2008–09 Scottish Third Division

The 2008–09 Scottish Football League Third Division (also known as the 2008–09 Irn-Bru Scottish Football League Third Division for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season in the format of ten teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The season started on 2 August 2008 and ended on 9 May 2009. Dumbarton F.C. finished top and were promoted alongside Stenhousemuir F.C. as play-off winners. Cowdenbeath F.C. were also promoted due to Livingston being demoted to the Third Division.

Irn-Bru Scottish Third Division
Season2008–09
ChampionsDumbarton
PromotedDumbarton
Stenhousemuir
Cowdenbeath
Relegatedn/a
Matches played180
Goals scored497 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorerScott Dalziel (15)
Mike Jack (15)
Biggest home winAnnan Athletic 6–0 Elgin City
(7 March 2009)
Dumbarton 6–0 Elgin City
(2 May 2009)
Biggest away winElgin City 1–6 Albion Rovers
(20 September 2008)
Highest scoringForfar Athletic 5–4 Berwick Rangers
(28 February 2009)
Longest winning run5 games
Cowdenbeath
Stenhousemuir
Longest unbeaten run10 games
Cowdenbeath
Longest winless run13 games
Albion Rovers
Longest losing run7 games
Elgin City

Teams for 2008–09
Location of teams in 2008–09 Scottish Third Division

East Fife as champions of the 2007–08 season were directly promoted to the 2008–09 Scottish Second Division. They were replaced by Berwick Rangers who finished bottom of the 2007–08 Scottish Second Division.

A second promotion place was available via a play-off tournament between the ninth-placed team of the 2007–08 Scottish Second Division, Cowdenbeath, and the sides ranked second, third and fourth in the 2007–08 Scottish Third Division, Stranraer, Montrose and Arbroath respectively. The play off was won by Arbroath who defeated Stranraer in the final. Cowdenbeath were therefore relegated. However, due to Gretna's expulsion from the Football League, an extra promotion place was awarded, thus Stranraer as losing play-off finalists were also promoted.

Annan Athletic, formerly of the East of Scotland League, were admitted to the SFL to replace Gretna, who resigned their league status on 3 June.[1]) The SFL voted on the matter on 3 July,[2] with 5 clubs having put forward applications. Annan, who like Gretna are from the Dumfries and Galloway region, were chosen above other applicants Cove Rangers, Edinburgh City, Preston Athletic and Spartans.[3]

Overview

Relegated from Second Division to Third Division

Promoted from Third Division to Second Division

Newly admitted into SFL

Stadia and attendances
Team Stadium Capacity Highest Lowest Average
Annan Athletic Galabank Stadium 3,500 1,343 422 734
Dumbarton Strathclyde Homes Stadium 2,025 1,398 462 716
Stenhousemuir Ochilview Park 2,624 805 311 496
Forfar Athletic Station Park 5,177 621 362 460
East Stirlingshire Ochilview Park[A] 2,624 812 343 450
Cowdenbeath Central Park 2,000 1,181 193 415
Berwick Rangers Shielfield Park 4,131 570 288 414
Elgin City Borough Briggs 3,927 537 276 392
Montrose Links Park 3,292 570 294 379
Albion Rovers Cliftonhill 1,249 452 237 312

Source: The League Insider
A.^ East Stirlingshire ground shared with Stenhousemuir.[9]

Managerial changes
See also: 2008–09 in Scottish football § Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Table position[10]
Albion Rovers John McCormack Resigned 28 June[11] Paul Martin 9 July[12] pre-season
Montrose Jim Weir Sacked 19 October[13][14] Steven Tweed 15 January 2009[15] 4
Berwick Rangers Alan McGonigal Resigned 13 November[16] Jimmy Crease 26 December[17] 9
Elgin City Robbie Williamson Resigned 20 December 2008[18] Ross Jack 23 January[19] 10

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Dumbarton (C, P) 36 19 10 7 65 36 +29 67 Promotion to the Second Division
2 Cowdenbeath (P) 36 18 9 9 48 34 +14 63[lower-alpha 1] Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs[lower-alpha 2]
3 East Stirlingshire 36 19 4 13 57 50 +7 61
4 Stenhousemuir (P, O) 36 16 8 12 55 46 +9 56
5 Montrose 36 16 6 14 47 48 −1 54
6 Forfar Athletic 36 14 9 13 53 51 +2 51
7 Annan Athletic 36 14 8 14 56 45 +11 50
8 Albion Rovers 36 11 6 19 39 47 −8 39
9 Berwick Rangers 36 10 7 19 46 61 −15 37
10 Elgin City 36 7 5 24 31 79 −48 26
Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted.
Notes:
  1. Cowdenbeath were promoted due to Livingston's demotion from the First Division to the Third.
  2. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams will be entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 4th placed team. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2009–10 Second Division.

Results

Teams play each other four times in this league. In the first half of the season each team plays every other team twice (home and away) and then do the same in the second half of the season.

