2014–15 Scottish Championship

The 2014–15 Scottish Championship is the 20th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football.

Scottish Championship
Season2014–15
ChampionsHeart of Midlothian
PromotedHeart of Midlothian
RelegatedCowdenbeath
Matches played180
Goals scored525 (2.92 per match)
Top goalscorerJason Cummings
(18 goals)
Biggest home winHearts 10–0 Cowdenbeath
(28 February 2015)
Biggest away winCowdenbeath 0–5 Queen of the South (21 January 2015)
Highest scoringHearts 10–0 Cowdenbeath
(28 February 2015)
Longest winning run9 games[1]
Heart of Midlothian
Longest unbeaten run20 games[1]
Heart of Midlothian
Longest winless run12 games[1]
Alloa Athletic
Longest losing run5 games[1]
Cowdenbeath
Livingston
Highest attendance43,683[2]
Rangers 1–2 Heart of Midlothian
(10 August 2014)
Lowest attendance549[2]
Cowdenbeath 0–3 Alloa Athletic
(23 August 2014)
Average attendance7,532[2]
All statistics correct as of 31 March 2015.

Heart of Midlothian won the title on 22 March 2015 and secured their return to the Scottish Premiership with a record seven matches remaining, after Rangers defeated city rivals Hibernian 2–0.[3] This marked the first time since the 1984-85 season that a side in the same division as an Old Firm club won a league title in Scotland.

Teams

Rangers were promoted as 2013–14 Scottish League One champions, whilst Heart of Midlothian were relegated from the 2013–14 Scottish Premiership. Hibernian finished 11th in the Premiership and were eventually relegated after a play-off against Hamilton Academical, losing a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw on aggregate over two legs.

Stadia by capacity and locations
Alloa Athletic Cowdenbeath Dumbarton Falkirk
Recreation Park Central Park Dumbarton Football Stadium Falkirk Stadium
Capacity: 3,100[4] Capacity: 4,309[5] Capacity: 2,020[6] Capacity: 8,750[7]
Rangers
Heart of Midlothian
Ibrox Stadium Tynecastle Stadium
Capacity: 50,947[8] Capacity: 17,529[9]
Raith Rovers Queen of the South Livingston Hibernian
Stark's Park Palmerston Park Almondvale Stadium Easter Road
Capacity: 8,473[10] Capacity: 8,690[11] Capacity: 9,865[12] Capacity: 20,421[13]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Alloa Athletic Scotland Danny Lennon Pendle Marshall Construction
Cowdenbeath Northern Ireland Jimmy Nicholl Uhlsport Subsea Pressure Controls
Dumbarton Scotland Ian Murray Joma Baxter Ramsay
Falkirk Scotland Peter Houston Puma Central Demolition
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Robbie Neilson Adidas Foundation of Hearts (A)
Hibernian England Alan Stubbs Nike Marathonbet
Livingston Scotland John McGlynn Joma Energy Assets
Queen of the South Scotland James Fowler Joma Southwest Mechanical Services
Raith Rovers Scotland Grant Murray Puma valmcdermid.com (H, front of shirt), Keytech Electronic Systems (H, back of shirt), D&G Autocare (A)
Rangers Scotland Stuart McCall Puma 32Red

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Heart of Midlothian Scotland Gary Locke Mutual Consent 12 May 2014[14] Pre-season Scotland Robbie Neilson 12 May 2014[14]
Falkirk Scotland Gary Holt Resigned 2 June 2014[15] Pre-season Scotland Peter Houston 12 June 2014[16]
Hibernian England Terry Butcher Sacked 10 June 2014[17] Pre-season England Alan Stubbs 24 June 2014[18]
Queen of the South Scotland Jim McIntyre Appointed by Ross County 9 September 2014[19] 4th Scotland James Fowler 30 September 2014[20]
Rangers Scotland Ally McCoist Resigned 15 December 2014[21] 2nd Scotland Stuart McCall 12 March 2015[22]
Livingston Scotland John McGlynn Mutual Consent 16 December 2014[23] 10th Scotland Mark Burchill 16 December 2014[23]
Alloa Athletic Scotland Barry Smith Resigned 7 March 2015[24] 9th Scotland Danny Lennon 7 April 2015[25]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Heart of Midlothian (C, P) 36 29 4 3 96 26 +70 91 Promotion to the Premiership
2 Hibernian 36 21 7 8 70 32 +38 70 Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-final
3 Rangers 36 19 10 7 69 39 +30 67 Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final
4 Queen of the South 36 17 9 10 58 41 +17 60
5 Falkirk 36 14 11 11 48 48 0 53
6 Raith Rovers 36 12 7 17 42 65 −23 43
7 Dumbarton 36 9 7 20 36 79 −43 34
8 Livingston[lower-alpha 1] 36 8 8 20 41 53 −12 27
9 Alloa Athletic (O) 36 6 9 21 34 56 −22 27 Qualification for the Championship play-offs
10 Cowdenbeath (R) 36 7 4 25 31 86 −55 25 Relegation to League One
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Livingston were deducted 5 points due to failure of tax payments.

