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2023–24 Scottish League Two

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The 2023–24 Scottish League Two (known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of Scottish football. The season began on 5 August 2023.[1]

Scottish League Two
Season2023–24
Dates5 August 2023 – 4 May 2024
ChampionsStenhousemuir
PromotedStenhousemuir, Dumbarton (via play-offs)
Matches played180
Goals scored467 (2.59 per match)
Top goalscorerBlair Henderson
18 goals
Biggest home winPeterhead 6–0 Elgin City (30 September 2023)
Biggest away winStenhousemuir 1–6 Clyde (24 February 2024)
Highest scoringDumbarton 4–4 Clyde (23 December 2023)
The Spartans 2–6 Dumbarton (16 March 2024)
Longest winning runStenhousemuir
12 games
Longest unbeaten runStenhousemuir
17 games
Longest winless runBonnyrigg Rose
Clyde
10 games
Longest losing runStranraer
5 games
Highest attendance1,512
Stenhousemuir 1–1 Bonnyrigg Rose (27 April 2024)
Lowest attendance273
Stranraer 1–2 Elgin City (16 March 2024)
Total attendance105,586
Average attendance586
All statistics correct as of 4 May 2024.

Ten teams contested the league: Bonnyrigg Rose, Clyde, Dumbarton, East Fife, Elgin City, Forfar Athletic, Peterhead, Stenhousemuir, Stranraer and The Spartans.

Teams

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The following teams changed division after the 2022–23 season.

Stadia and locations

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Bonnyrigg Rose Clyde Dumbarton East Fife
New Dundas Park New Douglas Park[3] Dumbarton Football Stadium Bayview Stadium
Capacity: 3,000[4] Capacity: 6,018[5] Capacity: 2,020[6] Capacity: 1,980[7]
     
 
Elgin City
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Location of teams in 2023–24 Scottish League Two
 Forfar Athletic
Borough Briggs Station Park
Capacity: 4,520[8] Capacity: 6,777[9]
 
 
Peterhead Stenhousemuir Stranraer The Spartans
Balmoor Ochilview Park Stair Park Ainslie Park
Capacity: 3,150[10] Capacity: 3,746[11] Capacity: 4,178[12] Capacity: 3,612[13]
       

Personnel and kits

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Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Bonnyrigg Rose   Calum Elliot   Jonathan Stewart Puma G. Fitzsimmons and Son (Home)
Shepherd Chartered Surveyors (Away)
Clyde   Ian McCall   Barry Cuddihy Puma HomesBook Factoring (Home)
Whitemoss Dental (Away)
Dumbarton   Stephen Farrell   Mark Durnan Macron Ice & Fire Wellness
East Fife   Dick Campbell   Stewart Murdoch Erreà BW Technology (Home)
The Taxi Centre Fife (Away)
Elgin City   Allan Hale   Matthew Cooper Joma McDonald & Munro
Forfar Athletic   Ray McKinnon   Stuart Morrison Pendle Orchard Timber Products
Peterhead   Jordon Brown
  Ryan Strachan 		  Jason Brown Puma The Score Group
Stenhousemuir   Gary Naysmith   Gregor Buchanan Uhlsport LOC Hire
Stranraer   Scott Agnew   Grant Gallagher Joma Stena Line
The Spartans   Douglas Samuel   Kevin Waugh Macron J-TEQ EMS Solutions Ltd

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Clyde   Jim Duffy Appointed director of football 24 May 2023 Pre-season   Brian McLean 2 June 2023
Elgin City Charlie Charlesworth, Ross Draper and Stevie Dunn End of interim spell 25 May 2023   Ross Draper 25 May 2023
  Ross Draper Resigned 5 September 2023 9th   Barry Smith 5 September 2023
Clyde   Brian McLean Sacked 22 October 2023   Ian McCall 15 November 2023
Elgin City   Barry Smith Mutual consent 13 November 2023   Allan Hale 5 December 2023
East Fife   Greig McDonald Resigned 5 February 2024 6th   Dick Campbell 6 February 2024
Bonnyrigg Rose   Robbie Horn Sacked 24 March 2024 8th   Calum Elliot 25 March 2024

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Stenhousemuir (C, P) 36 18 14 4 50 31 +19 68 Promotion to League One
2 Peterhead 36 16 12 8 58 39 +19 60 Qualification for the League One play-offs
3 The Spartans 36 15 13 8 53 43 +10 58
4 Dumbarton (O, P) 36 16 9 11 56 44 +12 57
5 East Fife 36 11 11 14 46 47 −1 44
6 Forfar Athletic 36 9 15 12 38 45 −7 42
7 Elgin City 36 10 10 16 35 59 −24 40
8 Bonnyrigg Rose 36 9 12 15 47 48 −1 39
9 Clyde 36 9 11 16 46 58 −12 38
10 Stranraer (O) 36 9 9 18 38 53 −15 36 Qualification for the League Two play-off final
Source: [14]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-to head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only for deciding promotion, play-off participation and relegation).[15]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

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 (Matches 1–18)

