2019–20 Scottish League Two

The 2019–20 Scottish League Two (known as Ladbrokes League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. Ten teams contested the league: Albion Rovers, Annan Athletic, Brechin City, Cove Rangers, Cowdenbeath, Edinburgh City, Elgin City, Queen's Park, Stenhousemuir and Stirling Albion.

Scottish League Two
Season2019–20
Dates3 August 2019 – 15 April 2020
ChampionsCove Rangers
PromotedCove Rangers
Matches played137
Goals scored414 (3.02 per match)
Top goalscorerMitch Megginson (24 goals)[1][2]
Biggest home winCove Rangers 5–0 Edinburgh City (3 August 2019)[2]
Annan Athletic 6–1 Cove Rangers (30 November 2019)[2]
Biggest away winStirling Albion 1–7 Cove Rangers (10 March 2020)[2]
Highest scoringAlbion Rovers 4–4 Cove Rangers (10 August 2019)[2]
Stirling Albion 1–7 Cove Rangers (10 March 2020)[2]
Longest winning run6 matches:[2]
Cove Rangers
Cowdenbeath
Longest unbeaten run8 matches:[2]
Cove Rangers
Longest winless run11 matches:[2]
Brechin City
Longest losing run6 matches:[2]
Annan Athletic
Highest attendance1,264
Cove Rangers 2–0 Elgin City (28 December 2019)[2]
Lowest attendance194
Edinburgh City 4–0 Stenhousemuir (29 October 2019)[2]
Total attendance66,675[2]
Average attendance486[2](18)
All statistics correct as of 1 May 2020.

The season began on 3 August 2019 and was scheduled to end on 2 May 2020.[3] On 13 March 2020 all SPFL leagues were indefinitely suspended due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.[4] On 8 April, with the pandemic continuing, the SPFL board proposed to curtail the 2019–20 League Two season and use the points per game earned by each team to date as the final standings.[5] The plan was approved on 15 April, meaning the league was declared over and Cove Rangers were crowned champions.[6]

Teams

The following teams have changed division since the 2018–19 season.

Stadia and locations
Albion Rovers Annan Athletic Brechin City Cove Rangers
Cliftonhill Galabank Glebe Park Balmoral Stadium
Capacity: 1,238[7] Capacity: 2,504[8] Capacity: 4,123[9] Capacity: 2,602
Cowdenbeath
Location of teams in 2019–20 Scottish League Two
 Edinburgh City
Central Park Ainslie Park[10]
Capacity: 4,309[11] Capacity: 3,534
Elgin City Queen's Park Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion
Borough Briggs Hampden Park Ochilview Park Forthbank Stadium
Capacity: 4,520[12] Capacity: 51,866[13] Capacity: 3,746[14] Capacity: 3,808[15]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Albion Rovers Kevin Harper Aron Lynas Joma K & T Plant Hire Ltd
Annan Athletic Peter Murphy Steven Swinglehurst Halbro M & S Engineering
Brechin City Mark Wilson Paul McManus Pendle Glencadam distillery
Cove Rangers Paul Hartley Mitch Megginson Adidas ACE Group
Cowdenbeath Gary Bollan Craig Barr Errea Delta 70 Mfg Ltd
Edinburgh City James McDonaugh Craig Thomson Macron Forth Capital
Elgin City Gavin Price Shane Sutherland EV2 Sportswear McDonald & Munro
Queen's Park Ray McKinnon David Galt Under Armour Irn-Bru
Stenhousemuir Davie Irons Andy Munro Uhlsport LOC Hire
Stirling Albion Kevin Rutkiewicz Ross McGeachie Macron Prudential

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Brechin City Barry Smith Sacked 19 August 2019 10th Mark Wilson 4 September 2019
Stenhousemuir Colin McMenamin Sacked 17 September 2019 8th Davie Irons 25 September 2019
Queen's Park Mark Roberts Sacked 31 December 2019 7th Ray McKinnon 2 January 2020

League summary

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Promotion[lower-alpha 1]
1 Cove Rangers (C) 28 22 2 4 76 34 +42 68 2.43 Promotion to League One
2 Edinburgh City 27 17 4 6 49 28 +21 55 2.04
3 Elgin City 28 12 7 9 48 34 +14 43 1.54
4 Cowdenbeath 27 12 5 10 37 35 +2 41 1.52
5 Queen's Park 28 11 7 10 37 35 +2 40 1.43
6 Stirling Albion 28 10 6 12 34 35 −1 36 1.29
7 Annan Athletic 27 9 4 14 33 54 −21 31 1.15
8 Stenhousemuir 28 7 8 13 32 48 −16 29 1.04
9 Albion Rovers 26 6 6 14 37 51 −14 24 0.92
10 Brechin City 27 4 5 18 31 60 −29 17 0.63
Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game.
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. All play-off matches were cancelled, as clubs voted to curtail the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]

