, stretching 16 games across the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons. This was brought to an end with a 1-0 home victory against St Mirren on 17 February.

Another winless streak followed, with the Lions reaching the Premiership's 33-game 'split' at the foot of the table, 12 points adrift of Ross County with five games to play.

After the split, the Lions managed to pick up a win in the first match, beating Ross County 2-0 at home, but they were relegated following a 4-1 defeat away to Motherwell the following week.^[11]

They also picked up a come-from-behind 2-1 win at home to St Johnstone, before finishing bottom of the table, 10 points adrift of County.

Results & fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Friendlies

Livingston v Queen of the South

1 July 2023	Livingston	2–0	Queen of the South	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Pittman 2' Bradley 64'

Livingston v Alloa Athletic

4 July 2023	Livingston	2–0	Alloa Athletic	Almondvale Stadium
19:45	Brandon 29' Anderson 66'

Queen's Park v Livingston

10 July 2023	Queen's Park	0–1	Livingston	Lesser Hampden
19:45		Report	Anderson 50'

Winterthur v Livingston

11 January 2024	Winterthur	3–2	Livingston	Lara, Antalya
12:30	Di Giusto 20' Burkart 74' Lüthi 85'		Guthrie 37' Welch-Hayes 45'

Scottish Premiership

Main article: 2023–24 Scottish Premiership

Livingston v Aberdeen

5 August 2023 1	Livingston	0–0	Aberdeen	Almondvale Stadium
15:00		Report		Attendance: 5,630 Referee: John Beaton

Rangers v Livingston

12 August 2023 2	Rangers	4–0	Livingston	Ibrox Stadium
15:00	Lammers 10' Danilo 78' Sima 84' Dowell 90'	Report		Attendance: 49,320 Referee: Don Robertson

Hibernian v Livingston

26 August 2023 3	Hibernian	2–3	Livingston	Easter Road
15:00	Boyle 61' Campbell 86'	Report	Obita 8 o.g.' Anderson 63' Sangare 75'	Attendance: 14,932 Referee: Craig Napier

Livingston v St Mirren

2 September 2023 4	Livingston	1–1	St Mirren	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	de Lucas 89'	Report	Nahmani 90+6'	Attendance: 2,075 Referee: Nick Walsh

Ross County v Livingston

16 September 2023 5	Ross County	1–1	Livingston	Victoria Park
15:00	Murray 59'	Report	Anderson 72'	Attendance: 3,160 Referee: Euan Anderson

Livingston v Celtic

23 September 2023 6	Livingston	0–3	Celtic	Almondvale Stadium
12:30		Report	Hatate 14 pen.' Hart  28' O'Riley 48' Maeda 90+5'	Attendance: 8,118 Referee: John Beaton

St Johnstone v Livingston

30 September 2023 7	St Johnstone	1–1	Livingston	McDiarmid Park
15:00	Costelloe 36' Gordon  83'	Report	Kelly 57 pen.'	Attendance: 2,691 Referee: Graham Grainger

Livingston v Motherwell

7 October 2023 8	Livingston	2–0	Motherwell	Almondvale Stadium
12:30	Anderson 53' Kelly 62 pen.'	Report	Miller  45+1'	Attendance: 2,039 Referee: Don Robertson

Kilmarnock v Livingston

21 October 2023 9	Kilmarnock	3–1	Livingston	Rugby Park
15:00	Armstrong 16' Vassell 42', 60'	Report	Kelly 35 pen.'	Attendance: 4,679 Referee: Craig Napier

Livingston v Dundee

28 October 2023 10	Livingston	0–2	Dundee	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Montaño  70'	Report	Shaughnessy 82', 85'	Attendance: 4,210 Referee: William Collum

Heart of Midlothian v Livingston

1 November 2023 11	Heart of Midlothian	1–0	Livingston	Tynecastle Park
19:45	Vargas 79'	Report		Attendance: 17,970 Referee: Chris Graham

Dundee v Livingston

5 November 2023 12	Dundee	1–0	Livingston	Dens Park
15:00	McCowan 57'	Report		Attendance: 4,769 Referee: Alan Muir

Livingston v Rangers

12 November 2023 13	Livingston	0–2	Rangers	Almondvale Stadium
12:00		Report	Dessers 26' Tavernier 75 pen.'	Attendance: 8,089 Referee: Steven McLean

St Mirren v Livingston

25 November 2023 14	St Mirren	1–0	Livingston	St Mirren Park
15:00	Kelly 24 o.g.'	Report		Attendance: 5,632 Referee: David Munro

Livingston v Hibernian

9 December 2023 16	Livingston	0–1	Hibernian	Almondvale Stadium
12:00		Report	Boyle 28'	Attendance: 3,463 Referee: Grant Irvine

Livingston v Kilmarnock

16 December 2023 17	Livingston	0–0	Kilmarnock	Almondvale Stadium
12:00		Report		Attendance: 2,820 Referee: William Collum

Aberdeen v Livingston

20 December 2023 18	Aberdeen	2–1	Livingston	Pittodrie Stadium
19:45	Miovski 42', 65'	Report	Guthrie 28'	Attendance: 13,794 Referee: Nick Walsh

Celtic v Livingston

23 December 2023 19	Celtic	2–0	Livingston	Celtic Park
15:00	Furuhashi 46' Scales 51'	Report		Attendance: 58,703 Referee: Matthew MacDermid

Livingston v St Johnstone

27 December 2023 20	Livingston	0–0	St Johnstone	Almondvale Stadium
19:45		Report		Attendance: 1,602 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Motherwell v Livingston

30 December 2023 21	Motherwell	3–1	Livingston	Fir Park
15:00	Spittal 14' Bair 19', 35'	Report	Pittman 23'	Attendance: 4,076 Referee: Chris Graham

Livingston v Heart of Midlothian

2 January 2024 22	Livingston	1–2	Heart of Midlothian	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Shinnie 79 pen.'	Report	Vargas 53' Shankland 64'	Attendance: 6,161 Referee: David Dickinson

Livingston v Dundee

27 January 2024 23	Livingston	1–4	Dundee	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Yengi 78 pen.'	Report	Bakayoko 19' McCowan 62'  74' Robinson 79' Mellon 87'	Attendance: 1,906 Referee: Ross Hardie

Livingston v Ross County

30 January 2024 15	Livingston	2–2	Ross County	Almondvale Stadium
19:45	Pittman 45' MacKay 88'	Report	Murray 28', 85'	Attendance: 1,142 Referee: Alan Muir
Note: Fixture postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Rangers v Livingston

3 February 2024 24	Rangers	3–0	Livingston	Ibrox Stadium
15:00	Silva 40' Matondo 45+2' Cantwell 56'	Report		Attendance: 49,688 Referee: John Beaton

Kilmarnock v Livingston

7 February 2024 25	Kilmarnock	1–0	Livingston	Rugby Park
19:45	Watkins 88'	Report		Attendance: 4,328 Referee: David Dickinson

Livingston v St Mirren

17 February 2024 26	Livingston	1–0	St Mirren	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Yengi 45+3'	Report		Attendance: 2,120 Referee: Euan Anderson

Ross County v Livingston

24 February 2024 27	Ross County	3–2	Livingston	Victoria Park
15:00	Brophy 21', 27' Sims 90+2'	Report	Anderson 47', 86'	Attendance: 3,346 Referee: David Dickinson

Livingston v Motherwell

28 February 2024 28	Livingston	1–3	Motherwell	Almondvale Stadium
19:45	Yengi 3'	Report	Nicholson 49' Spittal 71' Vale 87'	Attendance: 1,659 Referee: John Beaton

St Johnstone v Livingston

2 March 2024 29	St Johnstone	1–1	Livingston	McDiarmid Park
15:00	Clark 87'	Report	Shinnie 37'	Attendance: 3,287 Referee: Chris Graham

Hibernian v Livingston

16 March 2024 30	Hibernian	3–0	Livingston	Easter Road
15:00	Obita 5' Maolida 7' Le Fondre 22'	Report		Attendance: 15,912 Referee: Nick Walsh

Livingston v Celtic

31 March 2024 31	Livingston	0–3	Celtic	Almondvale Stadium
12:00		Report	Brandon 49 o.g.' Bernardo 72' O'Riley 82'	Attendance: 8,396 Referee: Don Robertson

Livingston v Aberdeen

6 April 2024 32	Livingston	0–0	Aberdeen	Almondvale Stadium
15:00		Report		Attendance: 2,797 Referee: Graham Grainger

Heart of Midlothian v Livingston

13 April 2024 33	Heart of Midlothian	4–2	Livingston	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Grant 29' Oda 32' Devlin 40' Shankland 45+6 pen.'	Report	Kelly 10', 22' Yengi  58'	Attendance: 18,491 Referee: Colin Steven

Livingston v Ross County

27 April 2024 34	Livingston	2–0	Ross County	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Anderson 12' Kelly 53 pen.'	Report		Attendance: 1,531 Referee: William Collum

