2012–13 Scottish Second Division

Irn Bru Scottish Second Division
Season2012–13
ChampionsQueen of the South
PromotedQueen of the South
Alloa Athletic
RelegatedAlbion Rovers
Matches played180
Goals scored590 (3.28 per match)
Top goalscorerNicky Clark (Queen of the South) (32)
Biggest home winBrechin City 7–2 Stenhousemuir
(27 October 2012)
Biggest away winBrechin City 0–6 Queen of the South
(27 March 2013)
Longest unbeaten run18 games
Queen of the South

The 2012–13 Scottish Football League Second Division (also known as the 2012–13 Irn Bru Scottish Football League Second Division for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th season in the current format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. Cowdenbeath were the current champions.

Teams

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Location of teams in Scottish Second Division 2012–13

Two sides were promoted from the 2011–12 competition. Cowdenbeath as champions, and Dumbarton as winners of the promotion play-offs. They were replaced by Queen of the South, who finished bottom of the First Division, and Ayr United, who were relegated through the first division play-offs. Stirling Albion were relegated from this division after finishing bottom, and they were replaced by Third Division winners Alloa Athletic.

Albion Rovers finished in 9th place, but were able to stay up as a result of winning the promotion play-offs. Stranraer, who had lost to Albion Rovers in the play-off final, were promoted to the Second Division after the decision was made for Rangers to start in the Third Division.[1] Stranraer replaced Airdrie United, who will take up the space in the First Division.[1]

Stadia and locations

Team Location Home ground Capacity
Albion Rovers Coatbridge Cliftonhill 2,496
Alloa Athletic Alloa Recreation Park 3,412
Arbroath Arbroath Gayfield Park 5,900
Ayr United Ayr Somerset Park 10,243
Brechin City Brechin Glebe Park 3,960
East Fife Methil Bayview Stadium 2,000
Forfar Athletic Forfar Station Park 6,777
Queen of the South Dumfries Palmerston Park 6,412
Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir Ochilview Park 3,776
Stranraer Stranraer Stair Park 5,600

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Queen of the South (C, P) 36 29 5 2 92 23 +69 92 Promotion to the Championship
2 Alloa Athletic (O, P) 36 20 7 9 62 35 +27 67 Qualification for the First Division play-offs
3 Brechin City 36 19 4 13 72 59 +13 61
4 Forfar Athletic 36 17 3 16 67 74 −7 54
5 Arbroath 36 15 7 14 47 57 −10 52
6 Stenhousemuir 36 12 13 11 59 59 0 49
7 Ayr United 36 12 5 19 53 65 −12 41
8 Stranraer 36 10 7 19 43 71 −28 37
9 East Fife (O) 36 8 8 20 50 65 −15 32 Qualification for the Second Division play-offs
10 Albion Rovers (R) 36 7 3 26 45 82 −37 24 Relegation to the League Two
Source: SPFL Archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

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, for a total of 36 games.

Second Division play-offs

Times are BST (UTC+1)

Semi-finals

The fourth placed team in the Third Division (Berwick Rangers) played the ninth placed team in the Second Division (East Fife) and third placed team in the Third Division (Peterhead) played the second placed team in the Third Division (Queen's Park). The play-offs were played over two legs, and the winning team in each semi-final advanced to the final.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Berwick Rangers 2–3 East Fife 1–1 1–2
Queen's Park 1–4 Peterhead 0–1 1–3

First legs

Berwick Rangers1 – 1East Fife
Lavery 72' BBC Sport Muir 44'
Attendance: 732
Referee: Salmond
Queen's Park0 – 1Peterhead
BBC Sport Rodgers 90' (pen.)
Attendance: 651
Referee: McKendrick

Second legs

East Fife2 – 1 (a.e.t.)Berwick Rangers
McDonald 78' (o.g.)
Gormley 119'		 BBC Sport Lavery 61' (pen.)
Attendance: 856
Referee: Colvin
Peterhead3 – 1Queen's Park
Cox 4', 10'
McAllister 64'
Strachan Red card 80'		 BBC Sport Shankland 87'
Attendance: 954
Referee: Robertson

Final

The two semi-final winners played each other over two legs. The winning team was awarded a place in the 2013–14 Second Division.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
East Fife 1 – 0 Peterhead 0 – 0 1 – 0

First leg

East Fife0 – 0Peterhead
BBC Sport
Attendance: 826
Referee: Beaton

Second leg

Peterhead0 - 1East Fife
BBC Sport Muir 48'
Attendance: 1,855
Referee: Clancy

References

  1. ^ a b "Rangers: Airdrie United and Stranraer are promoted". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.