Scottish Championship

The Scottish Championship is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Championship 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.[1]

For the golf tournament, see Scottish Championship (golf).

Scottish Championship
Founded2013 (2013)
CountryScotland
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams10
Level on pyramid2
Promotion toScottish Premiership
Relegation toScottish League One
Domestic cup(s)Scottish Cup
League cup(s)Scottish League Cup
Scottish Challenge Cup
Current championsDundee United (1st title)[note 1]
(2019–20)
Most championships7 clubs (1 title each)[note 1]
TV partnersBBC Scotland
BBC ALBA
Websitespfl.co.uk
Current: 2020–21 Scottish Championship

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.[2]

Promotion and relegation

The champions are directly promoted to the Scottish Premiership, swapping places with the bottom-ranked club of the Premiership. The clubs finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th then enter the two-legged Premiership play-off. The 3rd-placed club plays the 4th-placed club, with the winner then playing the 2nd-placed club. The winner of that game then plays against the 11th-placed Premiership club. If the Championship play-off winner prevails, the club is promoted and the Premiership club is relegated; otherwise, the Premiership club remains in its league while the Championship club is not promoted.

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

Teams

Listed below are all the teams competing in the 2020–21 Scottish Championship season, with details of the first season they entered the second tier; the first season of their current spell in the second tier; and the last time they won the second tier.

Team Position in 2019–20 First season in
second tier		 First season of current
spell in second tier		 Last second tier title
Alloa Athletic 8th, Scottish Championship 1921–22 2018–19 1921–22
Arbroath 5th, Scottish Championship[note 2] 1921–22 2019–20 —
Ayr United 4th, Scottish Championship 1910–11 2018–19 1965–66
Dundee 3rd, Scottish Championship 1938–39 2019–20 2013–14
Dunfermline Athletic 6th, Scottish Championship[note 2] 1912–13 2016–17 2010–11
Greenock Morton 7th, Scottish Championship 1893–94 2015–16 1986–87
Heart of Midlothian 12th, Scottish Premiership (relegated) 1977–78 2020–21 2014–15
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2nd, Scottish Championship 1999–00 2017–18 2009–10
Queen of the South 9th, Scottish Championship 1923–24 2012–13 1950–51
Raith Rovers 1st, Scottish League One (promoted) 1902–03 2020–21 1994–95

Stadiums
See also: List of Scottish Professional Football League stadiums
Alloa Athletic Arbroath Ayr United Dundee Dunfermline Athletic
Recreation Park Gayfield Park Somerset Park Dens Park East End Park
Capacity: 3,100[4] Capacity: 6,600[5] Capacity: 10,185[6] Capacity: 11,506[7] Capacity: 11,480[8]
Greenock Morton Heart of Midlothian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Queen of the South Raith Rovers
Cappielow Park Tynecastle Park Caledonian Stadium Palmerston Park Stark's Park
Capacity: 11,589[9] Capacity: 19,852[10] Capacity: 7,512[11] Capacity: 8,690[12] Capacity: 8,867[13]

Statistics

Championships
Main article: List of winners of the Scottish Championship and predecessors
Season Winner Runner-up Top scorer
Player Goals
2013–14 Dundee Hamilton Academical Rory Loy (Falkirk) 20
2014–15 Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Jason Cummings (Hibernian) 18
2015–16 Rangers Falkirk Martyn Waghorn (Rangers) 20
2016–17 Hibernian Falkirk Jason Cummings (Hibernian)
Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South)		 19
2017–18 St Mirren Livingston Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) 18
2018–19 Ross County Dundee United Lawrence Shankland (Ayr United) 24
2019–20[lower-alpha 1] Dundee United Inverness Caledonian Thistle Lawrence Shankland (Dundee United) 24

Records and awards
Biggest home win
Heart of Midlothian 10–0 Cowdenbeath, 28 February 2015[15]
Biggest away win
Dumbarton 0–6 Rangers, 2 January 2016;[16]
Most points in a season
91; Heart of Midlothian, 2014–15
Fewest points in a season
4; Brechin City, 2017–18[17]
Fewest goals scored in a season
20; Brechin City, 2017–18
Most goals scored in a season
96; Heart of Midlothian, 2014–15
Most goals conceded in a season
90; Brechin City, 2017–18
Fewest goals conceded in a season
25; Hibernian, 2016–17[note 3]
Highest attendance
50,349; Rangers 1–1 Alloa Athletic, 23 April 2016
Lowest attendance
318; Cowdenbeath 3–0 Greenock Morton, 25 March 2014

Top goalscorers
As of 10 March 2020[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
Rank Player Club(s)[note 4] Goals
1Stephen DobbieQueen of the South (2016–)66
2Lawrence ShanklandSt Mirren (2015–2017)
Greenock Morton (2017)
Ayr United (2018–2019)
Dundee United (2019–2020)		62
3Jason CummingsHibernian (2014–2017)55
4Nicky ClarkRangers (2014–2016)
Dunfermline Athletic (2016–2018)
Dundee United (2018–2020)		54
5Derek LyleQueen of the South (2013–2018)51

Broadcasting rights
Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League broadcasters

Notes
  1. The Scottish Championship has only existed since 2013. For a complete record of clubs that have won the Scottish second tier, see List of winners of the Scottish Championship and predecessors.
  2. Positions in 2019–20 were determined by points per game, rather than total points. Arbroath (36) won one fewer point than Dunfermline Athletic (37), but they played two fewer games and therefore their points average was higher.
  3. Dundee United conceded 22 goals in the curtailed 2019–20 season.
  4. Clubs only include those where players scored goals in the Scottish Championship.
  1. The 2019–20 Scottish Championship was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. The season was subsequently curtailed on 15 April 2020 and a points per game average was used to calculate a final table.[14]

References
  1. "SPFL: New Scottish league brands unveiled". BBC Sport. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  2. "The Rules and Regulations of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). Scottish Professional Football League. 19 January 2016. pp. 36–7. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  3. "Scottish Championship". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  4. "Alloa Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  5. "Arbroath Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  6. "Ayr United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  7. "Dundee Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. "Dunfermline Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  9. "Morton Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  10. "Tynecastle Park Safety Certificate, issued October 2018" (PDF). 31 October 2018.
  11. "Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  12. "Queen of the South Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. "Raith Rovers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  14. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles & reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. BBC. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  15. "Heart of Midlothian F.C. 10–0 Cowdenbeath". BBC Sport. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  16. "Dumbarton 0–6 Rangers". BBC Sport. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  17. Sutherland, Jonathan (28 April 2018). "Brechin City: Scottish Championship side go entire league season without victory". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  18. "Scottish Championship Statistics 2013–14". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  19. "Scottish Championship Statistics 2014–15". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  20. "Scottish Championship Statistics 2015–16". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  21. "Scottish Championship Statistics 2016–17". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  22. "Scottish Championship Statistics 2017–18". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  23. "Scottish Championship Statistics 2018–19". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  24. "Scottish Championship Statistics 2019–20". Soccerbase. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
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