Motherwell v Livingston

4 May 2024 35	Motherwell	4–1	Livingston	Fir Park
15:00	Bair 21 pen.', 68' Nicholson 45+2' Casey 74'	Report	Nouble 77'	Attendance: 4,161 Referee: David Munro

Livingston v St Johnstone

11 May 2024 36	Livingston	2–1	St Johnstone	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Montaño 72' Shinnie 90+5'	Report	Sidibeh 8'	Referee: John Beaton

Aberdeen v Livingston

15 May 2024 37	Aberdeen	5–1	Livingston	Pittodrie Stadium
19:45	Hoilett 58', 81' Shinnie 74' Polvara 77' Boyd 90+3'	Report	Yengi 52 pen.'	Attendance: 15,043 Referee: Alan Muir

Livingston v Hibernian

19 May 2024 38	Livingston	1–1	Hibernian	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Anderson 67'	Report	Maolida 49'	Referee: David Munro

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 2023–24 Scottish League Cup

Group stage

Brechin City v Livingston

15 July 2023 Group Stage	Brechin City	0–3	Livingston	Glebe Park
15:00		Report	Nouble 41' Kelly 41' Montaño 87'	Attendance: 585 Referee: Colin Steven

Livingston v Hamilton Academical

22 July 2023 Group Stage	Livingston	1–1 (1–4 p)	Hamilton Academical	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Anderson 90'	Report	Winter 31'	Attendance: 923 Referee: Craig Napier

Cove Rangers v Livingston

25 July 2023 Group Stage	Cove Rangers	0–5	Livingston	Balmoral Stadium
19:45		Report	Parkes 44' Obileye 55' Anderson 59' Kelly 81', 90+2'	Attendance: 683 Referee: David Dickinson

Livingston v Clyde

29 July 2023 Group Stage	Livingston	1–0	Clyde	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Anderson 75'	Report		Attendance: 872 Referee: William Collum

Knockout phase

Livingston v Ayr United

19 August 2023 Second round	Livingston	2–0	Ayr United	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Nouble 12' Montaño 64'	Report		Attendance: 1,304 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Rangers v Livingston

27 September 2023 Quarter-final	Rangers	4–0	Livingston	Ibrox Stadium
20:00	Sima 10', 84' Yılmaz 66' Jack 90+2'			Attendance: 35,420 Referee: William Collum

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2023–24 Scottish Cup

Livingston v Raith Rovers

20 January 2024 Fourth round	Livingston	2–1	Raith Rovers	Almondvale Stadium
15:00	Brandon 32' MacKay 82'	Report	Hamilton 5'	Attendance: 2,580 Referee: Grant Irvine

Partick Thistle v Livingston

10 February 2024 Fifth round	Partick Thistle	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Livingston	Firhill Stadium
15:00	McInroy 27' Fitzpatrick 61'	Report	Nouble 66', 82' Yengi 120'	Attendance: 3,843 Referee: Nick Walsh

Celtic v Livingston

10 March 2024 Quarter-final	Celtic	4–2	Livingston	Celtic Park
14:30	Maeda 7', 22', 86' Furuhashi 90+5'	Report	MacKay 12' Yengi 54'	Attendance: 33,232 Referee: William Collum

