2019–20 Scottish Championship

Scottish Championship
Season 2019–20
Dates 3 August 2019 – 15 April 2020
Champions Dundee United
Promoted Dundee United
Relegated Partick Thistle
Matches played 137
Goals scored 364 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorer Lawrence Shankland (24 goals)
Biggest home win Dundee United 6–0 Greenock Morton (28 September 2019)
Biggest away win Queen of the South 0–4 Greenock Morton (29 February 2020)
Highest scoring Dundee United 6–2 Dundee (30 August 2019)
Greenock Morton 4–4 Alloa Athletic (22 February 2020)
Longest winning run 9 matches:
Dundee United
Longest unbeaten run 13 matches:
Dundee United
Longest winless run 10 matches:
Queen of the South
Longest losing run 5 matches:
Dunfermline Athletic
Highest attendance 14,108
Dundee United 6–2 Dundee (30 August 2019)
Lowest attendance 661
Alloa Athletic 0–1 Arbroath (24 August 2019)
Total attendance 414,131
Average attendance 3,022(98)
2020–21 →
All statistics correct as of 1 May 2020.

The 2019–20 Scottish Championship (known as Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second-tier of Scottish football. Ten teams contested the league: Alloa Athletic, Arbroath, Ayr United, Dundee, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Greenock Morton, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Partick Thistle and Queen of the South.

The season began on 3 August 2019 and was scheduled to end on 2 May 2020. On 13 March 2020 all SPFL leagues were indefinitely suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. On 8 April 2020, the SPFL proposed to end the 2019–20 season by utilising a points per game ratio to determine the final standings. The plan was approved on 15 April 2020, declaring that the season was over, as Dundee United were declared title winners with Partick Thistle relegated to League One. Partick Thistle joined Heart of Midlothian F.C. (which had been relegated from the Scottish Premiership under similar circumstances) in suing the Scottish Professional Football League on the grounds that their relegation was unfair; Partick was two points behind the second-to-last-place team but had played one less game. Ultimately, the lawsuit failed and Partick and Hearts were indeed relegated.

Teams

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

To Championship

Arbroath secured promotion to the Championship on 13 April 2019. Dundee were relegated from the Premiership on 4 May 2019.

From Championship

Ross County secured promotion to the Premiership on 26 April 2019. Falkirk were relegated to League One on 3 May 2019.

Stadia and locations

Alloa Athletic Arbroath Ayr United Dundee
Recreation Park Gayfield Park Somerset Park Dens Park
Capacity: 3,100 Capacity: 6,600 Capacity: 10,185 Capacity: 11,775
Dundee United
Dunfermline Athletic
Tannadice Park East End Park
Capacity: 14,223 Capacity: 11,480
Greenock Morton Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle Queen of the South
Cappielow Caledonian Stadium Firhill Stadium Palmerston Park
Capacity: 11,589 Capacity: 7,750 Capacity: 10,102 Capacity: 8,690

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Alloa Athletic Peter Grant Andy Graham Pendle Northern Gas and Power
Arbroath Dick Campbell Mark Whatley Pendle Megatech
Ayr United Mark Kerr Ross Docherty Adidas Bitcoin BCH
Dundee James McPake Josh Meekings Macron Switch Gas & Electric
Dundee United Robbie Neilson Mark Reynolds Macron Utilita
Dunfermline Athletic Stevie Crawford Paul Paton Joma SRJ Windows
Greenock Morton David Hopkin Jim McAlister est 1874 Millions
Inverness CT John Robertson Carl Tremarco Erreà McEwan Fraser Legal
Partick Thistle Ian McCall Thomas O'Ware Joma Just Employment Law
Queen of the South Allan Johnston Stephen Dobbie Macron BB Body Repairers

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Alloa Athletic Jim Goodwin Signed by St Mirren 29 June 2019 Pre-season Peter Grant 10 July 2019
Partick Thistle Gary Caldwell Sacked 18 September 2019 9th Ian McCall 23 September 2019
Ayr United Ian McCall Signed by Partick Thistle 23 September 2019 2nd Sandy Stewart (interim) 23 September 2019
Ayr United Sandy Stewart End of interim 22 October 2019 2nd Mark Kerr 22 October 2019

League summary

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Dundee United (C) 28 18 5 5 52 22 +30 59 2.11 Promotion to the Premiership
2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 27 14 3 10 39 32 +7 45 1.67
3 Dundee 27 11 8 8 32 31 +1 41 1.52
4 Ayr United 27 12 4 11 38 35 +3 40 1.48
5 Arbroath 26 10 6 10 24 26 −2 36 1.38
6 Dunfermline Athletic 28 10 7 11 41 36 +5 37 1.32
7 Greenock Morton 28 10 6 12 45 52 −7 36 1.29
8 Alloa Athletic 28 7 10 11 33 43 −10 31 1.11
9 Queen of the South 28 7 7 14 28 40 −12 28 1.00
10 Partick Thistle (R) 27 6 8 13 32 47 −15 26 0.96 Relegation to League One
Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. All play-off matches were cancelled, as clubs voted to curtail the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.


