2019–20 Scottish League Two

The 2019–20 Scottish League Two (known as Ladbrokes League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. Ten teams contested the league: Albion Rovers, Annan Athletic, Brechin City, Cove Rangers, Cowdenbeath, Edinburgh City, Elgin City, Queen's Park, Stenhousemuir and Stirling Albion.

Scottish League Two
Season2019–20
Dates3 August 2019 – 15 April 2020
ChampionsCove Rangers
PromotedCove Rangers
Matches played137
Goals scored414 (3.02 per match)
Top goalscorerMitch Megginson (24 goals)[1][2]
Biggest home winCove Rangers 5–0 Edinburgh City (3 August 2019)[2]
Annan Athletic 6–1 Cove Rangers (30 November 2019)[2]
Biggest away winStirling Albion 1–7 Cove Rangers (10 March 2020)[2]
Highest scoringAlbion Rovers 4–4 Cove Rangers (10 August 2019)[2]
Stirling Albion 1–7 Cove Rangers (10 March 2020)[2]
Longest winning run6 matches:[2]
Cove Rangers
Cowdenbeath
Longest unbeaten run8 matches:[2]
Cove Rangers
Longest winless run11 matches:[2]
Brechin City
Longest losing run6 matches:[2]
Annan Athletic
Highest attendance1,264
Cove Rangers 2–0 Elgin City (28 December 2019)[2]
Lowest attendance194
Edinburgh City 4–0 Stenhousemuir (29 October 2019)[2]
Total attendance66,675[2]
Average attendance486[2](18)
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 coronavirus outbreak.[4] On 8 April, with the pandemic continuing, the SPFL board proposed to curtail the 2019–20 League Two season and use the points per game earned by each team to date as the final standings.[5] The plan was approved on 15 April, meaning the league was declared over and Cove Rangers were crowned champions.[6]

Teams

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

Stadia and locations
Albion Rovers Annan Athletic Brechin City Cove Rangers
Cliftonhill Galabank Glebe Park Balmoral Stadium
Capacity: 1,238[7] Capacity: 2,504[8] Capacity: 4,123[9] Capacity: 2,602
Cowdenbeath
Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish League Two
 Edinburgh City
Central Park Ainslie Park[10]
Capacity: 4,309[11] Capacity: 3,534
Elgin City Queen's Park Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion
Borough Briggs Hampden Park Ochilview Park Forthbank Stadium
Capacity: 4,520[12] Capacity: 51,866[13] Capacity: 3,746[14] Capacity: 3,808[15]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Albion Rovers Scotland Kevin Harper Scotland Aron Lynas Joma K & T Plant Hire Ltd
Annan Athletic Republic of Ireland Peter Murphy England Steven Swinglehurst Halbro M & S Engineering
Brechin City Scotland Mark Wilson Scotland Paul McManus Pendle Glencadam distillery
Cove Rangers Scotland Paul Hartley Scotland Mitch Megginson Adidas ACE Group
Cowdenbeath Scotland Gary Bollan Scotland Craig Barr Errea Delta 70 Mfg Ltd
Edinburgh City Scotland James McDonaugh Scotland Craig Thomson Macron Forth Capital
Elgin City Scotland Gavin Price Scotland Shane Sutherland EV2 Sportswear McDonald & Munro
Queen's Park Scotland Ray McKinnon Scotland David Galt Under Armour Irn-Bru
Stenhousemuir Scotland Davie Irons Scotland Andy Munro Uhlsport LOC Hire
Stirling Albion Scotland Kevin Rutkiewicz Scotland Ross McGeachie Macron Prudential

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Brechin City Scotland Barry Smith Sacked 19 August 2019[16] 10th Scotland Mark Wilson 4 September 2019[17]
Stenhousemuir Scotland Colin McMenamin Sacked 17 September 2019[18] 8th Scotland Davie Irons 25 September 2019[19]
Queen's Park Scotland Mark Roberts Sacked 31 December 2019[20] 7th Scotland Ray McKinnon 2 January 2020[21]

League summary

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Promotion[lower-alpha 1]
1 Cove Rangers (C) 28 22 2 4 76 34 +42 68 2.43 Promotion to League One
2 Edinburgh City 27 17 4 6 49 28 +21 55 2.04
3 Elgin City 28 12 7 9 48 34 +14 43 1.54
4 Cowdenbeath 27 12 5 10 37 35 +2 41 1.52
5 Queen's Park 28 11 7 10 37 35 +2 40 1.43
6 Stirling Albion 28 10 6 12 34 35 −1 36 1.29
7 Annan Athletic 27 9 4 14 33 54 −21 31 1.15
8 Stenhousemuir 28 7 8 13 32 48 −16 29 1.04
9 Albion Rovers 26 6 6 14 37 51 −14 24 0.92
10 Brechin City 27 4 5 18 31 60 −29 17 0.63
Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. All play-off matches were cancelled, as clubs voted to curtail the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22]

