2025–26 Scottish Championship

Scottish Championship
Season2025–26
Dates1 August 2025 – 1 May 2026
ChampionsSt Johnstone
PromotedSt Johnstone
RelegatedAirdrieonians
Ross County
Matches180
Goals438 (2.43 per match)
Top goalscorerJosh McPake
(16 goals)
Biggest home winRaith Rovers 6–0 Ross County (13 December 2025)
Biggest away winArbroath 0–5 Dunfermline Athletic (13 September 2025)
Highest scoringSt Johnstone 4–3 Queen's Park (15 November 2025)
Longest winning runPartick Thistle
5 games
Longest unbeaten runSt Johnstone
14 games
Longest winless runAirdrieonians
11 games
Longest losing runGreenock Morton
Ross County
4 games
Highest attendance7,729
St Johnstone v Raith Rovers
(24 April 2026)
Lowest attendance718
Queen's Park v Ross County
(3 February 2026)
Total attendance518,760
Average attendance2,882
All statistics correct as of 1 May 2026.

The 2025–26 Scottish Championship (known as the William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Scottish Championship, the second tier of Scottish football. The season began on 1 August 2025.[1]

Ten teams contested the league: Airdrieonians, Arbroath, Ayr United, Dunfermline Athletic, Greenock Morton, Partick Thistle, Queen's Park, Raith Rovers, Ross County and St Johnstone.

Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2024–25 season.

Stadia and locations

Airdrieonians Arbroath Ayr United Dunfermline Athletic
Excelsior Stadium Gayfield Park Somerset Park East End Park
Capacity: 10,101[2] Capacity: 6,056[3] Capacity: 10,185[4] Capacity: 11,480[5]
Greenock Morton Partick Thistle
Cappielow Firhill Stadium
Capacity: 11,589[6] Capacity: 10,887[7]
Queen's Park Raith Rovers Ross County St Johnstone
Lesser Hampden Stark's Park Victoria Park McDiarmid Park
Capacity: 990[8] Capacity: 8,867[9] Capacity: 6,541[10] Capacity: 10,696[11]
Championship football clubs in Glasgow

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Airdrieonians Antigua and Barbuda Aaron Taylor-Sinclair Scotland Aidan Wilson Joma Holemasters
Arbroath Scotland David Gold
Scotland Colin Hamilton		 Scotland Thomas O'Brien Macron Megatech
Ayr United Scotland John Rankin (interim) England Ben Dempsey O'Neills Jewson
Dunfermline Athletic Northern Ireland Neil Lennon Scotland Kyle Benedictus Erreà Gamdom
Greenock Morton Scotland Ian Murray Scotland Grant Gillespie Joma Dalrada Technology
Partick Thistle Scotland Mark Wilson Scotland Lee Ashcroft O'Neills WrightKerr All Trades Limited
Queen's Park Scotland Sean Crighton Scotland Euan Murray Adidas City Facilities Management
Raith Rovers Scotland Dougie Imrie Scotland Scott Brown Joma Audio Emotion (Home)
Sephra (Away)
Ross County Scotland Stuart Kettlewell Scotland Declan Gallagher Macron Ross-shire Engineering
St Johnstone Finland Simo Valakari Scotland Jason Holt Macron MandM

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Partick Thistle Scotland Brian Graham (interim) End of interim spell 30 May 2025[12] Pre-season Scotland Mark Wilson 30 May 2025[13]
Airdrieonians Scotland Rhys McCabe Resigned 15 August 2025[14] 9th Northern Ireland Danny Lennon 27 August 2025[15]
Ross County Scotland Don Cowie Sacked 24 August 2025[16] 10th Scotland Tony Docherty 3 September 2025
Airdrieonians Northern Ireland Danny Lennon 22 October 2025 10th Antigua and Barbuda Aaron Taylor-Sinclair 24 October 2025 (interim) & 1 January 2026 (permanent)
Raith Rovers Scotland Barry Robson 11 November 2025 6th Scotland Dougie Imrie 25 November 2025
Greenock Morton Scotland Dougie Imrie Joined Raith Rovers 25 November 2025 7th Scotland Ian Murray 2 January 2026
Ross County Scotland Tony Docherty Mutual consent 14 December 2025 10th Scotland Stuart Kettlewell 30 December 2025
Ayr United Scotland Scott Brown 30 March 2026 8th Scotland John Rankin (interim) 31 March 2026

