# 2021–22 Scottish League One

The 2021–22 Scottish League One (known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of Scottish League One, the third tier of Scottish football. The season began on 31 July.
Ten teams contested the league: Airdrieonians, Alloa Athletic, Clyde, Cove Rangers, Dumbarton, East Fife, Falkirk, Montrose, Peterhead and Queen's Park.

## Teams

The following teams changed division after the 2020–21 season.

### To League One

Promoted from League Two
* Queen's Park
Relegated from the Championship
* Alloa Athletic

### From League One

Relegated to League Two
* Forfar Athletic
Promoted to the Championship
* Partick Thistle

### Stadia and locations

| Airdrieonians | Alloa Athletic | Clyde | Cove Rangers |
| Excelsior Stadium | Recreation Park | Broadwood Stadium | Balmoral Stadium |
| Capacity: 10,101 | Capacity: 3,100 | Capacity: 8,086 | Capacity: 2,602 |
| Dumbarton | AirdrieAlloa AthleticClydeCove RangersDumbartonEast FifeFalkirkMontrosePeterheadQueen's Parkclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2021–22 Scottish League One | AirdrieAlloa AthleticClydeCove RangersDumbartonEast FifeFalkirkMontrosePeterheadQueen's Parkclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2021–22 Scottish League One | East Fife |
| Dumbarton Football Stadium | AirdrieAlloa AthleticClydeCove RangersDumbartonEast FifeFalkirkMontrosePeterheadQueen's Parkclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2021–22 Scottish League One | AirdrieAlloa AthleticClydeCove RangersDumbartonEast FifeFalkirkMontrosePeterheadQueen's Parkclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2021–22 Scottish League One | Bayview Stadium |
| Capacity: 2,020 | AirdrieAlloa AthleticClydeCove RangersDumbartonEast FifeFalkirkMontrosePeterheadQueen's Parkclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2021–22 Scottish League One | AirdrieAlloa AthleticClydeCove RangersDumbartonEast FifeFalkirkMontrosePeterheadQueen's Parkclass=notpageimage| Location of teams in 2021–22 Scottish League One | Capacity: 1,980 |
| Falkirk | Montrose | Peterhead | Queen's Park |
| Falkirk Stadium | Links Park | Balmoor | Firhill Stadium |
| Capacity: 7,937 | Capacity: 4,936 | Capacity: 3,150 | Capacity: 10,102 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Airdrieonians | Ian Murray | Callum Fordyce | Umbro | Holemasters |
| Alloa Athletic | Brian Rice | Andy Graham | Pendle | Northern Gas and Power |
| Clyde | Danny Lennon | Ally Love | Puma | HomesBook Factoring (Home) Whitemoss Dental (Away) |
| Cove Rangers | Paul Hartley | Mitch Megginson | Adidas | ACE Group |
| Dumbarton | Stephen Farrell | Stuart Carswell | Joma | Moreroom Extensions Ltd (Home) Four Architects (Away) |
| East Fife | Stevie Crawford | Kevin Smith | Joma | BW Technology |
| Falkirk | Kenny Miller (interim) | Paul Watson | Puma | Clarke ePOS (UK) Ltd |
| Montrose | Stewart Petrie | Paul Watson | Hummel | Carnegie Fuels Ltd |
| Peterhead | Jim McInally | Scott Brown | Adidas | The Score Group |
| Queen's Park | Marijn Beuker (interim) | Michael Doyle | Admiral | Irn-Bru |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Alloa Athletic | Peter Grant | Sacked | 1 May 2021 | Pre-season | Barry Ferguson | 27 May 2021 |
| Falkirk | Gary Holt | End of interim spell | 6 May 2021 | Pre-season | Paul Sheerin | 28 May 2021 |
| Queen's Park | Ray McKinnon | Mutual consent | 10 May 2021 | Pre-season | Laurie Ellis | 22 May 2021 |
| Dumbarton | Jim Duffy | End of contract | 24 May 2021 | Pre-season | Stephen Farrell | 29 May 2021 |
| East Fife | Darren Young | Sacked | 21 November 2021 | 10th | Stevie Crawford | 30 November 2021 |
| Falkirk | Paul Sheerin | Sacked | 5 December 2021 | 5th | Martin Rennie | 10 December 2021 |
| Queen's Park | Laurie Ellis | Sacked | 31 December 2021 | 4th | Marijn Beuker (interim) | 31 December 2021 |
| Alloa Athletic | Barry Ferguson | Resigned | 14 February 2022 | 8th | Brian Rice | 21 February 2022 |
| Falkirk | Martin Rennie | Left | 14 April 2022 | 5th | Kenny Miller (interim) | 14 April 2022 |

## League summary
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Cove Rangers (C, P) | 36 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 73 | 32 | +41 | 79 | Promotion to the Championship |
| 2 | Airdrieonians | 36 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 68 | 37 | +31 | 72 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 3 | Montrose | 36 | 15 | 14 | 7 | 53 | 36 | +17 | 59 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Queen's Park (O, P) | 36 | 11 | 18 | 7 | 51 | 36 | +15 | 51 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Alloa Athletic | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 49 | 57 | −8 | 45 | |
| 6 | Falkirk | 36 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 49 | 55 | −6 | 44 | |
| 7 | Peterhead | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 46 | 51 | −5 | 42 | |
| 8 | Clyde | 36 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 39 | 62 | −23 | 39 | |
| 9 | Dumbarton (R) | 36 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 48 | 71 | −23 | 34 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 10 | East Fife (R) | 36 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 70 | −39 | 23 | Relegation to League Two |

## Season statistics
### Scoring
#### Top scorers

    As of 30 April 2022
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Mitch Megginson | Cove Rangers | 18 |
| 2 | Rory McAllister | Cove Rangers | 16 |
| 3 | Calum Gallagher | Airdrieonians | 15 |
| 3 | David Goodwillie | Clyde | 15 |
| 3 | Graham Webster | Montrose | 15 |

## Awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club |
| August | Laurie Ellis | Queen's Park | Simon Murray | Queen's Park |
| September | Stephen Farrell | Dumbarton | Callum Wilson | Dumbarton |
| October | Stewart Petrie | Montrose | Rory McAllister | Cove Rangers |
| November | Paul Hartley | Cove Rangers | Mitch Megginson | Cove Rangers |
| December | Paul Hartley | Cove Rangers | Blair Yule | Cove Rangers |
| January | Ian Murray | Airdrieonians | Dylan Easton | Airdrieonians |
| February | Ian Murray | Airdrieonians | Rhys McCabe | Airdrieonians |
| March | Paul Hartley | Cove Rangers | Callum Smith | Airdrieonians |
| April | Paul Hartley | Cove Rangers | Calum Gallagher | Airdrieonians |

## League One play-offs

The semi-finals were contested by the teams placed second to fourth in Scottish League Two, as well as the team placed ninth in Scottish League One. The winners advanced to the final, with the highest-ranked team hosting the second leg.

### Bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Dumbarton | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | |
| 4 | Edinburgh City | 4 | 1 | 5 | | | | | |
| 4 | Edinburgh City | 4 | 1 | 5 | Annan Athletic | Annan Athletic | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | | | | | Edinburgh City | Edinburgh City | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Forfar Athletic | 0 | 1 | 1 | Edinburgh City | Edinburgh City | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Annan Athletic | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | |