# 2022−23 Ayr United F.C. season

The 2022–23 season was Ayr United's fifth consecutive season in the Scottish Championship after being promoted from league one in the 2017–18 season. Ayr also competed in the, League Cup, Challenge Cup and the Scottish Cup.

## Summary
### Season

In their first full season under the management of Lee Bullen, Ayr United finished as runners-up in the Scottish Championship and thus progressed to the semi-final of the Premiership play-off. Ultimately their bid for promotion was ended by Partick Thistle who would on to win 8−0 on aggregate across the two legs.

## Results and fixtures

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Scottish League Cup
#### Group stage

Results

### Scottish Cup
## Squad statistics
### Appearances

    As of 26 May 2023
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Championship | Championship | League Cup | League Cup | Challenge Cup | Challenge Cup | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | SCO | Aidan McAdams | 7 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | SCO | Jordan Houston | 25 | 1 | 10+7 | 1 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Patrick Reading | 46 | 0 | 36+2 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ZAM | Frankie Musonda | 30 | 1 | 24+1 | 1 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | IRL | Sean McGinty | 43 | 3 | 30+5 | 3 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | SCO | Andy Murdoch | 34 | 2 | 26+2 | 2 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Ben Dempsey | 46 | 9 | 37+0 | 7 | 3+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 2 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Dipo Akinyemi | 46 | 24 | 37+0 | 20 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 4+0 | 4 |
| 10 | MF | IRL | Daire O'Connor | 32 | 1 | 14+12 | 1 | 2+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Jayden Mitchell-Lawson | 36 | 2 | 9+21 | 2 | 2+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | SCO | Josh Mullin | 26 | 9 | 22+2 | 8 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Alex Kirk | 24 | 2 | 19+1 | 2 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | SCO | Nick McAllister | 33 | 1 | 25+2 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | SCO | Reece McAlear | 17 | 0 | 12+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | SCO | Michael Hewitt | 17 | 0 | 8+4 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | ENG | Charlie Albinson | 40 | 0 | 38+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | SCO | Mark McKenzie | 43 | 5 | 15+20 | 4 | 1+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+2 | 1 |
| 23 | FW | ENG | Sam Ashford | 42 | 3 | 21+13 | 2 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+2 | 1 |
| 24 | MF | SCO | Scott Tomlinson | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | SCO | Kinlay Bilham | 2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | SCO | Max Guthrie | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 30 | FW | SCO | Fraser Bryden | 20 | 3 | 3+10 | 1 | 0+3 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+4 | 1 |
| 31 | MF | SCO | Paul Smith | 24 | 0 | 6+12 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | SCO | Dylan Watret | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | SCO | Carter Jenkins | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 77 | FW | SCO | Chris Maguire | 15 | 0 | 7+7 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| Players who left the club during the 2022–23 season ||||||||||
| 7 | FW | SCO | Michael Moffat | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | SCO | Logan Chalmers | 12 | 2 | 8+3 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Brad Young | 13 | 2 | 7+4 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 19 | GK | ENG | Tom Carter | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | SCO | Finn Ecrepont | 9 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | SCO | Alex Jeanes | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | COD | David Bangala | 9 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 34 | FW | SCO | Dario Viviani | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |

## Team statistics
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dundee (C, P) | 36 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 66 | 40 | +26 | 63 | Promotion to the Premiership |
| 2 | Ayr United | 36 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 61 | 43 | +18 | 58 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-final |
| 3 | Queen's Park | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 63 | 52 | +11 | 58 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final |
| 4 | Partick Thistle | 36 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 65 | 45 | +20 | 57 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final |
| 5 | Greenock Morton | 36 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 53 | 43 | +10 | 57 | |

### League Cup table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ANN | QOS | STJ | AYR | ELG |
| 1 | Annan Athletic | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 10 | Qualification for the second round | — | — | — | p1–1 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Queen of the South | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 8 | Qualification for the second round | 2–3 | — | p2–2 | — | — |
| 3 | St Johnstone | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 8 | | 0–0p | — | — | 1–0 | — |
| 4 | Ayr United | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | | — | 0–3 | — | — | 3–0 |
| 5 | Elgin City | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 13 | −11 | 0 | | — | 0–2 | 2–4 | — | — |
* ↑ Ayr United were awarded a technical 3−0 win over Elgin City, who fielded an ineligible player. The match had originally finished 0–0, with Ayr United securing the bonus point following a 4–3 win on penalties.

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 16 May 2022 | MF | Ben Dempsey | Charlton Athletic | Undisclosed |
| 3 June 2022 | FW | Dipo Akinyemi | Welling United | Free transfer |
| 10 June 2022 | MF | David Bangala | Pohronie | Free transfer |
| 22 June 2022 | DF | Frankie Musonda | Raith Rovers | Free transfer |
| 28 June 2022 | MF | Jayden Mitchell-Lawson | Swindon Town | Free transfer |
| 31 January 2023 | MF | Josh Mullin | Livingston | Free transfer |
| 20 February 2023 | FW | Chris Maguire | Free Agent | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee | Ref. |
| 6 May 2022 | DF | Ryan Gondoh | Sevenoaks Town | Free transfer | |
| 6 May 2022 | DF | Markus Fjørtoft | Retired | Retired | Retired |
| 6 May 2022 | MF | Alex Kenyon | Chester | Free transfer | |
| 6 May 2022 | MF | Michael Miller | Stenhousemuir | Free transfer | |
| 16 May 2022 | DF | Aaron Muirhead | Partick Thistle | Free transfer | |
| 1 July 2022 | DF | Jack Baird | Greenock Morton | Free transfer | |
| 15 July 2022 | FW | Tomi Adeloye | Swindon Town | Free transfer | |

### Loans in

| Date | Position | Name | From | End date |
| 7 July 2022 | DF | Alex Kirk | Arsenal | 31 May 2023 |
| 19 August 2022 | GK | Jack McConnell | Rangers | 26 August 2022 |
| 31 August 2022 | MF | Josh Mullin | Livingston | 31 January 2023 |
| 1 September 2022 | FW | Brad Young | Aston Villa | 31 May 2023 |
| 3 September 2022 | GK | Tom Carter | Hibernian | 10 September 2022 |
| 30 September 2022 | MF | Logan Chalmers | Dundee United | 14 January 2023 |
| 31 January 2023 | MF | Reece McAlear | Tranmere Rovers | 31 May 2023 |

### Loans out

| Date | Position | Name | From | End date |
| 30 September 2022 | DF | Michael Hewitt | Peterhead | 1 January 2023 |
| 26 January 2023 | DF | Finn Ecrepont | Stranraer | 31 May 2023 |
| 31 January 2023 | FW | Michael Moffat | Glenafton Athletic | 31 May 2023 |
| 1 February 2023 | MF | David Bangala | Cove Rangers | 31 May 2023 |
Notes
* ^ A: Ayr United had originally drawn 0 – 0 with Elgin City, however it was later revealed that Elgin had fielded an ineligible player during the match and were subsequently charged by the SPFL with Ayr awarded a 3 – 0 victory.