2019–20 Kilmarnock F.C. season

Kilmarnock
2019–20 season
Chairman Billy Bowie
Manager Angelo Alessio
Alex Dyer
Stadium Rugby Park
Premiership 8th
Scottish Cup Fifth round
League Cup Quarter-final
Europa League First qualifying round
Top goalscorer League:
Eamonn Brophy (9)
All:
Eamonn Brophy (11)
Highest home attendance 9,196 (vs Rangers, 4 August 2019)
Lowest home attendance 3,762 (vs Hamilton Academical, 17 August 2019)
Average home league attendance 5,856

The 2019–20 season was Kilmarnock's seventh season in the Premiership, and their 27th consecutive season in the top flight of Scottish football.

Kilmarnock also competed in UEFA competition for the first time in 18 years after finishing in third the previous season.

Overview

Killie began the season managed by Angelo Alessio who joined the club on 16 June 2019 after former manager Steve Clarke was signed by the Scotland national football team. On 28 June 2019, the club travelled to Spain for a pre-season training camp in Marbella as they prepared for their upcoming 2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifiers.

The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 18 June 2019 with Kilmarnock drawn to face Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads. The first leg was played in Wales on 11 July 2019 before Kilmarnock hosted the second leg on 18 July 2019. Connah's Quay's home ground, Deeside Stadium did not meet UEFA requirements so the game was instead played at Rhyl's home ground Belle Vue. Attempts had been made to play the game at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground in order to facilitate the expected number of supporters but the pitch works meant that wasn't possible. After a 2–1 comeback win in Wales, Kilmarnock lost 2–0 at Rugby Park and were knocked out by the Welsh part-timers 3–2 on aggregate.

Kilmarnock played Rangers at home in their first league fixture on Sunday 4 August 2019. The fixture was a repeat of the last match of the previous season which Kilmarnock won 2–1.

As a result of their European qualification, Kilmarnock received a bye to the League Cup second round. The draw was made on 28 July 2019 and Kilmarnock were drawn to play Premiership rivals Hamilton Academical on 17 August 2019. They lost to Hibernian on penalties in the following round.

In December 2019, Alex Dyer was made caretaker manager of Kilmarnock after Alessio was sacked. After three games in caretaker charge, Dyer was appointed Kilmarnock manager to the end of the 2019–20 season.

In January 2020, Kilmarnock entered the Scottish Cup in the fourth round where they defeated Queen's Park 6–0. In the fifth round, they lost 4–3 after extra time in a replay against Aberdeen.

On 13 March 2020 – with Kilmarnock eight in the table after a 1–0 loss to Hamilton Academical – all SPFL leagues were indefinitely suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June 2020, manager Alex Dyer signed a permanent two-year contract with Kilmarnock.

Match results

Pre-season and friendlies

Date Opponents Venue Result
F–A 		Scorers
30 June 2019 Gaz Metan Mediaș Campo La Quinta 0–0
3 July 2019 Dinamo București Marbella Football Centre 0–3