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 St Johnstone (C, P) 36 22 11 3 67 25 +42 77 Promotion to the Premiership
2 Partick Thistle 36 17 15 4 53 36 +17 66 Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-final
3 Arbroath 36 13 13 10 43 41 +2 52 Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final
4 Dunfermline Athletic 36 14 9 13 52 41 +11 51
5 Raith Rovers 36 12 9 15 43 42 +1 45
6 Queen's Park 36 9 14 13 35 48 −13 41
7 Ayr United 36 8 15 13 38 47 −9 39
8 Greenock Morton 36 8 14 14 36 52 −16 38
9 Airdrieonians (R) 36 8 12 16 35 49 −14 36 Qualification for the Championship play-offs
10 Ross County (R) 36 8 10 18 36 57 −21 34 Relegation to League One
Source: [17]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only for deciding promotion, play-off participation and relegation).[18]
(C) Champions; (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 180 games, with each team playing 36.

First half of season (Matches 1–18)

Home \ Away AIR ARB AYR DNF GMO PAR QPA RAI ROS STJ
Airdrieonians — 1–0 0–1 0–4 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–2 1–2
Arbroath 1–0 — 1–1 0–5 1–1 2–1 4–1 0–0 3–0 3–1
Ayr United 4–2 1–1 — 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–4
Dunfermline Athletic 2–0 1–2 0–1 — 1–0 0–2 0–0 2–0 2–2 2–2
Greenock Morton 0–1 1–0 2–2 0–0 — 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 0–4
Partick Thistle 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 — 5–0 3–2 1–0 2–1
Queen's Park 0–0 1–3 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–1 — 2–1 0–1 1–2
Raith Rovers 0–3 3–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 — 6–0 0–2
Ross County 1–2 1–2 3–3 3–2 0–3 1–3 1–2 2–0 — 0–1
St Johnstone 3–0 3–0 0–0 2–1 1–1 5–1 4–3 0–0 0–0 —
Source: [19]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season (Matches 19–36)

Home \ Away AIR ARB AYR DNF GMO PAR QPA RAI ROS STJ
Airdrieonians — 0–0 2–1 2–2 3–1 2–2 0–3 0–0 0–1 0–1
Arbroath 1–1 — 1–1 4–2 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–4
Ayr United 1–1 1–0 — 0–3 0–1 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–0 0–1
Dunfermline Athletic 0–2 0–0 2–3 — 3–1 2–2 1–0 3–0 3–0 0–2
Greenock Morton 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 — 1–2 0–0 0–0 2–1 0–2
Partick Thistle 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 3–2 — 1–1 0–0 3–1 0–0
Queen's Park 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 3–2 2–2 — 0–2 1–0 1–1
Raith Rovers 3–1 2–3 3–0 1–2 3–2 0–2 4–1 — 3–2 0–0
Ross County 0–4 0–2 2–1 2–2 4–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 — 0–0
St Johnstone 4–0 1–0 3–1 0–1 5–0 2–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 —
Source: [19]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

As of 1 May 2026

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Josh McPake St Johnstone 16
2 Scotland Andrew Tod Dunfermline Athletic 13
3 Scotland Findlay Marshall Arbroath 12
England Josh Fowler Queen's Park
St Johnstone
5 Scotland Jamie Gullan St Johnstone 11
6 Scotland Euan Henderson Airdrieonians 10

Awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August Finland Simo Valakari St Johnstone Scotland Josh McPake St Johnstone
September
October Scotland Mark Wilson Partick Thistle Scotland Findlay Marshall Arbroath
November Scotland Aidan Fitzpatrick Partick Thistle
December Scotland David Gold
Scotland Colin Hamilton		 Arbroath Scotland Josh McPake St Johnstone
January Scotland Mark Wilson Partick Thistle Scotland Tony Watt Partick Thistle
February Scotland Stuart Kettlewell Ross County Scotland Jamie Gullan St Johnstone
March Scotland Mark Wilson Partick Thistle Scotland Callumn Morrison Dunfermline Athletic
April Finland Simo Valakari St Johnstone Scotland Jamie Gullan St Johnstone

Championship play-offs

Bracket

Semi-finals Final
          
1 Airdrieonians 0 1 1
4 Alloa Athletic 1 2 3
4 Alloa Athletic 1 1 2
2 Stenhousemuir 3 0 3
2 Stenhousemuir 1 2 3
3 Queen of the South 1 2 3

Semi-finals

First leg

5 May 2026 Alloa Athletic 1–0 Airdrieonians Alloa
19:45
[20] Stadium: Recreation Park
Attendance: 1,040
Referee: Grant Irvine
5 May 2026 Queen of the South 1–1 Stenhousemuir Dumfries
19:45
[21]
Stadium: Palmerston Park
Attendance: 1,774
Referee: Lloyd Wilson

Second leg

9 May 2026 Airdrieonians1–2
(1–3 agg.)		 Alloa Athletic Airdrie
15:00
  • Mahon 56'
 [22]
  • Foster 41'
  • Adamson 87'
 Stadium: Excelsior Stadium
Attendance: 1,381
Referee: Ross Hardie
9 May 2026 Stenhousemuir 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(3–3 agg.)
(4–3 p)		Queen of the SouthStenhousemuir
15:00
  • Aitken 4'
  • Whyte 103'
 [23]
Stadium: Ochilview Park
Attendance: 1,178
Referee: Euan Anderson
Penalties

Final

First leg

13 May 2026 Alloa Athletic 1–3 Stenhousemuir Alloa
19:45
[24]
  • Taylor 15'
  • Aitken 30' (pen.)
  • Anderson 69'
 Stadium: Recreation Park
Attendance: 1,023
Referee: Chris Graham

Second leg

16 May 2026 Stenhousemuir 0–1
(3–2 agg.)		 Alloa Athletic Stenhousemuir
17:30 [25]
Stadium: Ochilview Park
Attendance: 1,350
Referee: Dan McFarlane

References

  1. ↑ "Key dates for 2025/26". SPFL. 13 January 2025. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  2. ↑ "Airdrieonians Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Arbroath Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Ayr United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "Dunfermline Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "Greenock Morton Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "Partick Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "Queen's Park Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "Raith Rovers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "Ross County Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. ↑ "St Johnstone Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Partick Thistle name Wilson as new manager". BBC Sport. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  13. ↑ "Partick Thistle name Wilson as new manager". BBC Sport. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  14. ↑ "McCabe steps down as Airdrieonians player-boss". BBC Sport. 15 August 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  15. ↑ "Danny Lennon is new Diamonds boss". Airdrieonians FC. 27 August 2025. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  16. ↑ "Cowie agrees Ross County exit in club's 'best interest'". BBC Sport. 24 August 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  17. ↑ "Championship Table". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  18. ↑ "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). SPFL. pp. 38–39. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  19. 1 2 "William Hill Championship League Results". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  20. ↑ "Alloa Athletic v Airdrieonians". BBC Sport. 5 May 2026. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  21. ↑ "Queen of the South v Stenhousemuir". BBC Sport. 5 May 2026. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  22. ↑ "Airdrieonians v Alloa Athletic". BBC Sport. 9 May 2026. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  23. ↑ "Stenhousemuir v Queen of the South". BBC Sport. 9 May 2026. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Alloa Athletic v Stenhousemuir". BBC Sport. 13 May 2026. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  25. ↑ "Stenhousemuir v Alloa Athletic". BBC Sport. 16 May 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
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