2023–24 Scottish League One
Football league season
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The 2023–24 Scottish League One (known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of Scottish League One, the third tier of Scottish football. The season began on 5 August 2023.[1]
Hamilton Academical (via play-offs)
| Season | 2023–24 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 5 August 2023 – 4 May 2024 |
| Champions | Falkirk |
| Promoted | Falkirk Hamilton Academical (via play-offs) |
| Relegated | Stirling Albion (via play-offs) Edinburgh City |
| Matches | 180 |
| Goals | 572 (3.18 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Callumn Morrison 23 goals |
| Biggest home win | Hamilton Academical 5–0 Annan Athletic (29 September 2023) Hamilton Academical 5–0 Stirling Albion (11 November 2023) Hamilton Academical 5–0 Queen of the South (2 December 2023) Cove Rangers 7–2 Edinburgh City (23 December 2023) Falkirk 5–0 Stirling Albion (30 December 2023) Stirling Albion 5–0 Kelty Hearts (27 January 2024) |
| Biggest away win | Montrose 1–7 Falkirk (30 March 2024) |
| Highest scoring | Cove Rangers 7–2 Edinburgh City (23 December 2023) |
| Longest winning run | Cove Rangers Falkirk 7 games |
| Longest unbeaten run | Falkirk 36 games |
| Longest winless run | Edinburgh City 17 games |
| Longest losing run | Edinburgh City 7 games |
| Highest attendance | 7,272 Falkirk 2–2 Alloa Athletic (4 May 2024) |
| Lowest attendance | 226 Edinburgh City 1–4 Kelty Hearts (7 October 2023) |
| Total attendance | 214,508 |
| Average attendance | 1,191 |
← 2022–23 2024–25 →
All statistics correct as of 4 May 2024. | |
Ten teams contested the league: Alloa Athletic, Annan Athletic, Cove Rangers, Edinburgh City, Falkirk, Hamilton Academical, Kelty Hearts, Montrose, Queen of the South and Stirling Albion.
Teams
The following teams changed division after the 2022–23 season.
To League OnePromoted from League Two Relegated from the Championship |
From League OneRelegated to League Two Promoted to the Championship
|
Stadia and locations
| Alloa Athletic | Annan Athletic | Cove Rangers | Edinburgh City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recreation Park | Galabank | Balmoral Stadium | Meadowbank Stadium |
| Capacity: 3,100[4] | Capacity: 2,504[5] | Capacity: 3,023[6] | Capacity: 1,280[7] |
| Falkirk | Hamilton Academical | ||
| Falkirk Stadium | New Douglas Park | ||
| Capacity: 7,937[8] | Capacity: 6,018[9] | ||
| Kelty Hearts | Montrose | Queen of the South | Stirling Albion |
| New Central Park | Links Park | Palmerston Park | Forthbank Stadium |
| Capacity: 2,181[10] | Capacity: 4,936[11] | Capacity: 8,690[12] | Capacity: 3,808[13] |
Personnel and kits
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alloa Athletic | Pendle | Northern Gas and Power | ||
| Annan Athletic | EV2 Sportswear | M & S Engineering | ||
| Cove Rangers | Adidas | ACE Group | ||
| Edinburgh City | Hummel | AMG Construction Group | ||
| Falkirk | O'Neills | Crunchy Carrots | ||
| Hamilton Academical | LF Sports | Active Access | ||
| Kelty Hearts | Umbro | I-Scaff Access Solutions | ||
| Montrose | Uhlsport | Montrose Port Authority (Home) InterMoor (Away) | ||
| Queen of the South | Macron | Blinds by Mark McGowan | ||
| Stirling Albion | Joma | Prudential |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelty Hearts | Appointed Raith Rovers technical director | 12 May 2023[14] | Pre-season | 17 May 2023[15] | ||
| Edinburgh City | Mutual consent | 3 October 2023[16] | 10th | 9 October 2023[17] | ||
| Alloa Athletic | Appointed Livingston coach | 9 November 2023 | 6th | 15 November 2023 |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Falkirk (C, P) | 36 | 27 | 9 | 0 | 96 | 28 | +68 | 90 | Promotion to the Championship |
| 2 | Hamilton Academical (O, P) | 36 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 73 | 28 | +45 | 74 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 3 | Alloa Athletic | 36 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 60 | 55 | +5 | 56 | |
| 4 | Montrose | 36 | 15 | 8 | 13 | 58 | 57 | +1 | 53 | |
| 5 | Cove Rangers | 36 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 58 | 63 | −5 | 49 | |
| 6 | Kelty Hearts | 36 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 48 | 63 | −15 | 44 | |
| 7 | Queen of the South | 36 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 46 | 53 | −7 | 41 | |
| 8 | Annan Athletic | 36 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 55 | 68 | −13 | 39 | |
| 9 | Stirling Albion (R) | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 39 | 58 | −19 | 39 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 10 | Edinburgh City (R) | 36 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 38 | 98 | −60 | 8[a] | Relegation to League Two |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-to head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only for deciding promotion, play-off participation and relegation).[20]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
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 | Falkirk | 23 | |
| 2 | Cove Rangers | 21 | |
| 3 | Falkirk | 14 | |
| Hamilton Academical | |||
| 5 | Alloa Athletic | 12 | |
| Falkirk |
Awards
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | |
| August | Hamilton Academical | Hamilton Academical | ||
| September | Falkirk | Falkirk | ||
| October | Hamilton Academical | |||
| November | Cove Rangers | Cove Rangers | ||
| December | Falkirk | |||
| January | Falkirk | |||
| February | Alloa Athletic | Alloa Athletic | ||
| March | Falkirk | Falkirk | ||
| April | Annan Athletic | |||
The SPFL League One manager of the year was John McGlynn of Falkirk.
The SPFL League One player of the year was Callumn Morrison of Falkirk.
League One play-offs
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Stirling Albion | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| 4 | Dumbarton | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
| Dumbarton | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||
| The Spartans | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 3 | The Spartans | 2 | 5 | 7 | |||||||||
| 2 | Peterhead | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
Semi-finals
First leg
| 7 May 2024 | Dumbarton | 2–1 | Stirling Albion | Dumbarton |
| 19:45 | Hilton T.Wallace |
Hilson |
Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Attendance: 900 Referee: Ross Hardie |
| 7 May 2024 | The Spartans | 2–1 | Peterhead | Edinburgh |
| 19:45 | Watson Henderson |
O'Keefe |
Stadium: Ainslie Park Attendance: 843 Referee: Dan McFarlane |
Second leg
| 11 May 2024 | Peterhead | 1–5 (2–7 agg.) | The Spartans | Peterhead |
| 15:00 | Strachan |
Russell Henderson Whyte |
Stadium: Balmoor Stadium Attendance: 947 Referee: Iain Snedden |
| 11 May 2024 | Stirling Albion | 0–0 (1–2 agg.) | Dumbarton | Stirling |
| 15:00 | Stadium: Forthbank Stadium Attendance: 1,087 Referee: Lloyd Wilson |
Final
First leg
| 14 May 2024 | Dumbarton | 2–1 | The Spartans | Dumbarton |
| 19:30 | Wallace Gray |
Sonkur |
Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Attendance: 850 Referee: Steven Kirkland |
Second leg
| 17 May 2024 | The Spartans | 2–2 (3–4 agg.) | Dumbarton | Edinburgh |
| 19:30 | Russell Henderson |
Ruth |
Stadium: Ainslie Park Attendance: 2,281 Referee: Grant Irvine |