Premiership

Main article: 2019–20 Scottish Premiership
Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance League
position
4 August 2019 Rangers H 1–2 O'Donnell 83' 9,196 9th
10 August 2019 Hamilton Academical A 0–2 2,766 12th
24 August 2019 Aberdeen H 0–0 5,250 12th
31 August 2019 St Johnstone A 1–0 O'Donnell 40' 3,427 6th
14 September 2019 Hibernian H 2–0 Millar 56', El Makrini 79' 5,458 6th
22 September 2019 Celtic A 1–3 Brophy 33' 57,137 7th
28 September 2019 Ross County H 0–0 4,906 7th
5 October 2019 Heart of Midlothian A 1–0 Burke 42' 16,711 6th
19 October 2019 Livingston H 2–1 Dicker 39', McKenzie 55' 4,828 5th
26 October 2019 St Mirren H 1–0 Dicker 78' 6,389 3rd
30 October 2019 Motherwell A 1–2 Thomas 31' 4,676 5th
2 November 2019 Aberdeen A 0–3 13,131 5th
9 November 2019 Hamilton Academical H 2–2 El Makrini 45+2', Brophy 48' 5,045 5th
23 November 2019 Heart of Midlothian H 3–0 Burke 9', 16' Brophy 14' 6,278 5th
30 November 2019 Hibernian A 2–2 Bruce 66' Del Fabro 90+3' 16,180 5th
4 December 2019 St Johnstone H 0–0 4,083 5th
7 December 2019 Livingston A 0–3 1,531 5th
14 December 2019 Ross County A 0–1 3,688 5th
21 December 2019 Motherwell H 0–1 5,688 5th
26 December 2019 Rangers A 0–1 49,885 6th
29 December 2019 St Mirren A 0–1 6,363 7th
22 January 2020 Celtic H 1–3 Kabamba 66' 8,307 7th
25 January 2020 St Johnstone A 1–2 Burke 22' (pen.) 2,609 7th
1 February 2020 Ross County H 3–1 Brophy 54', 57' (pen.), Kabamba 82' 4,733 7th
5 February 2020 Heart of Midlothian A 3–2 Findlay 24', Burke 38', Brophy 50' 16,211 7th
12 February 2020 Rangers H 2–1 O'Donnell 77', Brophy 89' 8,096 7th
16 February 2020 Hibernian H 1–2 Burke 30' 5,370 7th
23 February 2020 Celtic A 1–3 Brophy 6' (pen.) 58,883 7th
4 March 2020 Aberdeen H 2–2 Brophy 17' (pen.), Kiltie 23' 4,217 7th
7 March 2020 Hamilton Academical A 1–0 2,145 8th
14 March 2020 St Mirren H Cancelled 8th
21 March 2020 Motherwell A
4 April 2020 Livingston H

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2019–20 Scottish Cup
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
18 January 2020 Fourth round Queen's Park H 6–0 Bruce 9', Findlay 26', 44', Kiltie 62', Kabamba 89', Johnson 90+1' 4,198
8 February 2020 Fifth round Aberdeen A 0–0 9,430
19 February 2020 Fifth round replay Aberdeen H 3–4 (a.e.t.) El Makrini 43', Brophy 98', Kabamba 116' 5,658

League Cup

Main article: 2019–20 Scottish League Cup
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
17 August 2019 Second round Hamilton Academical H 1–0 (a.e.t.) Thomas 113' 3,762
25 September 2019 Quarter-final Hibernian H 0–0 (a.e.t.)
4–5p 		4,780

Europa League

Main article: 2019–20 UEFA Europa League
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
11 July 2019 First qualifying round 1st leg Connah's Quay Nomads A 2–1 Brophy 82' (pen.), Findlay 90+2' 1,410
18 July 2019 First qualifying round 2nd leg Connah's Quay Nomads H 0–2 8,306

Club statistics

Competition Overview

Competition First match Last match Starting round Final position Record
Pld W D L GF GA GD Win %
Premiership 4 August 2019 7 March 2020 Matchday 1 Eighth 30 9 6 15 31 41 −10 030.00
Scottish Cup 18 January 2020 19 February 2020 Fourth round Fifth round replay 3 1 1 1 9 4 +5 033.33
League Cup 17 August 2019 25 September 2019 Second round Quarter-final 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 050.00
Europa League 11 July 2019 18 July 2019 First qualifying round First qualifying round 2 1 0 1 2 3 −1 050.00
Total 37 12 8 17 43 48 −5 032.43

Source: Competitions

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Qualification or relegation
6 St Johnstone 29 8 12 9 28 46 −18 36 1.24
7 Hibernian 30 9 10 11 42 49 −7 37 1.23
8 Kilmarnock 30 9 6 15 31 41 −10 33 1.10
9 St Mirren 30 7 8 15 24 41 −17 29 0.97
10 Ross County 30 7 8 15 29 60 −31 29 0.97
Source: BBC SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-Head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification, second stage group allocation or relegation).
Notes:
  1. All play-off matches were cancelled, as clubs voted to curtail the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Squad statistics

