Wikipedia

2017–18 Scottish Championship

The 2017–18 Scottish Championship (known as the Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 23 June 2017.[3]

Ladbrokes Championship
Season2017–18
ChampionsSt Mirren
PromotedSt Mirren
Livingston
RelegatedDumbarton
Brechin City
Matches played180
Goals scored472 (2.62 per match)
Top goalscorerStephen Dobbie
(18 goals)[1]
Biggest home winFalkirk 6–1 Dundee United[2]
(6 January 2018)
St Mirren 5–0 Dumbarton[2]
(27 March 2018)
Biggest away winBrechin City 0–5 Dundee United[2]
(17 April 2018)
Highest scoringDunfermline Athletic 2–5 Queen of the South[2]
(9 December 2017)
Falkirk 6–1 Dundee United[2]
(6 January 2018)
Dumbarton 2–5 Falkirk[2]
(21 April 2018)
Longest winning run5 matches:[2]
Inverness CT
Longest unbeaten run11 matches:[2]
Inverness CT
Livingston
Longest winless run36 matches:[2]
Brechin City
Longest losing run16 matches:[2]
Brechin City
Highest attendance7,585[2]
Dunfermline Athletic 1–3 Dundee United
(30 September 2017)
Lowest attendance392[2]
Dumbarton 0–1 Inverness CT
(18 April 2018)
Total attendance518,654[2]
Average attendance2,881[2]
All statistics correct as of 28 April 2018.

Ten teams contested the league: Brechin City, Dumbarton, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Falkirk, Greenock Morton, Inverness CT, Livingston, Queen of the South and St Mirren.

St Mirren won the league title, and promotion to the Premiership, after a 0–0 draw with Livingston on 14 April 2018.[4]

Brechin City became the first team in 126 years to go through a Scottish league season without a win. Their total of 4 points was the lowest ever recorded in the Scottish second tier, the lowest in the three points for a win era and the joint-lowest in any Scottish division.[5]

Prize money

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In April 2018, the SPFL confirmed the prize money to be allocated to the league members at the conclusion of the competitions. The Championship winners would receive £533,000 with a total pot of £24.5 million to be distributed across the four divisions.[6]

Teams

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The following teams have changed division since the 2016–17 season.

Stadia and locations

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Brechin City Dumbarton Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic
Glebe Park Dumbarton Football Stadium Tannadice Park East End Park
Capacity: 4,083[7] Capacity: 2,020[8] Capacity: 14,223[9] Capacity: 11,480[10]
       
Falkirk
Greenock Morton
Falkirk Stadium Cappielow Park
Capacity: 7,937[11] Capacity: 11,589[12]
   
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Livingston Queen of the South St Mirren
Caledonian Stadium Almondvale Stadium Palmerston Park Paisley 2021 Stadium
Capacity: 7,750[13] Capacity: 8,716[14] Capacity: 8,690[15] Capacity: 8,023[16]
       

Personnel and kits

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Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Brechin City   Darren Dods   Paul McLean[17] Pendle Delson
Dumbarton   Stephen Aitken   Andy Dowie[18] Joma[19] Turnberry Homes[19]
Dundee United   Csaba László   Tam Scobbie[20] Nike[21] McEwan Fraser Legal[21]
Dunfermline Athletic   Allan Johnston   Callum Morris[22] Joma[23] SRJ Windows[23]
Falkirk   Paul Hartley   Aaron Muirhead Puma[24] Central Demolition[24]
Greenock Morton   Jim Duffy   Thomas O'Ware[25] Vision Outsourcing[26] Millions[26]
Inverness CT   John Robertson   Gary Warren[27] Erreà[28] McEwan Fraser Legal[28]
Livingston   David Hopkin   Craig Halkett[29] FBT[30] Tony Macaroni[30]
Queen of the South   Gary Naysmith   John Rankin[31] Macron[32] J.B. Houston[33]
St Mirren   Jack Ross   Stephen McGinn[34] Joma[35] Skyview Capital[35]