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
Home \ Away ALB ANN BRE COV COW EDC ELG QPA STE STI
Albion Rovers — 4–2 0–1 4–4 N/A 1–3 1–3 2–0 2–1 2–1
Annan Athletic 3–2 — 5–2 6–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 3–2 1–1 0–0
Brechin City 0–0 0–1 — 2–4 2–1 2–3 2–1 0–3 1–2 1–1
Cove Rangers 3–0 3–0 3–0 — 3–2 5–0 2–0 3–0 2–1 1–0
Cowdenbeath 1–0 3–1 2–1 1–3 — 1–0 0–0 1–0 3–1 1–0
Edinburgh City 3–2 4–0 2–1 2–1 2–0 — 1–1 2–1 4–0 1–0
Elgin City 2–2 4–0 3–1 0–2 3–0 3–3 — 3–1 0–1 1–2
Queen's Park 1–1 1–2 5–2 1–3 0–3 2–1 0–0 — 1–1 1–1
Stenhousemuir 2–3 1–2 1–0 3–2 0–3 1–3 2–2 0–3 — 0–2
Stirling Albion 3–0 2–0 2–4 1–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 —
Source: Scottish League Two
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season
Home \ Away ALB ANN BRE COV COW EDC ELG QPA STE STI
Albion Rovers — N/A 4–1 2–2 N/A N/A 1–2 N/A N/A 0–3
Annan Athletic 2–1 — N/A 0–0 N/A N/A 0–4 N/A 0–3 2–3
Brechin City N/A N/A — 1–5 N/A N/A 1–2 0–0 N/A 0–2
Cove Rangers N/A 2–0 3–2 — 3–1 2–1 N/A 2–0 N/A N/A
Cowdenbeath 2–1 3–1 3–2 N/A — 1–1 N/A N/A N/A 1–4
Edinburgh City 3–0 3–0 0–0 N/A N/A — N/A 1–2 N/A 0–1
Elgin City N/A N/A N/A 3–0 3–2 0–1 — N/A 2–3 3–1
Queen's Park 2–2 2–0 N/A N/A 1–0 2–0 N/A — 2–1 N/A
Stenhousemuir 1–0 N/A 2–2 0–3 2–2 1–2 N/A 0–0 — N/A
Stirling Albion N/A N/A N/A 1–7 N/A N/A 1–2 1–3 0–0 —
Source: Scottish League Two
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Mitch Megginson Cove Rangers 24
2 Shane Sutherland Elgin City 16
3 Jamie Masson Cove Rangers 15
4 Salim Kouider-Aïssa Queen's Park 13
5 Declan Byrne Albion Rovers 11

Source:[17]

Hat-tricks
Main article: List of Scottish Professional Football League hat-tricks § Scottish League Two
Player For Against Score Date Ref
Tommy Muir Annan Athletic Cove Rangers 6–1 (H) 30 November 2019 [18]
Darryl Duffy Stirling Albion Albion Rovers 3–0 (A) 4 January 2020 [19]

Attendances
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Albion Rovers 3,609 484 209 300 +4.9%†
2 Annan Athletic 4,858 459 211 347 −12.8%†
3 Brechin City[lower-alpha 1] 5,535 705 338 425 −26.7%†
4 Cove Rangers[lower-alpha 2] 10,709 1,264 391 764 n/a†
5 Cowdenbeath 4,904 448 221 350 −1.1%†
6 Edinburgh City 4,541 494 194 324 −19.2%†
7 Elgin City 8,902 1,002 453 635 +2.1%†
8 Queen's Park 8,159 837 449 582 −4.7%†
9 Stenhousemuir[lower-alpha 1] 8,134 824 336 542 −5.1%†
10 Stirling Albion 7,324 741 423 563 −4.1%†
League total 66,675 1,264 194 486 −3.6%†

Source: [20]

  1. Club was playing in League One during the previous season.
  2. Club was playing in the Highland League during the previous season.

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref.
Manager Club Player Club
August Paul Hartley Cove Rangers Declan Glass Cove Rangers
September Gary Bollan Cowdenbeath Craig Barr Cowdenbeath
October Gavin Price Elgin City Shane Sutherland Elgin City
November Mark Roberts Queen's Park Salim Kouider Aïssa Queen's Park
December James McDonaugh Edinburgh City Liam Henderson Edinburgh City
January Paul Hartley Cove Rangers Mitch Megginson Cove Rangers
February Ray McKinnon Queen's Park Dylan Bikey Stirling Albion

References
  1. "Top Scorers - Scottish League Two". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  2. "Scottish League Two Performance Stats 2019–20". ESPN. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  3. "Key dates for 2019/20". SPFL. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  4. "Coronavirus joint response group update". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  5. "SPFL: Clubs to vote on lower leagues; Premiership decision on hold". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  6. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles & reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. BBC. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  7. "Albion Rovers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. "Annan Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. "Brechin City Football Club". Scottish Football Ground Guide. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. Pilcher, Ross (29 March 2017). "Edinburgh City and Spartans confirm three-season groundshare". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  11. "Cowdenbeath Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. "Elgin City Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. "Queens Park Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  14. "Stenhousemuir Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  15. "Stirling Albion Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  16. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles and reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  17. "Scottish League Two Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  18. "Annan Athletic v Cove Rangers". BBC Sport. 30 November 2019.
  19. "Albion Rovers v Stirling Albion". BBC Sport. 4 January 2020.
  20. "Ladbrokes League Two Results". SPFL. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
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