Results

Teams play each other four times in this league. In the first half of the season each team plays every other team twice (home and away) and then do the same in the second half of the season, for a total of 36 games.

Championship play-offs

The second bottom team in the Championship enters into a 4 team playoff with the teams from 2nd to 4th from League One

Semi-finals

All times British Summer Time (UTC+1)

First leg
Brechin City0–2Alloa Athletic
Report Chopra 56'
Benedictus 90'
Attendance: 505
Referee: Brian Colvin
Forfar Athletic3–0Stranraer
Kader 61'
Swankie 87'
Hay 90'		 Report
Attendance: 717

Second leg
Alloa Athletic0–1Brechin City
Report Trouten 80'
Attendance: 606

Alloa win 2-1 on aggregate

Stranraer1–1Forfar Athletic
Aitken 41' (pen.) Report Swankie 53' (pen.)
Attendance: 519
Referee: Bobby Madden

Forfar win 4-1 on aggregate

Final

The two semi-final winners enter a two-legged play-off, the winner of which is awarded a place in the 2015–16 Scottish Championship.

First leg
Forfar Athletic3–1Alloa Athletic
Kader 10'
Templeman 57'
Travis 90'		 Report Benedictus 82'
Attendance: 1,212
Referee: Kevin Graham

Second leg
Alloa Athletic3–0Forfar Athletic
Chopra 45'
Buchanan 67'
Holmes Red card 74'
Meggatt 84'		 Report
Attendance: 1,423
Referee: Willie Collum

Alloa win 4-3 on aggregate

Top scorers
As of 13 May 2015 (UTC)
Rank Scorer Club Goals[26]
1 Scotland Jason Cummings Hibernian 18
2 Scotland Derek Lyle Queen of the South 15
3 Scotland Liam Buchanan Alloa Athletic 14
4 Scotland Gavin Reilly Queen of the South 13
Republic of the Congo Dominique Malonga Hibernian
6 Netherlands Género Zeefuik Heart of Midlothian 12
7 Scotland James Keatings Heart of Midlothian 11
Sweden Osman Sow Heart of Midlothian
Scotland Jamie Walker Heart of Midlothian
Scotland Jordan White Livingston

References
  1. "2014–15 Scottish Championship statistics". Statto. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  2. "2014–15 Scottish Championship statistics". ESPN. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  3. "Hibernian 0-2 Rangers". BBC Sport. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  4. "Alloa Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. "Cowdenbeath Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. "Dumbarton Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. "Falkirk Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. "Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. "Heart of Midlothian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. "Raith Rovers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. "Queen of the South Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. "Livingston Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. "Hibernian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  14. "Hearts: Craig Levein lands lead role as manager Gary Locke exits". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  15. "Norwich make triple appointment of Holt, Robson and Royle". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  16. "New Falkirk boss Peter Houston sets his sights on play-offs". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  17. "Hibernian sack Terry Butcher following club's relegation". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  18. "Hibernian name Alan Stubbs as their new head coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  19. "Ross County: Jim McIntyre joins from Queen of the South". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  20. "Queen of the South appoint Fowler as new manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  21. "Rangers confirm manager Ally McCoist's resignation". BBC Sport. 15 December 2014.
  22. "Rangers: Stuart McCall appointed manager until summer". BBC Sport. 12 March 2015.
  23. "John McGlynn: Livingston boss departs 'by mutual consent'". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  24. "Barry Smith resigns as manager of Alloa Athletic". BBC Sport. 7 March 2015.
  25. "Alloa Athletic appoint Danny Lennon as new manager". BBC Sport. 7 April 2015.
  26. "Scottish Championship Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
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