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Inverness CT   Richie Foran Sacked 29 May 2017[36] Pre-season   John Robertson 14 June 2017[37]
Falkirk   Peter Houston Sacked 24 September 2017[38] 9th   Alex Smith (interim) 24 September 2017[38]
Falkirk   Alex Smith (interim) End of interim 4 October 2017[39] 8th   Paul Hartley 4 October 2017[39]
Dundee United   Ray McKinnon Sacked 24 October 2017[40] 4th   Laurie Ellis (interim) 25 October 2017[41]
Dundee United   Laurie Ellis (interim) End of interim 8 November 2017[42] 2nd   Csaba László 8 November 2017[42]

League summary

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League table

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 St Mirren (C, P) 36 23 5 8 63 36 +27 74 Promotion to the Premiership
2 Livingston (O, P) 36 17 11 8 56 37 +19 62 Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-final
3 Dundee United 36 18 7 11 52 42 +10 61 Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final
4 Dunfermline Athletic 36 16 11 9 60 35 +25 59
5 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 36 16 9 11 53 37 +16 57
6 Queen of the South 36 14 10 12 59 53 +6 52
7 Greenock Morton 36 13 11 12 47 40 +7 50
8 Falkirk 36 12 11 13 45 49 −4 47
9 Dumbarton (R) 36 7 9 20 27 63 −36 30 Qualification for the Championship play-offs
10 Brechin City (R) 36 0 4 32 20 90 −70 4 Relegation to League One
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Points in head-to-head matches; 5) Goal difference in hth matches; 6). Goals scored in hth matches; 7). Play-off (only for deciding promotion, play-off participation and relegation).[43]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Positions by Round

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The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.

Leader - Promotion to 2018–19 Scottish Premiership
Qualification to Premiership play-off semi-finals
Qualification to Premiership play-off quarter-finals
Qualification to Championship play-offs
Relegation to 2018–19 Scottish League One
Team \ Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
St Mirren 2 5 4 3 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Livingston 5 6 7 6 6 6 4 4 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Dundee United 3 1 1 4 4 4 3 2 4 4 4 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 3 3 4 5 4 4 3 3 3
Dunfermline Athletic 4 2 2 1 2 1 1 3 3 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 5 5 5 4 3 3 4 4 4
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 8 10 10 7 7 8 8 9 9 8 7 7 8 7 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 6 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 7 6 5 5 5
Queen of the South 1 4 3 2 3 5 6 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 6 3 3 6 6 6 6 5 5 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 6
Greenock Morton 7 3 5 5 5 3 5 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 6 5 5 5 5 7 6 5 4 3 3 4 4 3 3 5 5 6 6 7
Falkirk 9 8 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8
Dumbarton 6 7 6 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 7 8 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Brechin City 10 9 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Source:[citation needed]
Updated: 28 April 2018

Results

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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

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Home \ Away BRE DUM DUN DNF FAL GMO INV LIV QOS STM
Brechin City — 0–1 1–1 0–3 1–1 0–1 0–4 2–2 0–1 1–2
Dumbarton 2–1 — 0–2 0–4 0–0 0–0 2–1 1–4 2–2 0–2
Dundee United 1–0 1–1 — 2–1 3–0 2–1 0–2 3–0 2–1 2–1
Dunfermline Athletic 2–1 2–2 1–3 — 3–1 1–1 5–1 3–1 2–5 3–0
Falkirk 3–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 — 0–3 0–0 0–2 1–4 0–0
Greenock Morton 4–1 1–1 0–2 3–2 0–1 — 1–0 0–1 1–2 4–1
Inverness CT 4–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 4–1 1–1 — 1–3 0–0 0–2
Livingston 3–2 2–1 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–0 — 2–2 1–3
Queen of the South 4–1 1–0 1–3 0–0 4–2 1–2 0–0 0–3 — 2–3
St Mirren 2–1 0–1 3–0 1–0 3–1 2–2 4–2 3–1 3–1 —
Source: Scottish Championship
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season

