Scottish League One

Scottish League One

Founded	2013;11 years ago (2013)
Country	Scotland
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	10
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Scottish Championship
Relegation to	Scottish League Two
Domestic cup(s)	Scottish Cup
League cup(s)	Scottish League Cup Scottish Challenge Cup
Current champions	Dunfermline Athletic (2nd title) [note 1] (2022–23)
Most championships	Dunfermline Athletic (2 titles) [note 1]
TV partners	BBC Alba
Website	spfl.co.uk
Current: 2023–24 Scottish League One

The Scottish League One, known as Cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, ^[1] is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was established in July 2013, after the Scottish Professional Football League was formed by a merger of the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League. ^[2]

Format

Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned league champion. If points are equal, the goal difference determines the winner. If this still does not result in a winner, the tied teams must take part in a playoff game at a neutral venue to determine the final placings. ^[3]

Promotion and relegation

The champions are directly promoted to the Scottish Championship, swapping places with the bottom club of the championship. ^[3] The clubs finishing 2nd, 3rd, 4th in League One, and the 9th placed team in the Championship then enter the two-legged Championship play-off. The 2nd-placed League One club plays the 3rd-placed League One club, whilst the team who finished 4th in League One will play the 9th-placed Championship side. The winners of these ties will then play each other. If a League One play-off winner prevails, that club is promoted, with the championship club being relegated. If the Championship side is victorious, they then retain their place in the Championship. ^[3]

For promotion and relegation, the League One play-off system closely mirrors its Championship counterpart, in which the bottom club of League One is automatically relegated and the 9th-placed club undergoes a play-off with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed clubs from League Two. ^[3]

Teams

Listed below are all the teams competing in the 2023–24 Scottish League One season, with details of the first season they entered the third tier; the first season of their current spell in the third tier; and the last time they won the third tier.

Team	Position in 2022–23	First season in third tier	First season of current spell in third tier	Last title (3rd tier)
Alloa Athletic	4th, Scottish League One	1975–76	2021–22	—
Annan Athletic	3rd, Scottish League Two (promoted)	2023–24	2023–24	—
Cove Rangers	10th, Scottish Championship (relegated)	2020–21	2023–24	2021–22
Edinburgh City	6th, Scottish League One	2022–23	2022–23	—
Falkirk	2nd, Scottish League One	1977–78	2019–20	1979–80
Hamilton Academical	9th, Scottish Championship (relegated)	1996–97	2023–24	—
Kelty Hearts	8th, Scottish League One	2022–23	2022–23	—
Montrose	7th, Scottish League One	1923–24	2018–19	1984–85
Queen of the South	5th, Scottish League One	1923–24	2022–23	2012–13
Stirling Albion	1st, Scottish League Two (promoted)	1946–47	2023–24	2009–10

Stadiums

See also: List of Scottish Professional Football League stadiums

Alloa Athletic	Annan Athletic	Cove Rangers	Edinburgh City	Falkirk
Recreation Park	Galabank	Balmoral Stadium	Meadowbank Stadium [4] [5]	Falkirk Stadium
Capacity: 3,100 [6]	Capacity: 2,504	Capacity: 3,023	Capacity: 1,280 [7]	Capacity: 7,937 [8]

Hamilton Academical	Kelty Hearts	Montrose	Stirling Albion	Queen of the South
New Douglas Park	New Central Park	Links Park	Forthbank Stadium	Palmerston Park
Capacity: 6,018 [9]	Capacity: 2,181 [10]	Capacity: 4,936 [11]	Capacity: 3,808	Capacity: 8,690 [12]

Statistics

Championships

Main article: List of winners of the Scottish League One and predecessors

Season	Winner	Runner-up	Top scorer
			Player	Goals
2013–14	Rangers	Dunfermline Athletic	Michael Moffat (Ayr United)	26
2014–15	Greenock Morton	Stranraer	Declan McManus (Greenock Morton)	20
2015–16	Dunfermline Athletic	Ayr United	Faissal El Bakhtaoui (Dunfermline Athletic) Rory McAllister (Peterhead)	22
2016–17	Livingston	Alloa Athletic	Andy Ryan (Airdrieonians)	23
2017–18	Ayr United	Raith Rovers	Lawrence Shankland (Ayr United)	26
2018–19	Arbroath	Forfar Athletic	Kevin Nisbet (Raith Rovers)	30
2019–20 [13]	Raith Rovers	Falkirk	David Goodwillie (Clyde)	20
2020–21	Partick Thistle	Airdrieonians	Mitch Megginson (Cove Rangers)	14
2021–22	Cove Rangers	Airdrieonians	Mitch Megginson (Cove Rangers)	18
2022–23	Dunfermline Athletic	Falkirk	Callum Gallagher (Airdrieonians) Ruari Paton (Queen of the South)	22

Top goalscorers

As of 29 September 2023 ^{[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]}

Rank	Player	Club(s) [note 2]	Goals
1	Rory McAllister	Peterhead (2014–2017; 2019–2020) Cove Rangers (2020–2022) Montrose (2022–2023)	83
2	Calum Gallagher	Rangers (2013–2014) Dumbarton (2018–2019) Airdrieonians (2019–2023)	68
	Ryan Wallace	Dunfermline Athletic (2013–2016) Albion Rovers (2016–17) Stranraer (2017) Arbroath (2018–2019) East Fife (2019–2022)
4	Alan Trouten	Brechin City (2013–2015) Ayr United (2015–2016) Brechin City (2016–2017) Albion Rovers (2017–2018) Alloa Athletic (2021–2022)	58
5	Liam Buchanan	East Fife (2013–2014) Livingston (2016–2017) Raith Rovers (2017–2019)	55

Italics denotes players still playing football,
Bold denotes players still playing in Scottish League One.

Broadcasting rights

Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League broadcasters

Notes

1. Scottish League One has only existed since 2013. For a complete record of clubs that have won the Scottish third tier, see List of winners of the Scottish League One and predecessors.
2. Clubs only include those where players scored goals in the Scottish League One.

References

1. "CINCH ANNOUNCED AS SPFL TITLE SPONSOR". spfl.co.uk. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
2. "SPFL: New Scottish league brands unveiled". BBC Sport. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
3. "The Rules and Regulations of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). Scottish Professional Football League. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
4. "Stadium Announcement". Edinburgh City FC. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
5. Delaney, James (3 May 2022). "Meadowbank Stadium 'finishing line in sight' as delayed arena to open". STV News. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
6. "Alloa Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
7. "FC Edinburgh". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
8. "Falkirk Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
9. "Clyde Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
10. "Kelty Hearts Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
11. "Montrose Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
12. "Queen of the South Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
13. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles & reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. BBC. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
14. "Scottish League One 2013–14". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
15. "Scottish League One 2014–15". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
16. "Scottish League One 2015–16". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
17. "Scottish League One 2016–17". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
18. "Scottish League One 2017–18". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
19. "Scottish League One 2018–19". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
20. "Scottish League One 2019–20". Soccerbase. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
21. "Scottish League One 2020–21". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
22. "Scottish League One 2021–22". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
23. "Scottish League One 2022–23". Soccerbase. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
24. "Scottish League One 2023–24". Soccerbase. Retrieved 29 September 2023.

External links

• Scottish League One – Official website