The 2018–19 Scottish Championship (known as the Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018, with the league starting on 4 August 2018.
Ten teams contested the league: Alloa Athletic, Ayr United, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Falkirk, Greenock Morton, Inverness CT, Partick Thistle, Queen of the South and Ross County.
Ross County won the league following a 4–0 win over Queen of the South on 26 April 2019 to return to the Premiership after only one season's absence.
Teams The following teams have changed division since the 2017–18 season:
To Championship
Ayr United secured promotion to the Championship on 28 April 2018 after a 2–0 victory over Albion Rovers. Ross County were relegated to the Championship on 12 May 2018 after a 1–1 draw with St Johnstone. Alloa Athletic won promotion following a 2–1 aggregate victory in the play-off final. Partick Thistle were also relegated to the Championship following a 3–1 aggregate defeat to Livingston in the play-off final.
From Championship
Brechin City were relegated to League One on 24 March 2018 after a 2–0 defeat to Greenock Morton. St Mirren secured promotion to the Premiership on 14 April 2018 after a goalless draw with Livingston, who were also promoted after winning the Premiership play-off final. Dumbarton were relegated after losing the Championship play-off final.
Stadia and locations Alloa Athletic Ayr United Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Recreation Park Somerset Park Tannadice Park East End Park Capacity: 3,100 Capacity: 10,185 Capacity: 14,223 Capacity: 11,480 Falkirk Greenock Morton Falkirk Stadium Cappielow Park Capacity: 7,937 Capacity: 11,589 Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle Queen of the South Ross County Caledonian Stadium Firhill Stadium Palmerston Park Victoria Park Capacity: 7,750 Capacity: 10,102 Capacity: 8,690 Capacity: 6,541
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Alloa Athletic Pendle The Energy Check Ayr United Adidas Bitcoin BCH Dundee United Nike Utilita Dunfermline Athletic Joma SRJ Windows Falkirk Puma Central Demolition Greenock Morton Vision Outsourcing Millions Inverness CT Erreà McEwan Fraser Legal Partick Thistle Joma Just Employment Law Queen of the South Macron Border Finance Ltd Ross County Steven Ferguson and Macron McEwan Fraser Legal
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Greenock Morton Jim Duffy Mutual consent 29 April 2018 Pre-season Ray McKinnon 30 May 2018 Falkirk Paul Hartley Mutual consent 27 August 2018 10th Ray McKinnon 31 August 2018 Greenock Morton Ray McKinnon Signed by Falkirk 31 August 2018 2nd Jonatan Johansson 6 September 2018 Dundee United Csaba László Mutual consent 30 September 2018 4th Robbie Neilson 8 October 2018 Partick Thistle Alan Archibald Sacked 6 October 2018 8th Gary Caldwell 15 October 2018 Dunfermline Athletic Allan Johnston Resigned 9 January 2019 7th Stevie Crawford 10 January 2019 Greenock Morton Jonatan Johansson Resigned 4 May 2019 5th David Hopkin 15 May 2019 Queen of the South Gary Naysmith Sacked 4 May 2019 9th Allan Johnston 5 May 2019
League summary
League table
Positions by round 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 2019–20 Scottish Premiership Qualification for Premiership play-off semi-final Qualification for Premiership play-off quarter-final Qualification for Championship play-offs Relegation to 2019-20 Scottish League One
Team \ Round1 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 Ross County 4 1 4 1 2 4 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Dundee United 7 5 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 4 5 2 1 2 3 3 3 5 4 5 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 3Ayr United 1 3 1 6 3 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 4Greenock Morton 5 2 2 5 6 5 6 7 6 6 6 4 5 5 6 6 6 6 5 4 6 6 6 6 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 5 5Partick Thistle 10 7 7 7 7 6 7 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 10 8 8 9 9 10 10 9 10 8 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 10 6 7 6Dunfermline Athletic 2 6 8 8 8 8 8 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 7Alloa Athletic 8 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 9 10 8 8 9 10 10 10 10 8 6 9 9 8Queen of the South 6 8 6 3 4 7 5 6 5 4 5 6 6 6 5 4 4 5 6 5 4 5 5 5 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 9Falkirk 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 10 10 10 10 9 9 10 8 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 10 9 10 10 10
Source: BBC Sport Updated: 4 May 2019
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 180 games, with each team playing 36.
First half of season (Matches 1-18)
Second half of season (Matches 19-36)
Season statistics Scoring Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Lawrence ShanklandAyr United242 Stephen DobbieQueen of the South213 Billy MckayRoss County174 Pavol ŠafrankoDundee United12 Zak RuddenFalkirk6 Alan TroutenAlloa Athletic10
Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef Stephen DobbieQueen of the SouthFalkirk0–3 (A)25 August 2018 Stephen Dobbie4Queen of the SouthAyr United5–0 (H)1 September 2018 Billy MckayRoss CountyDundee United1–5 (A)29 September 2018 Stephen DobbieQueen of the SouthAlloa Athletic3–3 (H)6 October 2018 Billy MckayRoss CountyGreenock Morton5–0 (H)27 October 2018 Lawrence Shankland4Ayr UnitedDundee United0–5 (A)30 November 2018 Billy MckayRoss CountyAyr United3–2 (H)26 February 2019 Brian GrahamRoss CountyAyr United1–3 (A)19 April 2019
Note
4 Player scored four goals; (H) = Home, (A) = Away
Attendances
Awards
Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthRef.ManagerClubPlayerClub August Ian McCall Ayr United Lawrence Shankland Ayr United September Steven Ferguson Stuart Kettlewell Ross County Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South October Steven Ferguson Stuart Kettlewell Ross County Billy Mckay Ross County November Robbie Neilson Dundee United Fraser Aird Dundee United December Jim Goodwin Alloa Athletic Dario Zanatta Alloa Athletic January Gary Naysmith Queen of the South Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South February Stevie Crawford Dunfermline Athletic Billy Mckay Ross County March John Robertson Inverness Caledonian Thistle Aaron Doran Inverness Caledonian Thistle April Steven Ferguson Stuart Kettlewell Ross County Brian Graham Ross County
Championship play-offs The second bottom team (Queen of the South) entered into a 4-team playoff with the 2nd-4th placed teams in 2018–19 Scottish League One (Forfar Athletic, Raith Rovers and Montrose). Queen of the South secured their place in the Championship after defeating Raith 3–1 on aggregate in the final.
Semi-final First leg
Second leg
Final First leg
Second leg
References