2020–21 Scottish League One

The 2020–21 Scottish League One was the eighth season of Scottish League One, the third tier of Scottish football. The season commenced later than usual, on the October 17th, being played over a shortened 22 game period due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.[2]

Scottish League One
Season2020–21
Dates17 October 2020 – 6 May 2021
ChampionsPartick Thistle
PromotedPartick Thistle
RelegatedForfar Athletic
Matches played110
Goals scored278 (2.53 per match)
Top goalscorerMitch Megginson
(14 goals)[1]

Ten teams contested the league: Airdrieonians, Clyde, Cove Rangers, Dumbarton, East Fife, Falkirk, Forfar Athletic, Montrose, Partick Thistle and Peterhead.

On 11 January 2021, the league was suspended for three weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] On 29 January 2021, the suspension was extended until at least 14 February.[4] In March 2021, the Scottish Government gave permission for the league to resume. On 4 March, League One and Two clubs proposed shortening the season to 22 matches, with each team playing all other teams twice, followed by a split in the table to determine the final four matches. The clubs suggested a restart date of 20 March, which was approved by the SPFL.[5]

Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2019–20 season.[6]

To League One

Promoted from League Two

Relegated from the Championship

From League One

Relegated to League Two

Promoted to the Championship

Stadia and locations
Airdrieonians Clyde Cove Rangers Dumbarton
Excelsior Stadium Broadwood Stadium Balmoral Stadium Dumbarton Football Stadium
Capacity: 10,101[7] Capacity: 8,086[8] Capacity: 2,602[9] Capacity: 2,020[10]
East Fife
Location of teams in 2020–21 Scottish League One
 Falkirk
Bayview Stadium Falkirk Stadium
Capacity: 1,980[11] Capacity: 7,937[12]
Forfar Athletic Montrose Partick Thistle Peterhead
Station Park Links Park Firhill Stadium Balmoor
Capacity: 6,777[13] Capacity: 4,936[14] Capacity: 10,102[15] Capacity: 3,150[16]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Airdrieonians Scotland Ian Murray Scotland Sean Crighton Umbro Holemasters[17]
Clyde Scotland Danny Lennon Scotland David Goodwillie Uhlsport North Lanarkshire Leisure (Home)
HomesBook Factoring (Away)
Cove Rangers Scotland Paul Hartley Scotland Mitch Megginson Adidas ACE Group
Dumbarton Scotland Jim Duffy Scotland Stuart Carswell Joma[18] C&G Systems[19]
East Fife Scotland Darren Young Scotland Kevin Smith Joma BW Technology
Falkirk Scotland Gary Holt (Interim) Scotland Gary Miller Puma[20] Central Demolition[20]
Forfar Athletic Scotland Gary Irvine Scotland Gary Irvine Pendle Orchard Timber Products
Montrose Scotland Stewart Petrie Scotland Paul Watson Hummel Carnegie Fuels Ltd
Partick Thistle Scotland Ian McCall Scotland Thomas O'Ware O'Neills Just Employment Law[21]
Peterhead Scotland Jim McInally Scotland Scott Brown Adidas The Score Group

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Forfar Athletic Scotland Stuart Malcolm Resigned 9 April 2021[22] 10th Scotland Gary Irvine 9 April 2021[23]
Falkirk Scotland David McCracken
Scotland Lee Miller		 Sacked 21 April 2021 3rd Scotland Gary Holt (interim) 21 April 2021

League summary

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Partick Thistle (C, P) 22 11 7 4 40 18 +22 40 Promotion to the Championship
2 Airdrieonians 22 12 2 8 35 24 +11 38 Qualification for the Championship play-offs
3 Cove Rangers 22 10 6 6 28 18 +10 36
4 Montrose 22 9 6 7 33 33 0 33
5 Falkirk 22 9 5 8 29 26 +3 32
6 East Fife 22 10 3 9 30 33 −3 33
7 Peterhead 22 9 2 11 24 27 −3 29
8 Clyde 22 8 2 12 27 38 −11 26
9 Dumbarton (O) 22 7 4 11 14 24 −10 25 Qualification for the League One play-offs
10 Forfar Athletic (R) 22 4 5 13 18 37 −19 17 Relegation to League Two
Source: SPFL
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).[24]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Teams play each other two times, making a total of 90 games, with each team playing 18, the league then splits in half for a further 4 matches.[25] This was reduced from the normal 36 due to the coronavirus pandemic.[25]

Matches 1–18
Home \ Away AIR CLY COV DUM EFI FAL FOR MON PAR PET
Airdrieonians — 5–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 2–1 3–1 0–1 2–4 2–0
Clyde 2–4 — 1–1 0–1 1–3 0–3 3–0 3–2 1–0 0–2
Cove Rangers 2–0 2–3 — 1–0 3–1 2–0 3–0 1–2 1–0 1–0
Dumbarton 0–1 1–0 1–0 — 2–1 0–3 0–1 0–0 0–2 0–1
East Fife 2–0 1–0 0–0 2–1 — 2–1 2–0 2–2 2–2 2–1
Falkirk 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 — 1–1 2–0 0–0 2–1
Forfar Athletic 1–3 1–3 0–1 0–0 1–2 0–2 — 2–3 0–2 1–1
Montrose 2–2 2–2 1–0 4–0 3–0 1–3 0–0 — 0–1 3–2
Partick Thistle 2–1 2–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 2–2 2–2 5–0 — 0–1
Peterhead 1–0 0–2 0–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–3 —
Source: SPFL
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.

