2020–21 Scottish League Two

The 2020–21 Scottish League Two was the 26th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The season commenced later than usual on 17 October, being played over a shortened 27-game period due to the Coronavirus pandemic.[2]

Scottish League Two
Season2020–21
Dates17 October 2020 – 4 May 2021
ChampionsQueen's Park
PromotedQueen's Park
RelegatedBrechin City
Matches played110
Goals scored293 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorerKane Hester
(15 goals)[1]

The bottom team entered a two-legged play-off against the winners of the Pyramid play-off between the Highland League and Lowland League champions, determine which team competes in League Two in the 2021–22 season.[3]

Ten teams contested the league: Albion Rovers, Annan Athletic, Brechin City, Cowdenbeath, Edinburgh City, Elgin City, Queen's Park, Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion and Stranraer.

On 11 January 2021, the league was suspended for three weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] On 29 January 2021, the suspension was extended until at least 14 February.[5] 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.[6]

Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2019–20 season.[7]

To League Two

Relegated from League One

From League Two

Promoted to League One

Stadia and locations
Albion Rovers Annan Athletic Brechin City Cowdenbeath
Cliftonhill Galabank Glebe Park Central Park
Capacity: 1,238[8] Capacity: 2,504[9] Capacity: 4,123[10] Capacity: 4,309[11]
Edinburgh City
Location of teams in 2020–21 Scottish League Two
 Elgin City
Ainslie Park[12] Borough Briggs
Capacity: 3,534[13] Capacity: 4,520[14]
Queen's Park Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion Stranraer
Hampden Park Ochilview Park Forthbank Stadium Stair Park
Capacity: 51,866[15] Capacity: 3,746[16] Capacity: 3,808[17] Capacity: 4,178[18]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Albion Rovers Scotland Brian Reid Scotland Aron Lynas Joma CompliancePath
Annan Athletic Republic of Ireland Peter Murphy England Steven Swinglehurst Halbro M & S Engineering
Brechin City Scotland Michael Paton England Jonathan Page Pendle Glencadam distillery
Cowdenbeath Scotland Gary Bollan Scotland Craig Barr Erreà Collier Haulage, Quarrying and Recycling
Edinburgh City Scotland Gary Naysmith Scotland Craig Thomson Macron Forth Capital
Elgin City Scotland Gavin Price Scotland Euan Spark Joma McDonald & Munro
Queen's Park Scotland Ray McKinnon Scotland David Galt Admiral Irn-Bru
Stenhousemuir Scotland Stephen Swift Scotland Callum Tapping Uhlsport LOC Hire
Stirling Albion Scotland Kevin Rutkiewicz Scotland Ross McGeachie Macron Prudential
Stranraer Scotland Stephen Farrell Scotland Jamie Hamill Joma[19] Stena Line[20]

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Albion Rovers Scotland Kevin Harper Resigned 8 May 2020[21] Pre-season Scotland Brian Reid 5 June 2020[22]
Brechin City Scotland Mark Wilson Sacked 27 October 2020 10th Scotland Michael Paton 6 November 2020
Edinburgh City Scotland James McDonaugh Promoted to Sporting Director 7 March 2021 5th Scotland Gary Naysmith 9 March 2021
Stenhousemuir Scotland Davie Irons Mutual consent 20 April 2021 6th Scotland Stephen Swift 27 April 2021

League summary

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Queen's Park (C, P) 22 17 3 2 43 13 +30 54 Promotion to League One
2 Edinburgh City 22 12 2 8 40 27 +13 38 Qualification for the League One play-offs
3 Elgin City 22 12 2 8 39 28 +11 38
4 Stranraer 22 11 5 6 36 25 +11 38
5 Stirling Albion 22 10 6 6 32 22 +10 36
6 Stenhousemuir 22 7 5 10 25 35 −10 26
7 Albion Rovers 22 7 4 11 25 38 −13 25
8 Annan Athletic 22 5 7 10 25 27 −2 22
9 Cowdenbeath 22 5 6 11 15 32 −17 21
10 Brechin City (R) 22 2 4 16 13 46 −33 10 Qualification for the League Two play-off final
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).[23]
(C) Champions; (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.[24] This was reduced from the normal 36 due to the coronavirus pandemic.[24]

Matches 1–18
Home \ Away ALB ANN BRE COW EDC ELG QPA STE STI STR
Albion Rovers — 1–1 0–2 0–0 1–2 3–1 0–3 1–3 0–1 0–2
Annan Athletic 2–3 — 3–0 0–0 0–4 0–3 1–2 5–1 1–2 1–1
Brechin City 2–4 0–0 — 0–0 1–5 1–2 0–2 1–1 0–5 1–4
Cowdenbeath 0–1 0–3 2–0 — 1–3 1–0 0–3 1–1 1–5 1–1
Edinburgh City 5–2 1–1 2–1 0–1 — 1–0 2–3 3–1 2–3 0–1
Elgin City 2–5 1–0 3–0 5–2 1–2 — 0–1 2–0 1–1 2–1
Queen's Park 2–0 1–0 3–0 3–0 3–3 0–0 — 3–1 1–0 3–0
Stenhousemuir 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–3 — 2–2 2–2
Stirling Albion 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 — 0–1
Stranraer 4–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–4 0–1 4–0 2–2 —
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 4 May 2021
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Kane Hester Elgin City 15
2 Scotland Matthew Aitken Albion Rovers 10
Scotland Andy Ryan Stirling Albion
4 Scotland Thomas Orr Stranraer 8
5 Scotland Josh Campbell Edinburgh City 7
6 Scotland Bob McHugh Queen's Park 6
Scotland Simon Murray Queen's Park
Scotland Botti Biabi Stenhousemuir
Scotland Mark McGuigan Stenhousemuir
Republic of Ireland Ruari Paton Stranraer

