# 2014–15 Scottish Championship

The 2014–15 Scottish Championship is the 21st season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football.
Heart of Midlothian won the title on 22 March 2015 and secured their return to the Scottish Premiership with a record seven matches remaining, after Rangers defeated city rivals Hibernian 2–0. This marked the first time since the 1984-85 season that a side in the same division as an Old Firm club won a league title in Scotland.

## Teams

Rangers were promoted as 2013–14 Scottish League One champions, whilst Heart of Midlothian were relegated from the 2013–14 Scottish Premiership. Hibernian finished 11th in the Premiership and were eventually relegated after a play-off against Hamilton Academical, losing a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw on aggregate over two legs.

### Stadia and locations
#### Stadia by capacity and locations

| Alloa Athletic | Cowdenbeath | Dumbarton | Falkirk |
| Recreation Park | Central Park | Dumbarton Football Stadium | Falkirk Stadium |
| Capacity: 3,100 | Capacity: 4,309 | Capacity: 2,020 | Capacity: 8,750 |
| Rangers | Alloa AthleticCowdenbeathDumbartonFalkirkHeart of MidlothianHibernianLivingstonQueen of the SouthRaith RoversRangers | Alloa AthleticCowdenbeathDumbartonFalkirkHeart of MidlothianHibernianLivingstonQueen of the SouthRaith RoversRangers | Heart of Midlothian |
| Ibrox Stadium | Alloa AthleticCowdenbeathDumbartonFalkirkHeart of MidlothianHibernianLivingstonQueen of the SouthRaith RoversRangers | Alloa AthleticCowdenbeathDumbartonFalkirkHeart of MidlothianHibernianLivingstonQueen of the SouthRaith RoversRangers | Tynecastle Stadium |
| Capacity: 50,947 | Alloa AthleticCowdenbeathDumbartonFalkirkHeart of MidlothianHibernianLivingstonQueen of the SouthRaith RoversRangers | Alloa AthleticCowdenbeathDumbartonFalkirkHeart of MidlothianHibernianLivingstonQueen of the SouthRaith RoversRangers | Capacity: 17,529 |
| Raith Rovers | Queen of the South | Livingston | Hibernian |
| Stark's Park | Palmerston Park | Almondvale Stadium | Easter Road |
| Capacity: 8,473 | Capacity: 8,690 | Capacity: 9,865 | Capacity: 20,421 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Alloa Athletic | Danny Lennon | Pendle | Marshall Construction |
| Cowdenbeath | Jimmy Nicholl | Uhlsport | Subsea Pressure Controls |
| Dumbarton | Ian Murray | Joma | Baxter Ramsay |
| Falkirk | Peter Houston | Puma | Central Demolition |
| Heart of Midlothian | Robbie Neilson | Adidas | Foundation of Hearts (A) |
| Hibernian | Alan Stubbs | Nike | Marathonbet |
| Livingston | John McGlynn | Joma | Energy Assets |
| Queen of the South | James Fowler | Joma | Southwest Mechanical Services |
| Raith Rovers | Grant Murray | Puma | valmcdermid.com (H, front of shirt), Keytech Electronic Systems (H, back of shirt), D&G Autocare (A) |
| Rangers | Stuart McCall | Puma | 32Red |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Heart of Midlothian | Gary Locke | Mutual Consent | 12 May 2014 | Pre-season | Robbie Neilson | 12 May 2014 |
| Falkirk | Gary Holt | Resigned | 2 June 2014 | Pre-season | Peter Houston | 12 June 2014 |
| Hibernian | Terry Butcher | Sacked | 10 June 2014 | Pre-season | Alan Stubbs | 24 June 2014 |
| Queen of the South | Jim McIntyre | Appointed by Ross County | 9 September 2014 | 4th | James Fowler | 30 September 2014 |
| Rangers | Ally McCoist | Resigned | 15 December 2014 | 2nd | Stuart McCall | 12 March 2015 |
| Livingston | John McGlynn | Mutual Consent | 16 December 2014 | 10th | Mark Burchill | 16 December 2014 |
| Alloa Athletic | Barry Smith | Resigned | 7 March 2015 | 9th | Danny Lennon | 7 April 2015 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Heart of Midlothian (C, P) | 36 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 96 | 26 | +70 | 91 | Promotion to the Premiership |
| 2 | Hibernian | 36 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 70 | 32 | +38 | 70 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-final |
| 3 | Rangers | 36 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 69 | 39 | +30 | 67 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final |
| 4 | Queen of the South | 36 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 58 | 41 | +17 | 60 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final |
| 5 | Falkirk | 36 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 53 | |
| 6 | Raith Rovers | 36 | 12 | 7 | 17 | 42 | 65 | −23 | 43 | |
| 7 | Dumbarton | 36 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 36 | 79 | −43 | 34 | |
| 8 | Livingston | 36 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 27 | |
| 9 | Alloa Athletic (O) | 36 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 34 | 56 | −22 | 27 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 10 | Cowdenbeath (R) | 36 | 7 | 4 | 25 | 31 | 86 | −55 | 25 | Relegation to League One |
* ↑ Livingston were deducted 5 points due to failure of tax payments.

## 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.

## Championship play-offs

The second bottom team in the Championship enters into a 4 team playoff with the teams from 2nd to 4th from League One

### Semi-finals

All times British Summer Time (UTC+1)

#### Second leg

Alloa win 2-1 on aggregate
Forfar win 4-1 on aggregate

### Final

The two semi-final winners enter a two-legged play-off, the winner of which is awarded a place in the 2015–16 Scottish Championship.

#### Second leg

Alloa win 4-3 on aggregate

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jason Cummings | Hibernian | 19 |
| 2 | Derek Lyle | