2019–20 Scottish Championship

The 2019–20 Scottish Championship (known as Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second-tier of Scottish football. Ten teams contested the league: Alloa Athletic, Arbroath, Ayr United, Dundee, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Greenock Morton, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Partick Thistle and Queen of the South.

Scottish Championship
Season2019–20
Dates3 August 2019 – 15 April 2020
ChampionsDundee United
PromotedDundee United
RelegatedPartick Thistle
Matches played137
Goals scored364 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorerLawrence Shankland (24 goals)[1][2]
Biggest home winDundee United 6–0 Greenock Morton (28 September 2019)[2]
Biggest away winQueen of the South 0–4 Greenock Morton (29 February 2020)[2]
Highest scoringDundee United 6–2 Dundee (30 August 2019)[2]
Greenock Morton 4–4 Alloa Athletic (22 February 2020)[2]
Longest winning run9 matches:[2]
Dundee United
Longest unbeaten run13 matches:[2]
Dundee United
Longest winless run10 matches:[2]
Queen of the South
Longest losing run5 matches:[2]
Dunfermline Athletic
Highest attendance14,108
Dundee United 6–2 Dundee (30 August 2019)[2]
Lowest attendance661
Alloa Athletic 0–1 Arbroath (24 August 2019)[2]
Total attendance414,131[2]
Average attendance3,022[2](98)
All statistics correct as of 1 May 2020.

The season began on 3 August 2019 and was scheduled to end on 2 May 2020.[3] On 13 March 2020 all SPFL leagues were indefinitely suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.[4] On 8 April 2020, the SPFL proposed to end the 2019–20 season by utilising a points per game ratio to determine the final standings.[5] The plan was approved on 15 April 2020, declaring that the season was over, as Dundee United were declared title winners with Partick Thistle relegated to League One.[6] Partick Thistle joined Heart of Midlothian F.C. (which had been relegated from the Scottish Premiership under similar circumstances) in suing the Scottish Professional Football League on the grounds that their relegation was unfair; Partick was two points behind the second-to-last-place team but had played one less game. Ultimately, the lawsuit failed and Partick and Hearts were indeed relegated.[7]

Teams

The following teams have changed division since the 2018–19 season:

To Championship

Arbroath secured promotion to the Championship on 13 April 2019.[8] Dundee were relegated from the Premiership on 4 May 2019.[9]

From Championship

Ross County secured promotion to the Premiership on 26 April 2019. Falkirk were relegated to League One on 3 May 2019.

Stadia and locations
Alloa Athletic Arbroath Ayr United Dundee
Recreation Park Gayfield Park Somerset Park Dens Park
Capacity: 3,100[10] Capacity: 6,600[11] Capacity: 10,185[12] Capacity: 11,775[13]
Dundee United
Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish Championship
 Dunfermline Athletic
Tannadice Park East End Park
Capacity: 14,223[14] Capacity: 11,480[15]
Greenock Morton Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle Queen of the South
Cappielow Caledonian Stadium Firhill Stadium Palmerston Park
Capacity: 11,589[16] Capacity: 7,750[17] Capacity: 10,102[18] Capacity: 8,690[19]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Alloa Athletic Scotland Peter Grant Scotland Andy Graham[20] Pendle Northern Gas and Power
Arbroath Scotland Dick Campbell Scotland Mark Whatley[21] Pendle[22] Megatech[22]
Ayr United Scotland Mark Kerr Scotland Ross Docherty[23] Adidas[24] Bitcoin BCH[25]
Dundee Northern Ireland James McPake England Josh Meekings Macron[26] Switch Gas & Electric[27]
Dundee United Scotland Robbie Neilson Scotland Mark Reynolds Macron[28] Utilita[28]
Dunfermline Athletic Scotland Stevie Crawford Northern Ireland Paul Paton[29] Joma[30] SRJ Windows[30]
Greenock Morton Scotland David Hopkin Scotland Jim McAlister[31] est 1874 Millions[32]
Inverness CT Scotland John Robertson England Carl Tremarco[33] Erreà[34] McEwan Fraser Legal[34]
Partick Thistle Scotland Ian McCall Scotland Thomas O'Ware Joma[35] Just Employment Law[36]
Queen of the South Scotland Allan Johnston Scotland Stephen Dobbie[37] Macron[38] BB Body Repairers

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Alloa Athletic Republic of Ireland Jim Goodwin Signed by St Mirren 29 June 2019 Pre-season Scotland Peter Grant 10 July 2019
Partick Thistle Scotland Gary Caldwell Sacked 18 September 2019 9th Scotland Ian McCall 23 September 2019
Ayr United Scotland Ian McCall Signed by Partick Thistle 23 September 2019 2nd Scotland Sandy Stewart (interim) 23 September 2019
Ayr United Scotland Sandy Stewart End of interim 22 October 2019 2nd Scotland Mark Kerr 22 October 2019

League summary

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Promotion, qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Dundee United (C) 28 18 5 5 52 22 +30 59 2.11 Promotion to the Premiership
2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 27 14 3 10 39 32 +7 45 1.67
3 Dundee 27 11 8 8 32 31 +1 41 1.52
4 Ayr United 27 12 4 11 38 35 +3 40 1.48
5 Arbroath 26 10 6 10 24 26 −2 36 1.38
6 Dunfermline Athletic 28 10 7 11 41 36 +5 37 1.32
7 Greenock Morton 28 10 6 12 45 52 −7 36 1.29
8 Alloa Athletic 28 7 10 11 33 43 −10 31 1.11
9 Queen of the South 28 7 7 14 28 40 −12 28 1.00
10 Partick Thistle (R) 27 6 8 13 32 47 −15 26 0.96 Relegation to League One
Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. All play-off matches were cancelled, as clubs voted to curtail the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.[39]

Results

Teams play each other four times, twice in the first half of the season (home and away) and twice in the second half of the season (home and away), making a total of 180 games, with each team playing 36.

First half of season (Matches 1–18)
Home \ Away ALL ARB AYR DUN DNU DNF GMO INV PAR QOS
Alloa Athletic — 0–1 1–4 0–3 1–0 2–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–2
Arbroath 2–1 — 0–3 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 0–0
Ayr United 2–1 1–1 — 1–2 2–0 0–1 4–2 0–2 4–1 1–0
Dundee 2–1 2–0 1–0 — 0–2 4–3 2–1 0–0 1–3 1–2
Dundee United 2–1 2–1 4–0 6–2 — 2–0 6–0 4–1 1–0 3–0
Dunfermline Athletic 1–1 2–0 3–2 2–2 0–2 — 3–1 0–1 5–1 2–0
Greenock Morton 4–1 1–0 2–3 1–0 1–2 1–1 — 2–1 3–2 2–2
Inverness CT 2–2 2–1 2–0 1–0 0–3 2–0 5–0 — 1–3 2–0
Partick Thistle 1–1 1–3 2–3 0–1 1–2 0–3 2–1 3–1 — 0–1
Queen of the South 0–1 2–0 3–1 1–1 4–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–2 —
Source: Scottish Championship
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season (Matches 19–36)
Home \ Away ALL ARB AYR DUN DNU DNF GMO INV PAR QOS
Alloa Athletic — 2–0 0–2 N/A 0–0 N/A N/A 2–0 1–1 N/A
Arbroath N/A — N/A N/A N/A 0–0 1–2 N/A 2–1 2–0
Ayr United N/A N/A — 0–0 0–0 N/A 1–2 1–0 N/A 1–2
Dundee 0–0 N/A 2–0 — N/A N/A N/A 0–2 2–0 N/A
Dundee United N/A 0–1 N/A 1–1 — N/A 1–1 2–1 1–1 N/A
Dunfermline Athletic 1–3 N/A 0–1 2–0 2–0 — 1–2 N/A N/A 1–1
Greenock Morton 4–4 1–1 N/A 1–1 N/A 3–2 — N/A 1–2 N/A
Inverness CT 1–1 0–1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 3–2 — N/A 3–1
Partick Thistle N/A N/A 1–1 N/A 1–4 1–1 N/A N/A — 0–0
Queen of the South 2–3 N/A N/A 0–1 0–1 2–3 0–4 N/A N/A —
Source: Scottish Championship
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Lawrence Shankland Dundee United 24
2 Scotland Kevin Nisbet Dunfermline Athletic 18
3 Scotland Kevin O'Hara Alloa Athletic 10
Scotland Alan Forrest Ayr United
England Kane Hemmings Dundee
6 Scotland Alan Trouten Alloa Athletic 8
Scotland Bob McHugh Greenock Morton
Scotland Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South
9 Scotland Nicky Clark Dundee United 7
Scotland Jordan White Inverness CT

Source:[40]

Hat-tricks
Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League hat-tricks § Scottish Championship
Player For Against Score Date Ref
Scotland Lawrence Shankland4 Dundee United Inverness CT 4–1 (H) 3 August 2019 [41]
Scotland Bob McHugh Greenock Morton Alloa Athletic 4–1 (H) 10 August 2019 [42]
Scotland Lawrence Shankland Dundee United Greenock Morton 6–0 (H) 28 September 2019 [43]
Scotland Kevin Nisbet4 Dunfermline Athletic Partick Thistle 5–1 (H) 30 November 2019 [44]
Scotland Lawrence Shankland Dundee United Partick Thistle 4–1 (A) 11 January 2020 [45]

Note

4 Player scored four goals

Attendances
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Alloa Athletic 16,216 1,827 661 1,158 −1.7%†
2 Arbroath[lower-alpha 1] 19,006 4,052 801 1,462 +53.9%†
3 Ayr United 24,891 3,167 777 1,777 −17.6%†
4 Dundee[lower-alpha 2] 68,603 11,233 4,228 5,277 −12.4%†
5 Dundee United 118,950 14,108 6,929 8,496 +67.3%†
6 Dunfermline Athletic 62,275 6,480 3,397 4,151 −17.1%†
7 Greenock Morton 22,499 2,742 1,120 1,607 −17.3%†
8 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 27,518 2,902 1,760 2,116 −17.0%†
9 Partick Thistle 35,084 4,101 1,714 2,698 −11.3%†
10 Queen of the South 19,549 2,041 1,094 1,396 −15.6%†
League total 414,131 14,108 661 3,022 −3.1%†

Source: [46]

  1. Club was playing in League One during the previous season.
  2. Club was playing in Premiership during the previous season.

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref.
Manager Club Player Club
August Scotland Robbie Neilson Dundee United Scotland Lawrence Shankland Dundee United
September Scotland Ian McCall Ayr United
Partick Thistle		 Scotland Alan Forrest Ayr United
October Northern Ireland James McPake Dundee Scotland Declan McDaid Dundee
November Scotland Robbie Neilson Dundee United Scotland Kevin Nisbet Dunfermline Athletic
December Scotland Robbie Neilson Dundee United England Calum Butcher Dundee United
January Scotland Peter Grant Alloa Athletic Scotland Kevin O'Hara Alloa Athletic
February Scotland David Hopkin Greenock Morton Scotland Nicky Cadden Greenock Morton

References
  1. "Top Scorers - Scottish Championship". BBC. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  2. "Scottish Championship Performance Stats 2019–20". ESPN. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  3. "Key dates for 2019/20". SPFL. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  4. "Coronavirus joint response group update". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  5. "SPFL: Clubs to vote on lower leagues; Premiership decision on hold". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  6. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles & reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. BBC. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  7. "Hearts & Thistle relegations confirmed". BBC Sport. 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  8. "Arbroath seal League One title with draw at Brechin City". BBC. 13 April 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  9. Watt, Martin (4 May 2019). "Dundee 0–1 Hamilton: Tony Andreu penalty sends Dundee down". BBC. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  10. "Alloa Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
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  12. "Ayr United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
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  16. "Greenock Morton Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
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  18. "Partick Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  19. "Queen of the South Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  20. Hall, Jamie (27 June 2017). "Goodwin's delight in landing midfielder Thomas Grant". Alloa Advertiser. Newsquest. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  21. Johnstone, Darren (30 January 2016). "Arbroath captain Mark Whatley insists play-offs firmly in Red Litchties' sights". Deadline News. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  22. "New strips – sneak peak!". Arbroath FC. 24 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  23. "Doc signs as new club captain". Ayr United FC. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  24. "New Ayr United "Strip" 2017-18 by Adidas". Football Kit News. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
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  28. Rooney, Richard (17 May 2018). "'We look like United again' — With a tangerine top and black shorts Dundee United's new strip is refreshingly like their older ones". DC Thomson Ltd. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
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  33. Law, Danny (5 July 2018). "Carl Tremarco named new Caley Thistle captain". Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  34. "A new kit - a new season". Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. 9 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  35. "2018/19 kits launched". Partick Thistle F.C. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  36. "Just Employment Law backs the Jags for another season". Partick Thistle F.C. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  37. "Report - Stranrer 14.7.18". Queen of the South F.C. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
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  46. ">Ladbrokes Championship Results". SPFL. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
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