Source:[1]

Hat-tricks
Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League hat-tricks § Scottish League Two
Player For Against Score Date
Scotland Kane Hester Elgin City Cowdenbeath 5–2 (H) 28 November 2020
Scotland Liam Henderson Edinburgh City Albion Rovers 5–2 (H) 5 December 2020
Scotland Kane Hester Elgin City Queen's Park 3–2 (H) 4 May 2021

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 Ray McKinnon Queen's Park Scotland Willie Muir Queen's Park
November Scotland Stephen Farrell Stranraer Scotland Darryl Duffy Stranraer
December Scotland Kevin Rutkiewicz Stirling Albion Scotland Andy Ryan Stirling Albion
January N/A N/A N/A N/A
February N/A N/A N/A N/A
March Scotland Gary Naysmith Edinburgh City Italy Raffaele De Vita Edinburgh City
April Scotland Brian Reid Albion Rovers Scotland Matthew Aitken Albion Rovers

League Two play-offs

On 9 April the SPFL announced that a decision on whether the 2020–21 play-offs would proceed would be taken on 19 April.[25] Brechin City chairman Ken Ferguson resigned from the SPFL board on 9 April and was replaced by Clyde representative Gordon Thomson, as Brechin sat bottom of the League Two table and would potentially be affected by the decision on whether the play-offs should proceed.[25] The SPFL said on 9 April it would have to determine whether Brora and Kelty met league membership criteria, and noted that they had been declared champions based on curtailed seasons while it was not yet certain that League Two would complete its season.[25] The SPFL confirmed on 29 April that the play-offs would proceed.[26]

The Pyramid play-off was contested between the champions of the 2020–21 Highland Football League (Brora Rangers) and the 2020–21 Lowland Football League (Kelty Hearts).[25] Both clubs were also crowned their regional league champions in the 2019–20 season, but the promotion/relegation playoff was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25]

Kelty won 6–1 on aggregate and then faced the bottom club (Brechin City) in the League Two play-off final, being promoted to League Two for the 2021–22 season after a 3–1 aggregate win. As Brechin City lost the play-off, they were relegated to the Highland League since they were north of 56.4513N latitude (middle of the Tay Road Bridge).[3]

First leg
4 May 2021 Brora Rangers 0–2 Kelty Hearts Brora
19:00 Report
Stadium: Dudgeon Park
Attendance: 0
Referee: Grant Irvine

Second leg
8 May 2021 Kelty Hearts 4–1
(6–1 agg.)		 Brora Rangers Kelty
15:00
Report
Stadium: New Central Park
Attendance: 0
Referee: Euan Anderson

First leg
18 May 2021 Kelty Hearts 2–1 Brechin City Kelty
19:45
Report Page 23' Stadium: New Central Park
Attendance: 250
Referee: Gavin Duncan

Second leg
23 May 2021 Brechin City 0–1
(1–3 agg.)		 Kelty Hearts Brechin
15:00 Report Tidser 88' Stadium: Glebe Park
Attendance: 250
Referee: Craig Napier

References
  1. "Scottish League Two Top Scorers". BBC. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. "Scottish League One to play 27-game 2020/21 season".
  3. "The Rules and Regulations of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  4. "Scottish lower leagues & Scottish Cup suspended for three weeks". BBC Sport. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  5. "Scottish Cup, lower leagues and women's football remain suspended". BBC Sport. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  6. "Scottish League 1 & 2 clubs united on 22-game season starting on 20 March". BBC Sport. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  7. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles and reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  8. "Albion Rovers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. "Annan Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. "Brechin City Football Club". Scottish Football Ground Guide. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. "Cowdenbeath Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. Pilcher, Ross (29 March 2017). "Edinburgh City and Spartans confirm three-season groundshare". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  13. "Edinburgh City Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  14. "Elgin City Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  15. "Queens Park Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  16. "Stenhousemuir Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  17. "Stirling Albion Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  18. "Stranraer Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  19. "New kit deal". Stranraer FC. 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  20. "30 years of Stena". Stranraer FC. 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  21. "Kevin Harper leaves Scottish League Two side Albion Rovers after contract expires". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  22. "Albion Rovers: Brian Reid is new manager of League Two side". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 June 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  23. "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). SPFL. pp. 38–39. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  24. "Scottish League 1 & 2 clubs vote for 22-game season with split after 18 matches". BBC Sport. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  25. "Pyramid play-off decision delayed as Brechin's Ken Ferguson resigns from SPFL board". BBC Sport. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  26. "Brora Rangers to face Kelty Hearts as SPFL confirms pyramid play-offs will go ahead". BBC Sport. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
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