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
Home \ Away ALB ANN BRE COV COW EDC ELG QPA STE STI
Albion Rovers — 4–2 0–1 4–4 N/A 1–3 1–3 2–0 2–1 2–1
Annan Athletic 3–2 — 5–2 6–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 3–2 1–1 0–0
Brechin City 0–0 0–1 — 2–4 2–1 2–3 2–1 0–3 1–2 1–1
Cove Rangers 3–0 3–0 3–0 — 3–2 5–0 2–0 3–0 2–1 1–0
Cowdenbeath 1–0 3–1 2–1 1–3 — 1–0 0–0 1–0 3–1 1–0
Edinburgh City 3–2 4–0 2–1 2–1 2–0 — 1–1 2–1 4–0 1–0
Elgin City 2–2 4–0 3–1 0–2 3–0 3–3 — 3–1 0–1 1–2
Queen's Park 1–1 1–2 5–2 1–3 0–3 2–1 0–0 — 1–1 1–1
Stenhousemuir 2–3 1–2 1–0 3–2 0–3 1–3 2–2 0–3 — 0–2
Stirling Albion 3–0 2–0 2–4 1–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 —
Source: Scottish League Two
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season
Home \ Away ALB ANN BRE COV COW EDC ELG QPA STE STI
Albion Rovers — N/A 4–1 2–2 N/A N/A 1–2 N/A N/A 0–3
Annan Athletic 2–1 — N/A 0–0 N/A N/A 0–4 N/A 0–3 2–3
Brechin City N/A N/A — 1–5 N/A N/A 1–2 0–0 N/A 0–2
Cove Rangers N/A 2–0 3–2 — 3–1 2–1 N/A 2–0 N/A N/A
Cowdenbeath 2–1 3–1 3–2 N/A — 1–1 N/A N/A N/A 1–4
Edinburgh City 3–0 3–0 0–0 N/A N/A — N/A 1–2 N/A 0–1
Elgin City N/A N/A N/A 3–0 3–2 0–1 — N/A 2–3 3–1
Queen's Park 2–2 2–0 N/A N/A 1–0 2–0 N/A — 2–1 N/A
Stenhousemuir 1–0 N/A 2–2 0–3 2–2 1–2 N/A 0–0 — N/A
Stirling Albion N/A N/A N/A 1–7 N/A N/A 1–2 1–3 0–0 —
Source: Scottish League Two
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Mitch Megginson Cove Rangers 24
2 Scotland Shane Sutherland Elgin City 16
3 Scotland Jamie Masson Cove Rangers 15
4 Scotland Salim Kouider-Aïssa Queen's Park 13
5 Scotland Declan Byrne Albion Rovers 11

Source:[23]

Hat-tricks
Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League hat-tricks § Scottish League Two
Player For Against Score Date Ref
Scotland Tommy Muir Annan Athletic Cove Rangers 6–1 (H) 30 November 2019 [24]
Scotland Darryl Duffy Stirling Albion Albion Rovers 3–0 (A) 4 January 2020 [25]

Attendances
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Cove Rangers[lower-alpha 1] 10,709 1,264 391 764 n/a†
2 Elgin City 8,902 1,002 453 635 +2.1%†
3 Queen's Park 8,159 837 449 582 −4.7%†
4 Stirling Albion 7,324 741 423 563 −4.1%†
5 Stenhousemuir[lower-alpha 2] 8,134 824 336 542 −5.1%†
6 Brechin City[lower-alpha 2] 5,535 705 338 425 −26.7%†
7 Cowdenbeath 4,904 448 221 350 −1.1%†
8 Annan Athletic 4,858 459 211 347 −12.8%†
9 Edinburgh City 4,541 494 194 324 −19.2%†
10 Albion Rovers 3,609 484 209 300 +4.9%†
League total 66,675 1,264 194 486 −3.6%†

Source: [26]

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

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref.
Manager Club Player Club
August Scotland Paul Hartley Cove Rangers Scotland Declan Glass Cove Rangers
September Scotland Gary Bollan Cowdenbeath Scotland Craig Barr Cowdenbeath
October Scotland Gavin Price Elgin City Scotland Shane Sutherland Elgin City
November Scotland Mark Roberts Queen's Park Scotland Salim Kouider Aïssa Queen's Park
December Scotland James McDonaugh Edinburgh City Scotland Liam Henderson Edinburgh City
January Scotland Paul Hartley Cove Rangers Scotland Mitch Megginson Cove Rangers
February Scotland Ray McKinnon Queen's Park France Dylan Bikey Stirling Albion

References
  1. "Top Scorers - Scottish League Two". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  2. "Scottish League Two Performance Stats 2019–20". ESPN. Retrieved 4 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. "Albion Rovers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. "Annan Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. "Brechin City Football Club". Scottish Football Ground Guide. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. Pilcher, Ross (29 March 2017). "Edinburgh City and Spartans confirm three-season groundshare". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  11. "Cowdenbeath Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. "Elgin City Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. "Queens Park Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  14. "Stenhousemuir Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  15. "Stirling Albion Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  16. "Barry Smith: Brechin City part company with manager after winless start in League Two". BBC Sport. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  17. "Brechin City: Mark Wilson is named new manager of League Two side". BBC Sport. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  18. "Stenhousemuir: Colin McMenamin sacked after 10 months in charge". BBC Sport. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  19. "Irons named Stenhousemuir boss". Scottish Professional Football League. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  20. "Queen's Park: Boss Mark Roberts leaves Hampden club by mutual consent". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  21. "Queen's Park name Ray McKinnon their new head coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  22. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles and reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  23. "Scottish League Two Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  24. "Annan Athletic v Cove Rangers". BBC Sport. 30 November 2019.
  25. "Albion Rovers v Stirling Albion". BBC Sport. 4 January 2020.
  26. "Ladbrokes League Two Results". SPFL. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
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