2019–20 Scottish Championship
# 2019–20 Scottish Championship

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 | AlloaArbroathAyr UnitedDundeeDundee UtdDunfermlineMortonInverness CTPartick ThistleQueen of the Southclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish Championship | AlloaArbroathAyr UnitedDundeeDundee UtdDunfermlineMortonInverness CTPartick ThistleQueen of the Southclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish Championship | Dunfermline Athletic |
| Tannadice Park | AlloaArbroathAyr UnitedDundeeDundee UtdDunfermlineMortonInverness CTPartick ThistleQueen of the Southclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish Championship | AlloaArbroathAyr UnitedDundeeDundee UtdDunfermlineMortonInverness CTPartick ThistleQueen of the Southclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish Championship | East End Park |
| Capacity: 14,223 | AlloaArbroathAyr UnitedDundeeDundee UtdDunfermlineMortonInverness CTPartick ThistleQueen of the Southclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish Championship | AlloaArbroathAyr UnitedDundeeDundee UtdDunfermlineMortonInverness CTPartick ThistleQueen of the Southclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish Championship | 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 |

* ↑ 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 | — |

### 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 | — |

## 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 |
| 3 | Alan Forrest | Ayr United | 10 |
| 3 | Kane Hemmings | Dundee | 10 |
| 6 | Alan Trouten | Alloa Athletic | 8 |
| 6 | Bob McHugh | Greenock Morton | 8 |
| 6 | Stephen Dobbie | Queen of the South | 8 |
| 9 | Nicky Clark | Dundee United | 7 |
| 9 | Jordan White | Inverness CT | 7 |

Source:

**Hat-tricks**

| Player | For | Against | Score | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Lawrence $Shankland^4$ | 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 $Nisbet^4$ | 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:

* ↑ Club was playing in League One during the previous season.
* ↑ Club was playing in Premiership during the previous season.

## Awards

### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Ref. |
| 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 | |