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 (Matches 1–18)

Home \ Away ALL ARB AYR DUN DNU DNF GMO INV PAR QOS
Alloa Athletic — 0–1 1–4 0–3 1–0 2–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–2
Arbroath 2–1 — 0–3 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 0–0
Ayr United 2–1 1–1 — 1–2 2–0 0–1 4–2 0–2 4–1 1–0
Dundee 2–1 2–0 1–0 — 0–2 4–3 2–1 0–0 1–3 1–2
Dundee United 2–1 2–1 4–0 6–2 — 2–0 6–0 4–1 1–0 3–0
Dunfermline Athletic 1–1 2–0 3–2 2–2 0–2 — 3–1 0–1 5–1 2–0
Greenock Morton 4–1 1–0 2–3 1–0 1–2 1–1 — 2–1 3–2 2–2
Inverness CT 2–2 2–1 2–0 1–0 0–3 2–0 5–0 — 1–3 2–0
Partick Thistle 1–1 1–3 2–3 0–1 1–2 0–3 2–1 3–1 — 0–1
Queen of the South 0–1 2–0 3–1 1–1 4–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–2 —
Source: Scottish Championship
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season (Matches 19–36)

Home \ Away ALL ARB AYR DUN DNU DNF GMO INV PAR QOS
Alloa Athletic — 2–0 0–2 N/A 0–0 N/A N/A 2–0 1–1 N/A
Arbroath N/A — N/A N/A N/A 0–0 1–2 N/A 2–1 2–0
Ayr United N/A N/A — 0–0 0–0 N/A 1–2 1–0 N/A 1–2
Dundee 0–0 N/A 2–0 — N/A N/A N/A 0–2 2–0 N/A
Dundee United N/A 0–1 N/A 1–1 — N/A 1–1 2–1 1–1 N/A
Dunfermline Athletic 1–3 N/A 0–1 2–0 2–0 — 1–2 N/A N/A 1–1
Greenock Morton 4–4 1–1 N/A 1–1 N/A 3–2 — N/A 1–2 N/A
Inverness CT 1–1 0–1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 3–2 — N/A 3–1
Partick Thistle N/A N/A 1–1 N/A 1–4 1–1 N/A N/A — 0–0
Queen of the South 2–3 N/A N/A 0–1 0–1 2–3 0–4 N/A N/A —
Source: Scottish Championship
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Lawrence Shankland Dundee United 24
2 Kevin Nisbet Dunfermline Athletic 18
3 Kevin O'Hara Alloa Athletic 10
Alan Forrest Ayr United
Kane Hemmings Dundee
6 Alan Trouten Alloa Athletic 8
Bob McHugh Greenock Morton
Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South
9 Nicky Clark Dundee United 7
Jordan White Inverness CT

Source:

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League hat-tricks § Scottish Championship
Player For Against Score Date Ref
Lawrence Shankland4 Dundee United Inverness CT 4–1 (H) 3 August 2019
Bob McHugh Greenock Morton Alloa Athletic 4–1 (H) 10 August 2019
Lawrence Shankland Dundee United Greenock Morton 6–0 (H) 28 September 2019
Kevin Nisbet4 Dunfermline Athletic Partick Thistle 5–1 (H) 30 November 2019
Lawrence Shankland Dundee United Partick Thistle 4–1 (A) 11 January 2020

Note

4 Player scored four goals

Attendances

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Alloa Athletic 16,216 1,827 661 1,158 −1.7%†
2 Arbroath 19,006 4,052 801 1,462 +53.9%†
3 Ayr United 24,891 3,167 777 1,777 −17.6%†
4 Dundee 68,603 11,233 4,228 5,277 −12.4%†
5 Dundee United 118,950 14,108 6,929 8,496 +67.3%†
6 Dunfermline Athletic 62,275 6,480 3,397 4,151 −17.1%†
7 Greenock Morton 22,499 2,742 1,120 1,607 −17.3%†
8 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 27,518 2,902 1,760 2,116 −17.0%†
9 Partick Thistle 35,084 4,101 1,714 2,698 −11.3%†
10 Queen of the South 19,549 2,041 1,094 1,396 −15.6%†
League total 414,131 14,108 661 3,022 −3.1%†

Source:

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

Awards

Monthly awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref.
Manager Club Player Club
August Robbie Neilson Dundee United Lawrence Shankland Dundee United
September Ian McCall Ayr United
Partick Thistle 		Alan Forrest Ayr United
October James McPake Dundee Declan McDaid Dundee
November Robbie Neilson Dundee United Kevin Nisbet Dunfermline Athletic
December Robbie Neilson Dundee United Calum Butcher Dundee United
January Peter Grant Alloa Athletic Kevin O'Hara Alloa Athletic
February David Hopkin Greenock Morton Nicky Cadden Greenock Morton