2008–09 Scottish Second Division

The 2008–09 Scottish Second Division was the fourteenth season of the Second Division in its current format of ten teams.

Irn-Bru Scottish Second Division

Season	2008–09
Champions	Raith Rovers
Promoted	Raith Rovers, Ayr United
Relegated	Stranraer, Queen's Park
Top goalscorer	Kevin Smith (18)
Biggest home win	Ayr United 5–0 Stranraer
Biggest away win	Stranraer 2–8 Stirling Albion
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Promotion and relegation from 2007–08

Arbroath

Ayr United

Brechin City

Dumbarton

East Fife

Peterhead

Stranraer

Stirling Albion

Alloa Athletic

Raith Rovers

Location of teams in Scottish Second Division 2008–09

First & Second Divisions

Relegated from First Division to Second Division

• Stirling Albion[1]

Promoted from Second Division to First Division

• Ross County[2]
• Airdrie United (losing play-off finalists,[3] promoted due to Gretna's demotion to Third Division)[4]

Second & Third Divisions

Relegated from Second Division to Third Division

• Berwick Rangers[5]
• Cowdenbeath (via play-offs)[6]

Promoted from Third Division to Second Division

• East Fife[7]
• Arbroath (via play-offs)[6]
• Stranraer (losing play-off finalists,[8] promoted due to Gretna's demotion to Third Division)[4]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Raith Rovers (C, P)	36	22	10	4	60	27	+33	76	Promotion to the First Division
2	Ayr United (P)	36	22	8	6	71	38	+33	74	Qualification for the First Division Play-offs[lower-alpha 1]
3	Brechin City	36	18	8	10	51	45	+6	62
4	Peterhead	36	15	11	10	54	39	+15	56
5	Stirling Albion	36	14	11	11	59	49	+10	53
6	East Fife	36	13	5	18	39	44	−5	44
7	Arbroath	36	11	8	17	44	46	−2	41
8	Alloa Athletic	36	11	8	17	47	59	−12	41
9	Queen's Park (R)	36	7	12	17	35	54	−19	33	Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs[lower-alpha 2]
10	Stranraer (R)	36	3	7	26	31	90	−59	16	Relegation to the Second Third Division

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams will be entered into a play-off with the First Division's 9th placed team. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2009–10 First Division
2. The 9th placed team will be entered into a play-off with the Third Division's 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams. 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	ALO	ARB	AYR	BRE	EFI	PET	QPA	RAI	STI	STR
Alloa Athletic		2–1	0–2	2–1	0–3	1–0	1–3	1–1	4–3	5–1
Arbroath	4–1		0–3	1–2	0–1	4–0	1–1	0–2	1–2	1–0
Ayr United	3–0	2–1		1–1	4–2	2–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	3–2
Brechin City	3–1	3–1	0–1		2–1	2–2	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–0
East Fife	1–0	3–2	3–0	0–0		0–2	1–2	0–2	0–1	1–2
Peterhead	1–0	1–1	3–0	5–1	0–1		4–1	1–2	1–1	4–0
Queen's Park	1–0	1–2	0–3	1–1	0–0	0–1		1–2	1–1	2–2
Raith Rovers	4–1	2–1	3–2	2–2	1–1	3–0	2–0		1–1	2–1
Stirling Albion	3–2	0–2	2–2	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–3	2–1		3–2
Stranraer	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–2	0–4	0–3	0–0	0–2	1–0

Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season

Home \ Away	ALO	ARB	AYR	BRE	EFI	PET	QPA	RAI	STI	STR
Alloa Athletic		2–0	3–2	3–2	0–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	2–3	2–2
Arbroath	1–0		1–3	0–0	0–2	2–2	3–0	0–2	1–2	2–0
Ayr United	1–1	2–1		4–2	2–0	0–0	1–1	2–2	3–1	5–0
Brechin City	1–0	0–1	1–0		2–1	1–1	2–0	0–4	1–2	2–1
East Fife	0–2	0–0	0–1	2–1		0–3	4–2	0–1	0–3	4–0
Peterhead	2–2	1–0	2–3	0–1	2–0		1–1	2–1	1–1	1–0
Queen's Park	1–2	0–1	0–3	0–0	3–1	2–1		0–1	3–1	1–1
Raith Rovers	3–1	0–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	3–3	1–0		1–1	2–1
Stirling Albion	0–0	1–1	2–0	2–3	2–0	2–1	4–0	0–1		1–2
Stranraer	1–3	1–5	1–4	0–3	0–1	0–1	2–2	0–3	2–8

Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Team	Goals
1	Kevin Smith	Raith Rovers	18
2	Bryan Prunty	Ayr United	15
3	David McKenna	Stirling Albion	13
4	Paul McManus	East Fife	12
5	Martin Grehan	Stirling Albion	11
6	Ryan Stevenson	Ayr United	10
7	Graham Weir	Raith Rovers	9
	David Gormley	Ayr United
	Graeme Sharp	Peterhead
	Martin Bavidge	Peterhead

