# 2009–10 Falkirk F.C. season

The 2009–10 season was Falkirk's fifth consecutive season in the Scottish Premier League. Falkirk also competed in the League Cup, Scottish Cup and the Europa League. Falkirk finished the season in twelfth place and were relegated to the Scottish First Division after five years in the SPL.

## Summary

Falkirk finished as runners-up in the 2009 Scottish Cup Final and qualified for the UEFA Europa League. They entered the second qualifying round of the competition, losing 2–1 on aggregate, after extra-time, to Vaduz, becoming the first British club to lose a European tie to a club from Liechtenstein. Falkirk were relegated to the Scottish First Division for the first time since 2005 after a 0–0 draw with Kilmarnock on the final day of the season. Kilmarnock were also at threat of being relegated and the winner of the match at Rugby Park would have remained in the SPL. Falkirk also reached the third round of the League Cup, the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

### Management

Falkirk began the season under the management of Eddie May who had been appointed in June 2009 after several years of coaching in the youth set-up at the club. On 11 February 2010, May stepped down from his position, with the club sitting bottom of the SPL. He was succeeded by Steven Pressley, player-coach at the club and was appointed until the end of the season.

## Results

Win  Draw  Loss

### Scottish Premier League

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers | Match Report |
| 1 | 15 August 2009 | Rangers | Ibrox Stadium | 1–4 | 50,239 | Finnigan 24' | Match Report |
| 2 | 22 August 2009 | Hibernian | Falkirk Stadium | 1–3 | 6,059 | Flynn 25' | Match Report |
| 3 | 29 August 2009 | Dundee United | Tannadice Park | 1–2 | 6,979 | Finnbogason 75' | Match Report |
| 4 | 14 September 2009 | Aberdeen | Falkirk Stadium | 0–0 | 4,724 | | Match Report |
| 5 | 19 September 2009 | Hamilton Academical | New Douglas Park | 0–0 | 2,640 | | Match Report |
| 6 | 26 September 2009 | Kilmarnock | Falkirk Stadium | 0–0 | 5,394 | | Match Report |
| 7 | 3 October 2009 | Motherwell | Fir Park | 0–1 | 4,337 | | Match Report |
| 8 | 17 October 2009 | St Mirren | Falkirk Stadium | 1–3 | 5,084 | McLean 55' | Match Report |
| 9 | 24 October 2009 | Heart of Midlothian | Tynecastle Stadium | 0–0 | 14,127 | | Match Report |
| 10 | 31 October 2009 | St Johnstone | McDiarmid Park | 1–3 | 4,423 | Finnigan 49' | Match Report |
| 11 | 8 November 2009 | Celtic | Falkirk Stadium | 3–3 | 6,795 | Arfield 61' (Pen), Moutinho 64', Stewart 83' | Match Report |
| 12 | 21 November 2009 | Hamilton Academical | Falkirk Stadium | 2–0 | 5,628 | Mitchell 64', Bullen 79' | Match Report |
| 13 | 28 November 2009 | Hibernian | Easter Road | 0–2 | 13,305 | | Match Report |
| 14 | 5 December 2009 | Rangers | Falkirk Stadium | 1–3 | 6,903 | Moutinho 41' | Match Report |
| 15 | 12 December 2009 | St Mirren | New St Mirren Park | 1–1 | 4,033 | Finnigan 88' | Match Report |
| 16 | 19 December 2009 | Kilmarnock | Rugby Park | 2–1 | 4,472 | Finnigan 3', Flynn 58' | Match Report |
| 17 | 26 December 2009 | Heart of Midlothian | Falkirk Stadium | 0–1 | 6,082 | | Match Report |
| 18 | 16 January 2010 | Celtic | Celtic Park | 1–1 | 50,000 | Finnigan 19' | Match Report |
| 19 | 24 January 2010 | Dundee United | Falkirk Stadium | 1–4 | 4,378 | Moutinho 90+1' | Match Report |
| 20 | 27 January 2010 | Motherwell | Falkirk Stadium | 0–0 | 4,321 | | Match Report |
| 21 | 30 January 2010 | Rangers | Ibrox Stadium | 0–3 | 45,907 | | Match Report |
| 22 | 2 February 2010 | Aberdeen | Pittodrie | 1–0 | 7,741 | Healy 31' | Match Report |
| 23 | 10 February 2010 | Kilmarnock | Falkirk Stadium | 0–1 | 7,049 | | Match Report |
| 24 | 13 February 2010 | Heart of Midlothian | Tynecastle Stadium | 2–3 | 14,078 | Kucharski 45+2' (o.g.), Moutinho 83' | Match Report |
| 25 | 20 February 2010 | Aberdeen | Falkirk Stadium | 3–1 | 4,643 | Moutinho 13', Barr 42', Showunmi 70' | Match Report |
| 26 | 27 February 2010 | Dundee United | Tannadice Park | 0–3 | 6,352 | | Match Report |
| 27 | 7 March 2010 | Celtic | Falkirk Stadium | 0–2 | 6,792 | | Match Report |
| 28 | 13 March 2010 | St Johnstone | Falkirk Stadium | 1–2 | 5,895 | Twaddle 27' | Match Report |
| 29 | 20 March 2010 | Hamilton Academical | New Douglas Park | 2–2 | 2,461 | Arfield 26', Flynn 59' | Match Report |
| 30 | 23 March 2010 | St Johnstone | McDiarmid Park | 1–1 | 3,107 | Flynn 19' | Match Report |
| 31 | 27 March 2010 | Hibernian | Falkirk Stadium | 1–3 | 5,460 | Stewart 19' | Match Report |
| 32 | 3 April 2010 | Motherwell | Fir Park | 1–0 | 4,628 | Flynn 27' | Match Report |
| 33 | 10 April 2010 | St Mirren | Falkirk Stadium | 2–1 | 5,671 | Moutinho 45+2', Higdon (o.g.) 67' | Match Report |
| 34 | 17 April 2010 | Aberdeen | Pittodrie | 0–1 | 10,461 | | Match Report |
| 35 | 24 April 2010 | Hamilton Academical | Falkirk Stadium | 0–1 | 5,118 | | Match Report |
| 36 | 1 May 2010 | St Mirren | Falkirk Stadium | 1–1 | 5,919 | Arfield 45' (Pen) | Match Report |
| 37 | 5 May 2010 | St Johnstone | Falkirk Stadium | 0–0 | 5,502 | | Match Report |
| 38 | 8 May 2010 | Kilmarnock | Rugby Park | 0–0 | 10,662 | | Match Report |

### Scottish League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers | Match Report |
| Third round | 23 September 2009 | Celtic | Falkirk Stadium | 0–4 | 5,669 | | Match Report |

### Scottish Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers | Match Report |
| Fourth round | 18 January 2010 | Kilmarnock | Rugby Park | 0–1 | 3,378 | | Match Report |

### UEFA Europa League

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers | Match Report |
| Second qualifying round | 16 July 2009 | Vaduz | Falkirk Stadium | 1–0 | 5,763 | Flynn 50' | Match Report |
| Second qualifying round | 23 July 2009 | Vaduz | Rheinpark Stadion | 2–0 (a.e.t) | 1,842 | | Match Report |

## Squad statistics
### Player statistics

    As of 8 May 2010(UTC)
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | League Cup | League Cup | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup | Europa League | Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | AUT | Bobby Olejnik | 42 | 0 | 38+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | SCO | Darren Barr | 39 | 1 | 35+1 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Tam Scobbie | 23 | 0 | 19+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SCO | Marc Twaddle | 37 | 1 | 30+3 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | NIR | Brian McLean | 40 | 1 | 36+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | POR | Pedro Moutinho | 26 | 5 | 20+5 | 5 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Burton O'Brien | 30 | 0 | 23+4 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Carl Finnigan | 30 | 5 | 20+7 | 5 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | CAN | Scott Arfield | 40 | 3 | 35+1 | 3 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | SCO | Ryan Flynn | 40 | 6 | 36+0 | 5 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 |
| 12 | FW | SCO | Mark Stewart | 20 | 2 | 7+12 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | NGA | Enoch Showunmi | 21 | 1 | 15+6 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | SCO | Dayne Robertson | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | SCO | Brian Allison | 4 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | SCO | Sean Lynch | 9 | 0 | 3+5 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | SVN | Danijel Marčeta | 17 | 0 | 8+7 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | POR | Vítor Lima | 27 | 0 | 22+4 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | IRL | Colin Healy | 19 | 1 | 17+2 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | SCO | Lee Bullen | 10 | 1 | 0+9 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | CPV | Pelé | 10 | 1 | 7+2 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | FRA | Toufik Zerara | 3 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | WAL | Jack Compton | 14 | 0 | 3+10 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 29 | GK | CAN | Josh Wagenaar | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | SCO | Kieran Duffie | 6 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | SCO | Michael Andrews | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | SCO | Stewart Murdoch | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| Players who left the club during the 2009–10 season ||||||||||||
| 4 | CM | SCO | Jordyn Felling | 2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | SCO | Jackie McNamara | 17 | 0 | 13+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | SCO | Jamie Barclay | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | SCO | Chris Mitchell | 11 | 1 | 5+3 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | SCO | Kevin Moffat | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | SCO | Alex MacDonald | 13 | 0 | 4+7 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | ISL | Kjartan Finnbogason | 7 | 1 | 7+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 8 | St Johnstone | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 57 | 61 | −4 | 47 | |
| 9 | Aberdeen | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 36 | 52 | −16 | 41 | |
| 10 | St Mirren | 38 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 36 | 49 | −13 | 34 | |
| 11 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 29 | 51 | −22 | 33 | |
| 12 | Falkirk (R) | 38 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 31 | 57 | −26 | 31 | Relegation to the First Division |