The Scottish Championship, known as the William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Championship was established in July 2013, after the Scottish Professional Football League was formed by a merger of the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League.
Format Teams play each opponent four times in the season, twice at home and twice away from home. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned league champion. If points are equal, the goal difference determines the winner. If this still does not result in a winner, the tied teams must take part in a playoff game at a neutral venue to determine the final placings.
Promotion and relegation The champions are directly promoted to the Scottish Premiership, swapping places with the bottom club of the Premiership. The clubs finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th then enter the two-legged Premiership play-offs. The 3rd-placed club plays the 4th-placed club, with the winner then playing the 2nd-placed club. The winner of that game then plays against the 11th-placed Premiership club. If the Championship play-off winner prevails, the club is promoted and the Premiership club is relegated; otherwise, the Premiership club remains in its league while the Championship club is not promoted.
For promotion and relegation, the Championship play-off system closely mirrors its Premiership counterpart—the bottom-ranked club in the Championship is automatically relegated while the 9th-placed club undergoes a play-off with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed clubs from League One.
Teams Listed below are all the teams competing in the 2026–27 Scottish Championship season, with details of the first season they entered the second tier; the first season of their current spell in the second tier; and the last time they won the second tier.
Team Position in 2025–26 First season insecond tier First season of currentspell in second tier Last second tier title Arbroath 3rd, Scottish Championship 1921–22 2025–26 — Ayr United 7th, Scottish Championship 1910–11 2018–19 1965–66 Dunfermline Athletic 4th, Scottish Championship 1912–13 2023–24 2010–11 Greenock Morton 8th, Scottish Championship 1893–94 2015–16 1986–87 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1st, Scottish League One (promoted) 1999–2000 2026–27 2009–10 Livingston 12th, Scottish Premiership (relegated) 1974–75 2026–27 2000–01 Partick Thistle 2nd, Scottish Championship 1893–94 2021–22 2012–13 Queen's Park 6th, Scottish Championship 1922–23 2022–23 1955–56 Raith Rovers 5th, Scottish Championship 1902–03 2020–21 1994–95 Stenhousemuir 2nd, Scottish League One (promoted) 1921–22 2026–27 —
Stadiums
Arbroath Ayr United Dunfermline Athletic Greenock Morton Inverness Caledonian Thistle Gayfield Park Somerset Park East End Park Cappielow Park Caledonian Stadium Capacity:6,056 Capacity:10,185 Capacity:11,480 Capacity:11,589 Capacity: 7,512
Livingston Partick Thistle Queen's Park Raith Rovers Stenhousemuir Almondvale Stadium Firhill Stadium Lesser Hampden Stark's Park Ochilview Park Capacity: 9,713 Capacity:10,887 Capacity:900 Capacity:8,867 Capacity: 3,746
Statistics Championships
SeasonWinnerRunner-upTop scorerPlayers' Player of the Year (Championship)SPFL Championship Player of the YearPlayer Goals 2013–14 Dundee Hamilton Academical Rory Loy (Falkirk) 20Kane Hemmings (Cowdenbeath)Not awarded 2014–15 Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Jason Cummings (Hibernian) 18Scott Allan (Hibernian)Not awarded 2015–16 Rangers Falkirk Martyn Waghorn (Rangers) 20Lee Wallace (Rangers)John McGinn (Hibernian) 2016–17 Hibernian Falkirk Jason Cummings (Hibernian)Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) 19John McGinn (Hibernian)John McGinn (Hibernian) 2017–18 St Mirren LivingstonStephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) 18Lewis Morgan (St Mirren)Lewis Morgan (St Mirren) 2018–19 Ross County Dundee UnitedLawrence Shankland (Ayr United) 24Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South)Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) 2019–20 Dundee United Inverness Caledonian ThistleLawrence Shankland (Dundee United) 24Not awardedNot awarded 2020–21 Heart of Midlothian DundeeLiam Boyce (Heart of Midlothian) 14Liam Boyce (Heart of Midlothian)Charlie Adam (Dundee) 2021–22 Kilmarnock ArbroathMichael McKenna (Arbroath) 15Michael McKenna (Arbroath)Michael McKenna (Arbroath) 2022–23 Dundee Ayr UnitedDipo Akinyemi (Ayr United) 20Dipo Akinyemi (Ayr United)Dipo Akinyemi (Ayr United) 2023–24 Dundee United Raith RoversBrian Graham (Partick Thistle) 20 Brian Graham (Partick Thistle) Louis Moult (Dundee United) 2024–25 Falkirk LivingstonBrian Graham (Partick Thistle) 15 Brad Spencer (Falkirk) Calvin Miller (Falkirk) 2025–26 St Johnstone Partick ThistleJosh McPake (St Johnstone) 16 Josh McPake (St Johnstone) Josh McPake (St Johnstone)
Records and awards
Biggest home win Heart of Midlothian 10–0 Cowdenbeath, 28 February 2015 Biggest away win Dumbarton 0–6 Rangers, 2 January 2016; Most points in a season 91; Heart of Midlothian, 2014–15 Fewest points in a season 4; Brechin City, 2017–18 Fewest goals scored in a season 20; Brechin City, 2017–18 Most goals scored in a season 96; Heart of Midlothian, 2014–15 Most goals conceded in a season 90; Brechin City, 2017–18 Fewest goals conceded in a season 23; Dundee United, 2023–24Dundee United conceded 22 goals in the curtailed 2019–20 season (28 games). Highest attendance 50,349; Rangers 1–1 Alloa Athletic, 23 April 2016 Lowest attendance 318; Cowdenbeath 3–0 Greenock Morton, 25 March 2014
Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club(s)Clubs only include those where players scored goals in the Scottish Championship.Goals1 Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South (2016–2021) 69 2 Jason Cummings Hibernian (2014–2017)Dundee (2020–2021) 633 Lawrence Shankland St Mirren (2015–2017)Greenock Morton (2017)Ayr United (2018–2019)Dundee United (2019–2020) 624 Nicky Clark Rangers (2014–2016)Dunfermline Athletic (2016–2018)Dundee United (2018–2020) Ross County (2025)545 Derek Lyle Queen of the South (2013–2018) 51
Italics denotes players still playing professional football,Bold denotes players still playing in the Scottish Championship.
Notes
References
External links