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Home \ Away BON CLY DUM EFI ELG FOR PET STE STR SPA
Bonnyrigg Rose — 3–2 1–1 4–2 5–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–2
Clyde 0–2 — 0–4 0–3 2–1 0–0 1–2 1–2 2–2 1–2
Dumbarton 4–0 4–4 — 1–0 1–0 3–1 0–1 0–1 3–1 1–1
East Fife 0–3 2–0 0–1 — 4–0 1–1 0–3 0–2 4–0 0–3
Elgin City 2–0 2–1 2–0 1–1 — 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–4
Forfar Athletic 1–2 1–1 2–4 0–0 0–0 — 1–3 1–3 1–1 2–2
Peterhead 2–1 2–1 3–1 2–0 6–0 1–2 — 0–0 3–2 0–1
Stenhousemuir 1–0 2–2 2–4 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–0 — 5–0 3–2
Stranraer 3–1 1–0 5–0 1–1 3–1 0–2 2–1 0–3 — 3–4
The Spartans 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 1–2 0–1 3–0 —
Source: [16]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Second half of season (Matches 19–36)

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Home \ Away BON CLY DUM EFI ELG FOR PET STE STR SPA
Bonnyrigg Rose — 1–2 1–1 0–2 2–0 4–0 2–2 0–1 0–0 0–1
Clyde 3–2 — 2–0 1–0 2–1 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–0
Dumbarton 2–0 1–0 — 1–2 2–2 2–2 1–0 0–0 2–1 0–0
East Fife 1–4 1–1 3–2 — 2–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 2–1 1–2
Elgin City 1–0 0–3 0–1 1–0 — 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–2
Forfar Athletic 0–0 2–1 0–2 2–1 2–1 — 3–3 1–1 2–0 1–0
Peterhead 0–0 4–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 — 2–1 2–0 0–1
Stenhousemuir 1–1 1–6 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–0 — 1–0 0–0
Stranraer 1–1 2–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 0–0 2–0 2–0 — 1–2
The Spartans 2–1 1–1 2–6 1–3 1–2 1–0 2–2 0–2 0–0 —
Source: [16]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

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Scoring

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Top scorers

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Rank Player Club Goals
1   Blair Henderson The Spartans 18
2   Matthew Aitken Stenhousemuir 14
3   Neil Martyniuk Bonnyrigg Rose 13
  Nathan Austin East Fife
5   Martin Rennie Clyde 12

Awards

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Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August   Douglas Samuel The Spartans   Jamie Dishington The Spartans
September   Gary Naysmith Stenhousemuir   Gregor Buchanan Stenhousemuir
October   Douglas Samuel The Spartans   Bradley Whyte The Spartans
November   Gary Naysmith Stenhousemuir   Matthew Aitken Stenhousemuir
December
January   Blair Henderson The Spartans
February   Ray McKinnon Forfar Athletic   Martin Rennie Clyde
March   Dick Campbell East Fife   Alan Trouten East Fife
April   Stephen Farrell Dumbarton   Bradley Barrett Bonnyrigg Rose

League Two play-offs

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The Pyramid play-off was due to be contested between the champions of the 2023–24 Highland Football League and the 2023–24 Lowland Football League. East Kilbride secured their place in the play-offs as the Lowland Football League representative on 12 April 2024. Buckie Thistle won the Highland League on 20 April 2024. However, on 25 April 2024 the SFA confirmed that Buckie Thistle had not received the necessary Bronze licence to be able to compete in the SPFL,[17] therefore the Pyramid play-off was cancelled and East Kilbride were automatically advanced to the League Two play-off final against Stranraer. Stranraer's victory in the final meant that they remained in League Two for the 2024–25 season.

Pyramid play-off

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First leg

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27 April 2024 East Kilbride Walkover Buckie Thistle East Kilbride
15:00 Stadium: K-Park Training Academy

Second leg

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4 May 2024 Buckie ThistleWalkover East Kilbride Buckie
15:00 Stadium: Victoria Park

Final

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First leg

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11 May 2024 East Kilbride 2–2 Stranraer East Kilbride
15:00
[18]
  • McIntosh   45+2'
  • Ross   60'
 Stadium: K-Park Training Academy
Attendance: 652
Referee: Dan McFarlane

Second leg

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18 May 2024 Stranraer 3–1 (a.e.t.)
(5–3 agg.)		East KilbrideStranraer
15:00
  • Gallagher   44'
  • Ross   117'
  • Gilmartin   120+1'
 [19] Samson   76' Stadium: Stair Park
Attendance: 1,871
Referee: Craig Napier

References

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  1. ^ "Key dates for Season 2023/24". SPFL. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  2. ^ Lindsay, Clive (22 April 2023). "Scottish League 2: Stirling Albion aim to avoid Yo-Yo return after title win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Club Statement". Clyde FC. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Bonnyrigg Rose Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Clyde Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Dumbarton Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. ^ "East Fife Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Elgin City Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. ^ "Forfar Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Peterhead Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Stenhousemuir Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Stranraer Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. ^ "The Spartans Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  14. ^ "cinch League Two Table". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  15. ^ "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). SPFL. pp. 38–39. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  16. ^ a b "cinch League Two Results". SPFL. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Scottish FA Statement: Pyramid Play-Off Tie". SFA. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  18. ^ McGilvray, Andy (11 May 2024). "East Kilbride 2, Stranraer 2: Robbo magic levels the tie for Kilby". Daily Record. Reach plc. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  19. ^ McGilvray, Andy (18 May 2024). "Stranraer 3, East Kilbride 1 (agg 5-3): Blues break Kilby hearts". Daily Record. Reach plc. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
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