2020–21 Scottish League One

Scottish League One 2020–21
Season information
Dates	17 October 2020 – 6 May 2021
Winners	Partick Thistle
Promoted	Partick Thistle
Relegated	Forfar Athletic
Season statistics
Matches played	110
Goals scored	278
Top goalscorer	Mitch Megginson (14 goals)
← 2019–20	2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Scottish League One was the eighth season of Scottish League One, the third tier of Scottish football. The season commenced later than usual on the 17th of October, being played over a shortened 22 game period due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Ten teams will contest the league: Airdrieonians, Clyde, Cove Rangers, Dumbarton, East Fife, Falkirk, Forfar Athletic, Montrose, Partick Thistle and Peterhead.

On 11 January 2021, the league was suspended for three weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 29 January 2021, the suspension was extended until at least 14 February. In March 2021, the Scottish Government gave permission for the league to resume. On 4 March, League One and Two clubs proposed shortening the season to 22 matches, with each team playing all other teams twice, followed by a split in the table to determine the final four matches. The clubs suggested a restart date of 20 March, which was approved by the SPFL.

Teams

The following teams have changed division since the 2019–20 season.

To League One

Promoted from League Two

• Cove Rangers

Relegated from the Championship

• Partick Thistle

From League One

Relegated to League Two

• Stranraer

Promoted to the Championship

• Raith Rovers

Stadia and locations

Airdrieonians	Clyde	Cove Rangers	Dumbarton	East Fife
Excelsior Stadium	Broadwood Stadium	Balmoral Stadium	Dumbarton Football Stadium	Bayview Stadium
Capacity: 10,101	Capacity: 8,086	Capacity: 2,602	Capacity: 2,020	Capacity: 1,980
Falkirk	Forfar Athletic	Montrose	Partick Thistle	Peterhead
Falkirk Stadium	Station Park	Links Park	Firhill Stadium	Balmoor
Capacity: 7,937	Capacity: 6,777	Capacity: 4,936	Capacity: 10,102	Capacity: 3,150

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Airdrieonians	Murray, IanIan Murray	Crighton, SeanSean Crighton	Umbro	Holemasters
Clyde	Lennon, DannyDanny Lennon	Goodwillie, DavidDavid Goodwillie	Uhlsport	North Lanarkshire Leisure (Home) Advance Construction (Away)
Cove Rangers	Hartley, PaulPaul Hartley	Megginson, MitchMitch Megginson	Adidas	ACE Group
Dumbarton	Duffy, JimJim Duffy	Carswell, StuartStuart Carswell	Joma	Turnberry Homes
East Fife	Young, DarrenDarren Young	Smith, KevinKevin Smith	Joma	East Fife Supporters Club
Falkirk	McCracken, DavidDavid McCracken and Miller, LeeLee Miller	TBC	Puma	Central Demolition
Forfar Athletic	Malcolm, StuartStuart Malcolm	Travis, MichaelMichael Travis	Pendle	Orchard Timber Products
Montrose	Petrie, StewartStewart Petrie	Watson, PaulPaul Watson	Hummel	Carnegie Fuels Ltd
Partick Thistle	McCall, IanIan McCall	O'Ware, ThomasThomas O'Ware	O'Neills	Just Employment Law
Peterhead	McInally, JimJim McInally	Brown, ScottScott Brown	Adidas	Prime Seafoods

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Forfar Athletic	Stuart Malcolm	Resigned	9 April 2021	10th	Gary Irvine	9 April 2021
Falkirk	David McCracken Lee Miller	Sacked	21 April 2021	3rd	Gary Holt (interim)	21 April 2021

League summary

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Partick Thistle  (C) (P)	22	11	7	4	40	18	+22	40	Promotion to Scottish Championship
2	Airdrieonians	22	12	2	8	35	24	+11	38	Qualification to League One play-offs
3	Cove Rangers	22	10	6	6	28	18	+10	36
4	Montrose	22	9	6	7	33	33	0	33
5	Falkirk	22	9	5	8	29	26	+3	32
6	East Fife	22	10	3	9	30	33	−3	33
7	Peterhead	22	9	2	11	24	27	−3	29
8	Clyde	22	8	2	12	27	38	−11	26
9	Dumbarton  (O)	22	7	4	11	14	24	−10	25	Qualification to League One play-off finals
10	Forfar Athletic  (R)	22	4	5	13	18	37	−19	17	Relegation to Scottish League Two

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

League One play-offs

The second bottom team entered into a 4-team playoff with the 2nd-4th placed teams in 2020–21 Scottish League Two. Edinburgh City along with Elgin City and Stranraer have secured a playoff spots.

Semi-final

First leg

8 May 2021	Stranraer	0–0	Dumbarton	Stranraer
15:00		https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48165388 Report]		Stadium: Stair Park Referee: Chris Graham

8 May 2021	Elgin City	0–1	Edinburgh City	Elgin
15:00		https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48165387 Report]	Campbell  45'	Stadium: Borough Briggs Referee: Alan Newlands

Second leg

11 May 2021	Dumbarton	1–0 (1–0 agg.)	Stranraer	Dumbarton
19:45	Wilson  36'	https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48165385 Report]		Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Referee: Gavin Duncan

11 May 2021	Edinburgh City	2–2 (3–2 agg.)	Elgin City	Edinburgh
19:45	Handling  26' Campbell  88'	https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48165386 Report]	McHardy  22', 42'	Stadium: Ainslie Park Referee: Craig Napier

Final

First leg

17 May 2021	Edinburgh City	1–3	Dumbarton	Edinburgh
19:35	McIntyre  44'	Report	McGeever  53' Brindley  67' Neill  82'	Stadium: Ainslie Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Colin Steven

Second leg

20 May 2021	Dumbarton	0–1 (3–2 agg.)	Edinburgh City	Dumbarton
19:35		Report	See  52' L Henderson  58'	Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Attendance: 398 Referee: Alan Newlands

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 6 May 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mitch Megginson	Cove Rangers	14
2	David Goodwillie	Clyde	11
	Brian Graham	Partick Thistle
4	Dale Carrick	Airdrieonians	9
5	Graham Webster	Montrose	8
6	Jack Hamilton	East Fife	7
	Russell McLean	Montrose
	Scott Tiffoney	Partick Thistle

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Score	Date
David Goodwillie	Clyde	Montrose	3–2 (H)	21 November 2020

Most assists

As of 6 May 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Ross Forbes	Dumbarton	6
	Joe Cardle	Partick Thistle
3	Ryan Wallace	East Fife	4
	Cammy Ballantyne	Montrose
	Hamish Ritchie	Peterhead

Attendances

Games were mostly played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Limited attendance was allowed at some grounds with strict conditions under the Scottish Government Tier system, dependent on the club's geographical location.

Awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
October	Paul Hartley	Cove Rangers	Stuart McKenzie	Cove Rangers
November	David McCracken Lee Miller	Falkirk	Thomas Robert	Airdrieonians
December	Stewart Petrie	Montrose	Jack Hamilton	East Fife
January	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
February	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
March	David McCracken Lee Miller	Falkirk	Graham Webster	Montrose
April	Ian McCall	Partick Thistle	Scott Tiffoney	Partick Thistle

External links

• Official website