Post-Split Fixtures (Matches 19–22)

Season statistics

Top scorers
As of 6 May 2021
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Mitch Megginson Cove Rangers 14
2 Scotland David Goodwillie Clyde 11
Scotland Brian Graham Partick Thistle
4 Scotland Dale Carrick Airdrieonians 9
5 Scotland Graham Webster Montrose 8
6 Scotland Jack Hamilton East Fife 7
Scotland Russell McLean Montrose
Scotland Scott Tiffoney Partick Thistle

Source:[1]

Hat-tricks
Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League hat-tricks § Scottish League One
Player For Against Score Date
Scotland David Goodwillie Clyde Montrose 3–2 (H) 21 November 2020

Most assists
As of 6 May 2021
Rank Player Club Assists
1 Scotland Ross Forbes Dumbarton 6
England Joe Cardle Partick Thistle
3 Scotland Ryan Wallace East Fife 4
Scotland Cammy Ballantyne Montrose
Scotland Hamish Ritchie Peterhead

Source:[26]

Attendances

Games were mostly played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Limited attendance was allowed at some grounds with strict conditions under the Scottish Government Tier system, dependent on the club's geographical location.

Awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
October Scotland Paul Hartley Cove Rangers Scotland Stuart McKenzie Cove Rangers
November Scotland David McCracken
Scotland Lee Miller		 Falkirk France Thomas Robert Airdrieonians
December Scotland Stewart Petrie Montrose Scotland Jack Hamilton East Fife
January N/A N/A N/A N/A
February N/A N/A N/A N/A
March Scotland David McCracken
Scotland Lee Miller		 Falkirk Scotland Graham Webster Montrose
April Scotland Ian McCall Partick Thistle Scotland Scott Tiffoney Partick Thistle

League One play-offs

The second bottom team, Dumbarton, entered into a 4-team playoff with the 2nd-4th placed teams in 2020–21 Scottish League Two. Edinburgh City along with Elgin City and Stranraer secured playoff spots.

First leg
8 May 2021 Stranraer 0–0 Dumbarton Stranraer
15:00 Report Stadium: Stair Park
Referee: Chris Graham
8 May 2021 Elgin City 0–1 Edinburgh City Elgin
15:00 Report
  • Campbell 45'
 Stadium: Borough Briggs
Referee: Alan Newlands

Second leg
11 May 2021 Dumbarton 1–0
(1–0 agg.)		 Stranraer Dumbarton
19:45 Wilson 36' Report Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium
Referee: Gavin Duncan
11 May 2021 Edinburgh City 2–2
(3–2 agg.)		 Elgin City Edinburgh
19:45
Report McHardy 22', 42' Stadium: Ainslie Park
Referee: Craig Napier

First leg
17 May 2021 Edinburgh City 1–3 Dumbarton Edinburgh
19:35 McIntyre 44' Report
Stadium: Ainslie Park
Referee: Colin Steven

Second leg
20 May 2021 Dumbarton 0–1
(3–2 agg.)		 Edinburgh City Dumbarton
19:35 Report See 52' Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium
Referee: Alan Newlands

References
  1. "Scottish League One Top Scorers". BBC. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. "Scottish League One to play 27-game 2020/21 season".
  3. "Scottish lower leagues & Scottish Cup suspended for three weeks". BBC Sport. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  4. "Scottish Cup, lower leagues and women's football remain suspended". BBC Sport. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  5. "Scottish League 1 & 2 clubs united on 22-game season starting on 20 March". BBC Sport. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  6. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles and reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  7. "Airdrieonians Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. "Clyde Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. "Cove Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  10. "Dumbarton Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. "East Fife Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. "Falkirk Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. "Forfar Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  14. "Montrose Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  15. "Partick Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  16. "Peterhead Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  17. "Holemasters announced as new club sponsor". Airdrieonians FC. 11 August 2017. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  18. Findlay, Alan (28 June 2017). "The 'Big Reveal' - New home kit 2017/2018". Dumbarton FC. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  19. "C&G Systems are Dumbarton's new shirt sponsors". 2 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  20. "New strips on sale now!". Falkirk F.C. 12 May 2017. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  21. "Just Employment Law backs the Jags for another season". Partick Thistle F.C. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  22. "Forfar Athletic management team resigns with club 'disappointed by the timing'". BBC. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  23. "Club update". forfarathletic.co.uk. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  24. "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). SPFL. pp. 38–39. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  25. "Scottish League 1 & 2 clubs vote for 22-game season with split after 18 matches". BBC Sport. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  26. "BBC Top Assists". BBC. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
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