2023–24 Scottish Championship
Football league season
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The 2023–24 Scottish Championship (known as cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the Scottish Championship, the second tier of Scottish football. The season began on 4 August 2023.[1]
| Season | 2023–24 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4 August 2023 – 3 May 2024 |
| Champions | Dundee United |
| Promoted | Dundee United |
| Relegated | Inverness Caledonian Thistle (via play-offs) Arbroath |
| Matches | 180 |
| Goals | 503 (2.79 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Brian Graham 20 goals |
| Biggest home win | Dundee United 6–0 Arbroath (27 October 2023) Queen's Park 6–0 Arbroath (27 February 2024) |
| Biggest away win | Partick Thistle 0–5 Dundee United (21 October 2023) Dunfermline Athletic 0–5 Greenock Morton (3 February 2024) Queen's Park 0–5 Dundee United (6 April 2024) Arbroath 0–5 Queen's Park (27 April 2024) |
| Highest scoring | Raith Rovers 4–4 Ayr United (22 December 2023) |
| Longest winning run | Raith Rovers 5 games |
| Longest unbeaten run | Dundee United 14 games |
| Longest winless run | Queen's Park 15 games |
| Longest losing run | Arbroath 10 games |
| Highest attendance | 11,802 Dundee United 4–1 Partick Thistle (3 May 2024) |
| Lowest attendance | 916 Queen's Park 2–1 Arbroath (12 August 2023) |
| Total attendance | 607,497 |
| Average attendance | 3,374 |
← 2022–23 2024–25 →
All statistics correct as of 3 May 2024. | |
Ten teams contested the league: Airdrieonians, Arbroath, Ayr United, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Greenock Morton, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Partick Thistle, Queen's Park and Raith Rovers.
Teams
The following teams changed division after the 2022–23 season.
To ChampionshipPromoted from League One Relegated from the Premiership |
From ChampionshipRelegated to League One Promoted to the Premiership
|
Stadia and locations
| Airdrieonians | Arbroath | Ayr United | Dundee United |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excelsior Stadium | Gayfield Park | Somerset Park | Tannadice Park |
| Capacity: 10,101[3] | Capacity: 6,600[4] | Capacity: 10,185[5] | Capacity: 14,223[6] |
| Dunfermline Athletic | Greenock Morton | ||
| East End Park | Cappielow | ||
| Capacity: 11,480[7] | Capacity: 11,589[8] | ||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Partick Thistle | Queen's Park | Raith Rovers |
| Caledonian Stadium | Firhill Stadium | Hampden Park | Stark's Park |
| Capacity: 7,512[9] | Capacity: 10,887[10] | Capacity: 51,866[11] | Capacity: 8,867[12] |
Personnel and kits
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airdrieonians | Joma | Holemasters | ||
| Arbroath | Macron | Megatech | ||
| Ayr United | O'Neills | Jewson (Home) Lindsay Mortgage Services (Away) | ||
| Dundee United | Erreà | Bartercard | ||
| Dunfermline Athletic | Erreà | SRJ Windows | ||
| Greenock Morton | Joma | Dalrada Technology (Home) Erskine (Away) Team Talk (3rd) | ||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Puma | ILI Group | ||
| Partick Thistle | O'Neills | Clydebuilt Home Improvements | ||
| Queen's Park | Adidas | City Facilities Management | ||
| Raith Rovers | Joma | Dean Park Hotel (Home) Fife Letting Service (Away) |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's Park | Resigned | 15 May 2023[13] | Pre-season | 17 June 2023[14] | ||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Sacked | 17 September 2023 | 10th | 26 September 2023 | ||
| Arbroath | Resigned | 25 November 2023 | 9th | 4 December 2023 | ||
| Queen's Park | Sacked | 9 December 2023 | 8th | 9 January 2024 | ||
| Ayr United | 15 January 2024 | 9th | 23 January 2024 |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dundee United (C, P) | 36 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 73 | 23 | +50 | 75 | Promotion to the Premiership |
| 2 | Raith Rovers | 36 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 58 | 42 | +16 | 69 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-final |
| 3 | Partick Thistle | 36 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 63 | 54 | +9 | 55 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final |
| 4 | Airdrieonians | 36 | 15 | 7 | 14 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 52 | |
| 5 | Greenock Morton | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 43 | 46 | −3 | 45 | |
| 6 | Dunfermline Athletic | 36 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 45 | |
| 7 | Ayr United | 36 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 53 | 61 | −8 | 44 | |
| 8 | Queen's Park | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 50 | 56 | −6 | 43 | |
| 9 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle (R) | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 41 | 40 | +1 | 42 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 10 | Arbroath (R) | 36 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 35 | 89 | −54 | 23 | Relegation to League One |
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)
Second half of season (Matches 19–36)
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Partick Thistle | 20 | |
| 2 | Dundee United | 18 | |
| 3 | Queen's Park | 17 | |
| 4 | Raith Rovers | 15 | |
| 5 | Ayr United | 13 | |
| Dundee United |
Awards
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | |
| August | Queen's Park | Queen's Park | ||
| September | Dundee United | Arbroath | ||
| October | Dundee United | |||
| November | Inverness CT | Inverness CT | ||
| December | Raith Rovers | Raith Rovers | ||
| January | Greenock Morton | Greenock Morton | ||
| February | Queen's Park | |||
| March | Dunfermline Athletic | Dundee United | ||
| April | Dundee United | Partick Thistle | ||
The SPFL Championship manager of the year was Jim Goodwin of Dundee United.
The SPFL Championship player of the year was Louis Moult of Dundee United.
Championship play-offs
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 4 | Montrose | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Hamilton Academical | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Alloa Athletic | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2 | Hamilton Academical | 2 | 3 | 5 | |||||||||
Semi-finals
First leg
| 7 May 2024 | Montrose | 0–0 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Montrose |
| 19:45 | Stadium: Links Park Attendance: 1,043 Referee: Chris Graham |
| 7 May 2024 | Alloa Athletic | 2–2 | Hamilton Academical | Alloa |
| 19:45 | Steven Roberts |
Henderson O'Hara |
Stadium: Recreation Park Attendance: 1,077 Referee: Craig Napier |
Second leg
| 11 May 2024 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 1–0 (1–0 agg.) | Montrose | Inverness |
| 15:00 | McKay |
Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2,089 Referee: Alan Muir |
Final
First leg
| 15 May 2024 | Hamilton Academical | 2–1 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Hamilton |
| 20:05 | O'Hara Owens |
Pepple |
Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 1,389 Referee: Graham Grainger |
Second leg
Attendances
Dundee United drew the highest average home attendance in the 2023-24 edition of the Scottish Championship.
| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance[19] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dundee United | 18 | 8,408 |
| 2 | Dunfermline Athletic | 18 | 5,444 |
| 3 | Raith Rovers | 18 | 4,191 |
| 4 | Partick Thistle | 18 | 3,517 |
| 5 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 18 | 2,289 |
| 6 | Ayr United | 18 | 2,114 |
| 7 | Greenock Morton | 18 | 2,061 |
| 8 | Arbroath FC | 18 | 1,972 |
| 9 | Airdieonians FC | 18 | 1,934 |
| 10 | Queen's Park FC | 18 | 1,839 |
