2015–16 Scottish League Two

The 2015–16 Scottish League Two (referred to as the Ladbrokes League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The last placed team entered a play-off with a team nominated by the Scottish Football Association from outside the SPFL to determine which team enters League Two in the 2016–17 season.[3]

Scottish League Two

Season	2015–16
Champions	East Fife
Promoted	East Fife Queen's Park
Relegated	East Stirlingshire
Matches played	180
Goals scored	517 (2.87 per match)
Top goalscorer	Nathan Austin (22 goals)[1]
Biggest home win	Stirling Albion 7–0 Montrose (9 February 2016)[2]
Biggest away win	Stirling Albion 0–6 East Fife (19 March 2016)[2]
Highest scoring	East Fife 5–3 East Stirlingshire (14 November 2015)[2]
Longest winning run	4 matches:[2] Clyde East Fife Elgin City
Longest unbeaten run	7 matches:[2] East Fife
Longest winless run	8 matches:[2] Montrose
Longest losing run	6 matches:[2] Berwick Rangers
Highest attendance	1,387[2] Montrose 0–2 Arbroath (2 January 2016)
Lowest attendance	238[2] East Stirlingshire 3–1 Montrose (21 November 2015) Berwick Rangers 3–2 Annan Athletic (16 February 2016)
Total attendance	99,947[2]
Average attendance	555[2]
← 2014–15 2016–17 → All statistics correct as of 1 May 2016.

Teams

To League Two Relegated from Scottish League One Stirling Albion

From League Two Promoted to Scottish League One Albion Rovers

Stadia and locations

Annan Athletic	Arbroath	Berwick Rangers	Clyde
Galabank	Gayfield Park	Shielfield Park	Broadwood Stadium
Capacity: 2,514[4]	Capacity: 6,600[5]	Capacity: 4,500[6]	Capacity: 7,936[7]
East Fife	Annan Athletic Arbroath Clyde Berwick Rangers East Fife East Stirlingshire Elgin City Montrose Queen's Park Stirling 2015–16 Scottish League Two (Scotland)		East Stirlingshire
Bayview Stadium			Ochilview Park
Capacity: 1,980[8]			Capacity: 3,746[9]
Elgin City	Montrose	Queen's Park	Stirling Albion
Borough Briggs	Links Park	Hampden Park	Forthbank Stadium
Capacity: 4,520[10]	Capacity: 3,292[11]	Capacity: 51,866[12]	Capacity: 3,808[13]

Personnel

Team	Manager	Captain	Manufacturer	Sponsors
Annan Athletic	Jim Chapman	Steven Black	Stanno	M&S Engineering Ltd
Arbroath	Dick Campbell	Mark Whatley	Pendle	Megatech
Berwick Rangers	John Coughlin	Jonny Fairbairn	Zoo Sport	Automatic Retailing Vending Ltd
Clyde	Barry Ferguson	Mark McLaughlin	Hummel	Cash for Kids
East Fife	Gary Naysmith	Steven Campbell	Joma	OLS Laundry Service
East Stirlingshire	Craig Tully	Richard Barnard	Jako	Shire Trust
Elgin City	Jim Weir	Jamie Duff	EC 1893	McDonald & Munro
Montrose	Paul Hegarty	Paul Watson	Nike	Intervention Rentals
Queen's Park	Gus MacPherson	Tony Quinn	Under Armour	Irn-Bru
Stirling Albion	Stuart McLaren	Ross McMillan	Macron	Prudential

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Berwick Rangers	Colin Cameron	Sacked	31 October 2015[14]	7th	John Coughlin	6 November 2015[15]
Arbroath	Todd Lumsden	Sacked	6 March 2016[16]	8th	Dick Campbell	8 March 2016[17]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	East Fife (C, P)	36	18	8	10	62	41	+21	62	Promotion to Scottish League One
2	Elgin City	36	17	8	11	59	46	+13	59	Qualification to League One play-offs
3	Clyde	36	17	6	13	56	45	+11	57
4	Queen's Park (O, P)	36	15	11	10	46	32	+14	56
5	Annan Athletic	36	16	8	12	69	57	+12	56
6	Berwick Rangers	36	14	7	15	45	50	−5	49
7	Stirling Albion	36	13	9	14	47	46	+1	48
8	Montrose	36	11	10	15	50	70	−20	43
9	Arbroath	36	11	6	19	42	51	−9	39
10	East Stirlingshire (R)	36	9	5	22	41	79	−38	32	Qualification to League Two play-off finals

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.

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 36 games.

First half of season Home \ Away ANN ARB BER CLY EFI EST ELG MON QPA STI Annan Athletic 2–2 1–0 2–3 2–0 3–1 1–1 3–2 3–1 1–1 Arbroath 0–2 3–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–3 3–1 1–2 2–0 Berwick Rangers 0–2 2–2 0–5 1–1 2–1 2–3 2–1 1–0 1–2 Clyde 4–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 3–1 4–2 3–1 0–2 0–1 East Fife 0–1 0–1 5–0 1–0 5–3 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 East Stirlingshire 3–1 0–4 0–4 0–3 1–0 2–0 3–1 2–1 2–3 Elgin City 3–2 2–0 4–1 1–1 4–2 4–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 Montrose 1–1 3–0 4–1 2–0 1–4 2–1 2–0 1–6 1–3 Queen's Park 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 5–1 3–1 0–1 1–0 Stirling Albion 1–0 3–1 1–3 0–1 1–3 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–2 Updated to match(es) played on 8 March 2016. Source: Scottish League 2 Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season Home \ Away ANN ARB BER CLY EFI EST ELG MON QPA STI Annan Athletic 4–1 1–0 3–3 2–4 1–3 4–2 3–3 1–0 2–2 Arbroath 2–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 3–0 2–3 0–0 0–1 1–1 Berwick Rangers 3–2 3–0 3–0 2–0 2–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 Clyde 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 3–3 0–1 3–1 East Fife 4–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 3–0 1–1 1–0 East Stirlingshire 0–1 0–3 0–0 2–4 1–3 0–3 2–4 0–3 3–2 Elgin City 2–2 4–1 1–0 1–0 1–3 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 Montrose 0–5 0–2 1–0 2–1 2–2 3–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 Queen's Park 1–3 2–1 0–0 2–1 3–0 0–3 0–0 1–1 1–1 Stirling Albion 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–6 3–0 0–0 7–0 0–0 Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2016. Source: Scottish League 2 Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of matches played on 30 April 2016[1]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Nathan Austin	East Fife	22
2	Craig Gunn	Elgin City	21
3	Gary Fraser	Montrose	19
4	Blair Henderson	Berwick Rangers	17
5	Peter Weatherson	Annan Athletic	15
6	Josh Todd	Annan Athletic	13

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Nathan Austin	East Fife	Montrose	4–1	26 September 2015	[18]
David Gormley^4	Clyde	Berwick Rangers	5–0	21 November 2015	[19]
Darren Smith	Stirling Albion	Montrose	3–1	12 December 2015	[20]
Nathan Austin	East Fife	Stirling Albion	3–1	26 December 2015	[21]
Darren Smith	Stirling Albion	Montrose	7–0	9 February 2016	[22]

Note

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Discipline

Player

Yellow cards As of matches played on 30 April 2016[23] Rank Player Club Cards 1 Michael McKenna Berwick Rangers 13 2 Reece Donaldson East Stirlingshire 11 3 Steven Notman Berwick Rangers 10 Gary Fraser Montrose Ross Forsyth Stirling Albion 6 Mark McLaughlin Clyde 9 Mark Nicolson Elgin City Ross Smith Stirling Albion 9 Graham Webster Montrose 8 10 6 players 7