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Home \ Away BRE DUM DUN DNF FAL GMO INV LIV QOS STM
Brechin City — 1–3 0–5 0–3 0–1 1–1 2–3 0–2 1–5 0–1
Dumbarton 1–0 — 3–2 0–1 2–5 0–1 0–1 0–3 0–1 0–2
Dundee United 4–1 2–0 — 1–1 1–0 0–3 1–1 2–0 2–3 1–0
Dunfermline Athletic 4–0 4–0 0–0 — 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 1–2
Falkirk 3–0 0–0 6–1 1–2 — 3–1 3–1 1–3 3–2 1–0
Greenock Morton 2–0 3–2 1–1 2–1 0–1 — 0–3 0–1 0–1 1–1
Inverness CT 4–0 5–1 1–0 2–2 1–0 0–2 — 1–1 3–1 2–2
Livingston 3–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 0–0 3–2 0–1 — 0–1 4–1
Queen of the South 3–1 0–0 3–0 0–0 2–2 1–1 0–2 3–3 — 1–3
St Mirren 1–0 5–0 2–0 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 0–0 2–0 —
Source: Scottish Championship
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

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Scoring

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Top scorers

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As of matches played on 28 April 2018
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South 18
2   Scott McDonald Dundee United 15
3   Nicky Clark Dunfermline Athletic 14
  Lewis Morgan St Mirren
5   Gavin Reilly St Mirren 11
6   Kallum Higginbotham Dunfermline Athletic 10
  Cammy Smith St Mirren

Source:[1][44]

Hat-tricks

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Player For Against Result Date Ref
  Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South Falkirk 4–1 26 August 2017 [45]
Dunfermline Athletic 5–2 10 December 2017 [46]
Brechin City 3–1 27 January 2018 [47]
Brechin City 5–1 28 April 2018 [48]
  Nicky Clark Dunfermline Athletic Brechin City 3–0 20 March 2018 [49]
Queen of the South 3–1 31 March 2018 [50]
  Nathan Austin Inverness Caledonian Thistle Dumbarton 5–1 14 April 2018 [51]

Discipline

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Player

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Club

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Attendances

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Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Dundee United 99,097 6,936 3,620 5,505 −16.4%†
2 Dunfermline Athletic 94,382 7,585 2,249 5,243 +18.1%†
3 Falkirk 84,175 6,094 3,864 4,676 −7.1%†
4 St Mirren 80,061 6,422 3,023 4,447 +23.6%†
5 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 41,296 3,415 1,801 2,294 −41.9%†
6 Greenock Morton 35,739 4,661 1,134 1,985 −15.9%†
7 Queen of the South 26,232 2,019 1,062 1,457 −21.5%†
8 Livingston 24,268 2,708 732 1,348 +69.3%†
9 Brechin City 16,619 2,627 445 923 +115.7%†
10 Dumbarton 15,085 1,652 392 838 −25.8%†
League total 518,654 7,585 392 2,881 −35.8%†

Updated to games played on 28 April 2018
Source: [2][54]

Awards

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Monthly awards

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Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref.
Manager Club Player Club
August   Allan Johnston Dunfermline Athletic   Joe Cardle Dunfermline Athletic [55]
September   David Hopkin Livingston   Lewis Morgan St Mirren
October   John Robertson Inverness CT   Carl Tremarco Inverness CT
November   Stephen Aitken Dumbarton   Scott Fraser Dundee United
December   Jack Ross St Mirren   Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South
January   Jack Ross St Mirren   Stephen McGinn St Mirren
February   David Hopkin Livingston   Ryan Hardie Livingston
March   Jack Ross St Mirren   Nicky Clark Dunfermline Athletic

Championship play-offs

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The second bottom team will enter into a 4-team playoff with the 2nd-4th placed teams in League One.

Semi-finals

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First leg

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2 May 2018 Arbroath 1–2 Dumbarton Arbroath
19:45 Linn   64' BBC Report Gallagher   55'
Barr   90'		 Stadium: Gayfield Park
Attendance: 892
Referee: Nick Walsh
2 May 2018 Alloa Athletic 2–0 Raith Rovers Alloa
19:45 Stewart   22'
Flannigan   58'		 BBC Report Stadium: Recreation Park
Attendance: 1123
Referee: Don Robertson

Second leg

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5 May 2018 Dumbarton 1–1
(3–2 agg.)		 Arbroath Dumbarton
15:00 Hill   9' BBC Report Swankie   27' Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium
Attendance: 872
Referee: Craig Charleston
5 May 2018 Raith Rovers 1–2
(1–4 agg.)		 Alloa Athletic Kirkcaldy
15:00 Murray   53' BBC Report Kirkpatrick   40'
Stewart   81'		 Stadium: Stark's Park
Attendance: 1,831
Referee: Stephen Finnie