First half of season
Home \ Away ALB ANN BER COW DUM EST ELG FOR MON STE
Albion Rovers 0–1 2–0 3–1 1–3 0–2 2–1 1–3 0–1 1–2
Annan Athletic 2–4 1–2 0–1 2–1 2–1 5–0 1–3 1–2 1–1
Berwick Rangers 0–3 3–0 2–3 1–2 2–1 1–1 2–2 3–2 3–2
Cowdenbeath 2–1 1–4 2–1 2–0 0–0 4–1 0–0 2–1 1–2
Dumbarton 1–1 4–1 5–2 2–1 1–1 2–0 3–0 1–1 1–2
East Stirlingshire 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–4 5–2 5–2 0–3 5–0 0–2
Elgin City 1–6 1–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–4 0–1 1–2 4–2
Forfar Athletic 0–0 2–1 2–1 0–1 2–2 2–3 0–1 0–1 1–0
Montrose 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 3–0 1–0 1–0 0–3
Stenhousemuir 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 1–1 2–2
Source: BBC Sport
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season
Home \ Away ALB ANN BER COW DUM EST ELG FOR MON STE
Albion Rovers 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 0–3 2–0 0–1 1–2
Annan Athletic 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–3 4–0 6–0 1–0 2–1 1–1
Berwick Rangers 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 2–2 2–1 0–2 0–1 0–3
Cowdenbeath 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 2–2 2–1 1–0
Dumbarton 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 6–0 4–0 1–1 1–0
East Stirlingshire 0–1 1–1 0–4 0–2 3–1 1–0 4–2 2–1 0–3
Elgin City 1–0 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–4 1–0 2–0
Forfar Athletic 4–0 2–1 5–4 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–3 4–4
Montrose 1–0 0–3 1–1 2–1 1–0 0–2 3–1 1–3 5–3
Stenhousemuir 2–1 1–0 1–2 1–0 0–2 1–4 4–2 0–1 1–3
Source: BBC Sport
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Team Goals
1 Mike Jack Annan Athletic 15
Scott Dalziel Stenhousemuir
3 Darren Gribben Berwick Rangers 14
Ross Clark Dumbarton
Andy Rodgers East Stirlingshire
Brian Graham East Stirlingshire
7 Ross Campbell Forfar Athletic 13
8 John Gemmell Cowdenbeath 12
Kevin Motion Stenhousemuir
10 Bobby Barr Albion Rovers 11
Derek Carcary Dumbarton

Source: The League Insider

Events
Main article: 2008–09 in Scottish football § Notable events
  • 3 July – Annan Athletic, formerly of the East of Scotland League were admitted to the SFL,[2] beating Cove Rangers, Edinburgh City, Preston Athletic and Spartans.[3] They replaced Gretna, who resigned their league status on 3 June.[1]
  • 13 November – A consortium led by Berwick Rangers Supporters Club agreed a deal to take over the club. Following a poor run of form, manager Allan McGonigal resigned at the same time saying "I made up my mind that when the current directors left I would move on."[20]

Monthly awards
Main article: Scottish Football League monthly awards
Month First Division manager SFL Player SFL Young player
Manager Club Player Club Player Club
August[21] Roberto Landi Livingston Stephen Robertson Airdrie United Leigh Griffiths Livingston
September[22] Jim McIntyre Dunfermline Athletic Paul McManus East Fife Calum Elliot Livingston
October[23] Derek McInnes St Johnstone Steven Milne St Johnstone Dominic Shimmin Greenock Morton
November[24] Jocky Scott Dundee Bryan Prunty Ayr United Kyle Benedictus Dundee
December[25] John Brown Clyde Alan Main St Johnstone Chris McMenamin Berwick Rangers
January[26] Ian McCall Partick Thistle Willie McLaren Clyde Bobby Barr Albion Rovers
February[27] Jocky Scott Dundee Gary Harkins Partick Thistle Fraser McLaren Berwick Rangers
March[28] Paul Hegarty Livingston Kevin Rutkiewicz St Johnstone Leigh Griffiths Livingston
April[29] Gordon Chisholm Queen of the South Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South Kevin Moon St Johnstone

References
  1. "Gretna relinquish league status". BBC Sport. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  2. "Annan voted into Scottish league". BBC Sport. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  3. "Who's next for Division Three?". BBC Sport. 15 June 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  4. "Berwick Rangers 2-2 Peterhead". BBC Sport. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  5. "Cowdenbeath 1-2 Arbroath (2-3)". BBC Sport. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  6. "East Stirlingshire 0-3 East Fife". BBC Sport. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  7. "Stranraer 1-0 Arbroath (1-2)". BBC Sport. 10 May 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  8. "Gretna demoted to Division Three". BBC Sport. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  9. East Stirlingshire FC Archived 6 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, www.eaststirlingshirefc.com Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  10. Shows position in table at time when manager departed.
  11. "McCormack new Accies assistant". BBC Sport. 28 June 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  12. "Martin is new Albion Rovers boss". BBC Sport. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  13. "Montrose job interests Donachie". BBC Sport. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  14. "Montrose FC Latest News - October 2008". Montrose F.C. 19 October 2008. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  15. "Tweed takes charge at Links Park". BBC Sport. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  16. "Supporters head Berwick takeover". BBC Sport. 13 November 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  17. "Crease named new Berwick manager". BBC Sport. 26 December 2008.
  18. "Elgin manager quits before match". BBC Sport. 20 December 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
  19. "New Elgin boss has heady ambition". BBC Sport. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  20. "Supporters head Berwick takeover". BBC Sport. 10 December 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  21. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards August, 2008". Scottish Football League. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  22. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards September, 2008". Scottish Football League. 15 October 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  23. "THE IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards October, 2008". Scottish Football League. 11 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  24. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards November, 2008". Scottish Football League. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  25. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards December, 2008". Scottish Football League. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  26. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards January, 2009". Scottish Football League. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  27. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards February, 2009". Scottish Football League. 19 March 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  28. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards March, 2009". Scottish Football League. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  29. "IThe IRN-BRU SFL Phenomenal Manager and Player of the Month Awards April, 2009". Scottish Football league. 26 May 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
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