Red cards As of matches played on 30 April 2016[23] Rank Player Club Cards 1 Peter Weatherson Annan Athletic 2 Ricky Little Arbroath Jordan McGregor Berwick Rangers Kevin Walker Berwick Rangers Reece Donaldson East Stirlingshire Ross Smith Stirling Albion 7 33 players 1

Club

Yellow cards As of matches played on 30 April 2016[24] Rank Club Cards 1 Berwick Rangers 74 2 East Stirlingshire 73 3 Stirling Albion 64

Red cards As of matches played on 30 April 2016[24] Rank Club Cards 1 Berwick Rangers 8 Stirling Albion 3 Clyde 7

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Ref.
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Gary Naysmith	East Fife	Smart Osadolor	Annan Athletic	[25]
September	Gus MacPherson	Queen's Park	Bobby Linn	Arbroath
October	Paul Hegarty	Montrose	Matty Flynn	Annan Athletic
November	Barry Ferguson	Clyde	David Gormley	Clyde
December	Stuart McLaren	Stirling Albion	Darren Smith	Stirling Albion
January	Jim Weir	Elgin City	Nathan Austin	East Fife
February	Barry Ferguson	Clyde	Steven Doris	Stirling Albion
March	Gary Naysmith	East Fife	Kyle Wilkie	East Fife
April	John Coughlin	Berwick Rangers	Brian Cameron	Elgin City

League Two Play-offs

The first round was contested between Cove Rangers and Edinburgh City, the winners of the Highland League and Lowland League respectively. City, the winners, then played off against the bottom club in League Two, East Stirlingshire, swapping with them and being promoted to the 2016–17 Scottish League Two with a victory.

Semi-finals

First leg

Cove Rangers v Edinburgh City

23 April 2016	Cove Rangers	0–3	Edinburgh City	Harlaw Park, Inverurie
15:00		BBC Report	Allum  22', 45' Donaldson  41'

Second leg

Edinburgh City v Cove Rangers

30 April 2016	Edinburgh City	1–1 (4–1 agg.)	Cove Rangers	Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh
15:00	Gair  32'	BBC report	Watt  86'	Attendance: 839

Final

First leg

Edinburgh City v East Stirlingshire

7 May 2016	Edinburgh City	1–1	East Stirlingshire	Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh
15:00	Gair  15' (pen.) Mbu  77'	BBC Report	Wright  42' Donaldson  90+1'	Attendance: 1,090 Referee: Gavin Duncan

Second leg

East Stirlingshire v Edinburgh City

14 May 2016	East Stirlingshire	0–1 (1–2 agg.)	Edinburgh City	Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir
15:00	Donaldson  86'	BBC Report	Gair  87' (pen.)	Attendance: 1,286 Referee: Don Robertson

References

1. "2015–16 Scottish League Two scorers". ESPN. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
2. "2015–16 Scottish League Two performance". ESPN. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
3. "The Rules of the SPFL" (PDF). Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
4. "Annan Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
5. "Arbroath Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
6. "Berwick Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
7. "Clyde Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
8. "East Fife Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
9. "East Stirlingshire Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
10. "Elgin City Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
11. "Montrose Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
12. "Queens Park Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
13. "Stirling Albion Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
14. "Montrose 4–1 Brewick". berwickrangers.com. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
15. "Coughlin named new Berwick boss". SPFL. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
16. "Struggling Arbroath part company with manager Todd Lumsden". BBC Sport. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
17. Nicholson, Eric (8 March 2016). "Arbroath appoint Dick Campbell as manager". The Courier. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
18. "Montrose 1–4 East Fife". BBC Sport. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
19. "Berwick Rangers 0–5 Clyde". BBC Sport. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
20. "Montrose 1–3 Stirling". BBC Sport. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
21. "Stirling 1–3 East Fife". BBC Sport. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
22. "Stirling Albion 7–0 Montrose". BBC Sport. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
23. "2015–16 Scottish League Two statistics – Player Discipline". ESPN. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
24. "2015–16 Scottish League Two statistics – Club Discipline". ESPN. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
25. "SPFL monthly awards". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. May 28, 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2015-10-23.