Final

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First leg

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9 May 2018 Alloa Athletic 0–1 Dumbarton Alloa
19:45 BBC Report Carswell   6' Stadium: Recreation Park
Attendance: 811
Referee: John McKendrick

Second leg

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13 May 2018 Dumbarton 0–2 (a.e.t.)
(1–2 agg.)		 Alloa Athletic Dumbarton
16:10 BBC Report Stewart   90+3'
Kirkpatrick   95'		 Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium
Attendance: 1,115
Referee: John Beaton

References

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  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "2017–18 Scottish Championship Statistics". ESPN. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
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  4. ^ "St Mirren 0–0 Livingston". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
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  6. ^ "SPFL: Announcement on last round of fixtures delayed until after weekend". BBC Sport. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
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  9. ^ "Dundee United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Dunfermline Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Falkirk Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
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  14. ^ "Livingston Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
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  17. ^ Temple, Alan (19 May 2017). "Hospital pass! Brechin City skipper Paul McLean on juggling career in Molecular Pathology with chasing promotion". Deadline News. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
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  21. ^ a b "2017/18 away kit on sale friday 28/04". Dundee United FC. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  22. ^ "Manager on Thursday". Dunfermline Athletic FC. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
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  26. ^ a b Mitchell, Jonathan (7 April 2017). "Order the new tartan away kit today". Greenock Morton FC. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
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  29. ^ Carson, Callum (24 July 2017). "Livingston on brink of last-16 after comfortable victory over Airdrieonians". Daily Record. Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  30. ^ a b "New kit revealed". Livingston FC. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  31. ^ Johnstone, Darren (29 March 2017). "Queen of the South midfielder and Hearts coach John Rankin criticises attitude of kids". Deadline News. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  32. ^ "Introducing ... 2017/18 kit". Queen of the South FC. 27 April 2017. Archived from the original on 15 April 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  33. ^ "Our deadly strike duo modelled the new tops for us today complete with @JBHbutchers logo on the front". Queen of the South FC. Twitter. 25 June 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  34. ^ Macpherson, Graeme (19 March 2017). "Stephen McGinn on his cup final aspirations, plotting St Mirren's great escape, and why brother John is destined for the top". The Herald. Herald and Times Group. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
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  36. ^ "Inverness Caledonian Thistle part with manager Richie Foran". BBC Sport. BBC. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  37. ^ Healey, Derek (14 June 2017). "John Robertson returns as Caley Jags boss 13 years after securing top flight promotion". The Press and Journal. DC Thomson & Co Ltd. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  38. ^ a b "Falkirk: Peter Houston exits as manager after poor start to season". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  39. ^ a b McLaughlin, Brian (4 October 2017). "Falkirk: Paul Hartley to be appointed as new manager". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  40. ^ "Ray McKinnon: Dundee United manager leaves position with immediate effect". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  41. ^ "Scottish Cup-winning boss Peter Houston out of running for Dundee United job". Evening Telegraph. DC Thomson & Co Ltd. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  42. ^ a b Lorimer, Scott (8 November 2017). "Confirmed: Dundee United announce Csaba Laszlo is new manager". Evening Telegraph. DC Thomson & Co Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  43. ^ "Championship 2017/2018 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  44. ^ a b c "Scottish Championship 2017–18". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  45. ^ "Falkirk 1–4 Queen of the South". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  46. ^ "Dunfermline 2–5 Queen of the South". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  47. ^ "Queen of the South 3–1 Brechin City". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  48. ^ "Brechin City 1–5 Queen of the South". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  49. ^ "Brechin City 0–3 Dunfermline". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  50. ^ "Dunfermline 3–1 Queen of the South". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  51. ^ "Inverness CT 5–1 Dumbarton". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  52. ^ a b "2017–18 Scottish Championship statistics – Player Discipline". ESPN. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  53. ^ a b "2017–18 Scottish Championship statistics – Club Discipline". ESPN. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  54. ^ "2016–17 Scottish Championship performance". ESPN. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  55. ^ "SPFL monthly awards". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. May 28, 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
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