Source: The League Insider

Attendances

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Highest	Lowest	Average
Raith Rovers	Stark's Park	10,104	4,812	1,294	2,106
Ayr United	Somerset Park	11,998	2,363	1,057	1,477
East Fife	Bayview Stadium	2,000	1,980	533	864
Queen's Park	Hampden Park	52,500	1,763	466	730
Stirling Albion	Forthbank Stadium	3,808	1,125	404	642
Arbroath	Gayfield Park	4,125	921	411	638
Alloa Athletic	Recreation Park	3,100	1,057	331	637
Peterhead	Balmoor	4,000	837	400	615
Brechin City	Glebe Park	3,960	780	315	552
Stranraer	Stair Park	5,600	891	124	303

Source:The League Insider

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[9]
Brechin City	Michael O'Neill	Resigned	15 December 2008[10]	Jim Duffy	9 January[11]	3
Stranraer	Derek Ferguson	Resigned	24 January[12]	Keith Knox	17 February[13]	10
East Fife	Dave Baikie	Resigned	14 April[14]	Stevie Crawford	14 April[14]	6

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[15]	Roberto Landi	Livingston	Stephen Robertson	Airdrie United	Leigh Griffiths	Livingston
September[16]	Jim McIntyre	Dunfermline Athletic	Paul McManus	East Fife	Calum Elliot	Livingston
October[17]	Derek McInnes	St Johnstone	Steven Milne	St Johnstone	Dominic Shimmin	Greenock Morton
November[18]	Jocky Scott	Dundee	Bryan Prunty	Ayr United	Kyle Benedictus	Dundee
December[19]	John Brown	Clyde	Alan Main	St Johnstone	Chris McMenamin	Berwick Rangers
January[20]	Ian McCall	Partick Thistle	Willie McLaren	Clyde	Bobby Barr	Albion Rovers
February[21]	Jocky Scott	Dundee	Gary Harkins	Partick Thistle	Fraser McLaren	Berwick Rangers
March[22]	Paul Hegarty	Livingston	Kevin Rutkiewicz	St Johnstone	Leigh Griffiths	Livingston
April[23]	Gordon Chisholm	Queen of the South	Stephen Dobbie	Queen of the South	Kevin Moon	St Johnstone

Second Division play-offs

Semi-finals

The ninth placed team in the Second Division played the fourth placed team in the Third Division and third placed team in the Second Division played the second placed team in the Second Division. The play-offs were played over two legs, the winning team in each semi-final advanced to the final.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
East Stirlingshire	2 – 3	Cowdenbeath	1–2	1–1
Stenhousemuir	2 – 1	Queen's Park	2–1	0–0

First legs

---

13 May 2009

19:45

East Stirlingshire	1 – 2	Cowdenbeath
Rodgers  62'	Report	Gemmell  12' Stein  30'

Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir

Attendance: 605

Referee: W Collum

---

14 May 2009

19:45

Stenhousemuir	2 – 1	Queen's Park
Dalziel  6' (pen.) Love  32'	Report	Harkins  33'

Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir

Attendance: 617

Referee: S Nicholls

Second legs

---

16 May 2008

Cowdenbeath	1 – 1	East Stirlingshire
Dempster  84'	Report	Graham  3'

Central Park, Cowdenbeath

Attendance: 633

Referee: M Tumilty

---

17 May 2009

Queen's Park	0 – 0	Stenhousemuir
	Report

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 854

Referee: S Conroy

Final

The two semi-final winners played each other over two legs, the home team in the 1st Leg was determined by a draw conducted on 16 April 2008.[24] The winning team were awarded a place in the 2008–09 Second Division.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Cowdenbeath	0 – 0 (4 – 5 pen.)	Stenhousemuir	0–0	0–0

First leg

---

20 May 2009

19:45

Cowdenbeath	0 – 0	Stenhousemuir
	Report

Central Park, Cowdenbeath

Attendance: 775

Referee: A Muir

Second leg

---

23 May 2009

15:00

Stenhousemuir	0 – 0 (a.e.t.) (5 – 4 pen.)	Cowdenbeath
	Report

Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir

Attendance: 1,530

Referee: S O'Reilly

References

1. "Partick Thistle 1-0 Stirling Alb". BBC Sport. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
2. "Ross County 4-0 Berwick Rangers". BBC Sport. 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
3. "Clyde 2-0 Airdrie United (3-0)". BBC Sport. 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
4. "Gretna demoted to Division Three". BBC Sport. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
5. "Berwick Rangers 2-2 Peterhead". BBC Sport. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
6. "Cowdenbeath 1-2 Arbroath (2-3)". BBC Sport. 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
7. "East Stirlingshire 0-3 East Fife". BBC Sport. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
8. "Stranraer 1-0 Arbroath (1-2)". BBC Sport. 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
9. Shows position in table at time when manager departed.
10. "O'Neill exits Brechin for Hoops". BBC Sport. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
11. "Duffy confirmed as Brechin boss". BBC Sport. 9 January 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
12. "Ferguson quits as Stranraer boss". BBC Sport. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
13. "Knox appointed Stranraer manager boss". BBC Sport. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
14. "Baikie resigns as East Fife boss". BBC Sport. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
15. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards August, 2008". Scottish Football League. 9 September 2008. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
16. "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.
17. "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.
18. "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.
19. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards December, 2008". Scottish Football League. 12 January 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
20. "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.
21. "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.
22. "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards March, 2009". Scottish Football League. 14 April 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
23. "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.
24. "IRN BRU SCOTTISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAY OFF FINALS 2008/09". Scottish Football League. 18 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-08-13. Retrieved 13 June 2009.