No. Pos. Name League Scottish Cup League Cup Europa League Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Jamie MacDonald 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0
2 DF Stephen O'Donnell 28 3 3 0 2 0 2 0 35 3 1 0
3 DF Greg Taylor 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 5 0 0 0
3 DF Stephen Hendrie 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
4 DF Alex Bruce 16 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 17 2 3 1
5 DF Connor Johnson 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 7 1 1 0
6 MF Alan Power 28 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 35 0 13 1
7 MF Rory McKenzie 27 1 1 0 2 0 2 0 32 1 5 0
8 MF Gary Dicker 30 2 3 0 2 0 2 0 37 2 9 0
9 FW Eamonn Brophy 28 9 2 1 2 0 2 1 34 11 1 0
10 MF Greg Kiltie 10 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 14 2 1 0
11 FW Liam Millar 20 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 22 1 2 0
11 MF Harry Bunn 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
12 GK Laurențiu Brănescu 26 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 30 0 4 1
13 GK Devlin MacKay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 DF Niko Hämäläinen 28 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 32 0 0 0
15 MF Mohamed El Makrini 21 2 2 1 2 0 2 0 27 3 6 0
16 FW Simeon Jackson 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
17 DF Stuart Findlay 18 1 2 2 2 0 2 1 24 4 2 1
18 DF Calum Waters 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 DF Kirk Broadfoot 9 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 13 0 2 0
20 MF Iain Wilson 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0
21 MF Adam Frizzell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 DF Ross Millen 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
23 MF Dom Thomas 20 1 0 0 2 1 2 0 24 2 0 0
24 GK Jan Koprivec 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
25 FW Harvey St Clair 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
26 DF Dario Del Fabro 22 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 24 1 4 0
26 FW Osman Sow 8 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9 0 0 0
27 FW Nicke Kabamba 9 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 12 4 0 0
29 MF Chris Burke 26 5 2 0 2 0 2 0 32 5 4 0
31 MF Innes Cameron 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0
33 MF Ally Taylor 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
52 FW Kyle Connell 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

Source:

Player transfers

Main articles: List of Scottish football transfers summer 2019 and List of Scottish football transfers winter 2019–20

Transfers in

Date Position Name Previous Club Fee Ref.
8 July 2019 GK Laurențiu Brănescu Juventus Loan
9 July 2019 MF Mohamed El Makrini Roda JC Free
17 July 2019 DF Alex Bruce Unattached Free
6 August 2019 FW Liam Millar Liverpool Loan
20 August 2019 DF Niko Hämäläinen Queens Park Rangers Loan
29 August 2019 DF Dario Del Fabro Juventus Loan
2 September 2019 FW Osman Sow Dundee United Loan
2 September 2019 DF Connor Johnson Wolverhampton Wanderers Loan
2 September 2019 FW Harvey St Clair Venezia Loan
6 September 2019 DF Stephen Hendrie Southend United Free
10 September 2019 GK Jan Koprivec Unattached Free
17 October 2019 FW Simeon Jackson Unattached Free
15 January 2020 MF Harry Bunn Unattached Free
17 January 2020 FW Nicke Kabamba Hartlepool United Undisclosed
31 January 2020 DF Kirk Broadfoot St Mirren Undisclosed

Transfers out

Date Position Name Subsequent Club Fee Ref
18 June 2019 FW Kris Boyd Retired n/a
20 June 2019 DF Scott Boyd
1 July 2019 MF Jordan Jones Rangers Free
16 July 2019 MF Daniel Higgins Cove Rangers Free
9 August 2019 MF Calum Waters St Mirren Loan
2 September 2019 DF Greg Taylor Celtic £2,200,000
2 September 2019 MF Greg Kiltie Dunfermline Athletic Loan
3 September 2019 DF Kirk Broadfoot St Mirren Free
13 September 2019 GK Jamie MacDonald Alloa Athletic Loan
1 October 2019 MF Adam Frizzell Dumbarton Loan
10 January 2020 MF Dom Thomas Dunfermline Athletic Loan
20 January 2020 FW Simeon Jackson Stevenage Free
31 January 2020 DF Alex Bruce Free Agent Free