Squad statistics

Appearances

As of 19 May 2024

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premiership		League Cup		Scottish Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Shamal George	38	0	32	0	5	0	1	0
2	MF	IRL	Shaun Donnellan	5	0	3	0	0	0	1+1	0
3	MF	COL	Cristian Montaño	23	3	10+6	1	5	2	2	0
4	MF	ENG	David Carson	10	0	7+3	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF	SCO	Mikey Devlin (c)	35	0	26+3	0	5	0	1	0
6	DF	ENG	Ayo Obileye	37	1	28+1	0	6	1	2	0
8	MF	SCO	Scott Pittman	37	2	27+2	2	3+3	0	2	0
9	FW	SCO	Bruce Anderson	43	10	17+17	7	4+2	3	0+3	0
10	MF	SCO	Stephen Kelly	37	4	17+11	2	3+3	2	3	0
11	FW	SCO	Daniel MacKay	28	3	10+13	1	1+1	0	2+1	2
12	DF	SCO	Jamie Brandon	41	1	26+6	0	1+5	0	3	1
16	MF	SCO	Steven Bradley	18	0	9+8	0	0	0	1	0
18	MF	SCO	Jason Holt	41	0	31+2	0	6	0	2	0
19	FW	ENG	Joel Nouble	40	5	28+4	1	5+1	2	2	2
20	MF	LBR	Mohammed Sangare	33	1	10+15	1	2+3	0	1+2	0
21	DF	SKN	Michael Nottingham	30	0	21+5	0	0+1	0	3	0
22	MF	SCO	Andrew Shinnie	41	3	24+9	3	3+2	0	1+2	0
23	GK	SCO	Kieran Wright	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF	SCO	Sean Kelly	27	5	21+2	4	2	1	1+1	0
28	FW	ENG	Kurtis Guthrie	33	1	11+15	1	3+2	0	1+1	0
29	MF	SCO	James Penrice	31	0	22+2	0	6	0	0+1	0
32	GK	SCO	Jack Hamilton	5	0	4	0	1	0	0	0
33	FW	AUS	Tete Yengi	18	6	12+4	4	0	0	2	2
35	DF	SCO	Calan Ledingham	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
37	MF	SCO	Tommy Sharp	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
Players who left the club during the season
4	DF	ENG	Tom Parkes	12	1	3+6	0	2+1	1	0	0
7	MF	CGO	Dylan Bahamboula	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	DF	ENG	Miles Welch-Hayes	3	0	2+1	0	0	0	0	0
15	DF	WAL	Morgan Boyes	3	0	0+1	0	1+1	0	0	0
23	DF	DOM	Luiyi de Lucas	15	1	11+1	1	2+1	0	0	0
23	GK	NIR	Michael McGovern	5	0	2+1	0	0	0	2	0
25	MF	ENG	Danny Lloyd	5	0	1+3	0	0+1	0	0	0
38	MF	CGO	Scott Bitsindou	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
40	MF	NGA	Samson Lawal	3	0	0+2	0	0+1	0	0	0

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
8	Hibernian	38	11	13	14	52	59	−7	46
9	Motherwell	38	10	13	15	56	59	−3	43
10	St Johnstone	38	8	11	19	29	54	−25	35
11	Ross County (O)	38	8	11	19	38	67	−29	35	Qualification for the Premiership play-off final
12	Livingston (R)	38	5	10	23	29	70	−41	25	Relegation to Championship

Source: ^[12][13]
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).^[14]
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
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).

League Cup table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LIV	HAM	COV	BRE	CLY
1	Livingston	4	3	0	1	0	10	1	+9	10	Qualification for the second round		—	1–1p	—	—	1–0
2	Hamilton Academical	4	2	1	1	0	7	4	+3	9			—	—	2–2p	1–0	—
3	Cove Rangers	4	2	1	0	1	10	11	−1	8			0–5	—	—	—	5–2
4	Brechin City	4	1	0	0	3	4	8	−4	3			0–3	—	2–3	—	—
5	Clyde	4	0	0	0	4	4	11	−7	0			—	1–3	—	1–2	—

Source: ^[15]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[16]

Transfers

Main articles: List of Scottish football transfers summer 2023 and List of Scottish football transfers winter 2023–24

Players in Player From Fee Mikey Devlin Hibernian Free[17] Mohammed Sangare Accrington Stanley Free[18] Miles Welch-Hayes Harrogate Town Free[19] Michael Nottingham Accrington Stanley Free[20] Aphelele Teto TS Galaxy Free[21] Samson Lawal Katsina United Free[22] Danny Lloyd Rochdale Free[23] Shaun Donnellan Torquay United Free[24] Tete Yengi Ipswich Town Free[25] David Carson Inverness CT Free[26]

Players out Player To Fee Jack Hamilton Raith Rovers Nominal[27][28] Jack Fitzwater Exeter City Free[27][29] Jaze Kabia Cork City Free[27][30] Jackson Longridge Hamilton Academical Free[27][31] Stéphane Oméonga Bnei Sakhnin Free[27] Brian Schwake CD Castellón Free[27][32] Esmaël Gonçalves Free[33] Danny Lloyd Southport Free[34][35] Luiyi de Lucas AEL Limassol Free[36][37] Tom Parkes Hartlepool United Free[38] Scott Bitsindou Free[39] Dylan Bahamboula Free[40]

Loans in Player From Fee Daniel MacKay Hibernian Loan[41] Michael McGovern Heart of Midlothian Loan[42] Kieran Wright Rangers Loan[43]

Loans out Player To Fee Lucas Stenhouse Bo'ness United Loan[44] John Binnie Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts Loan[45] Morgan Boyes Inverness CT Loan[46] Miles Welch-Hayes Dunfermline Athletic Loan[47] Samson Lawal Inverness CT Loan[48]

See also

List of Livingston F.C. seasons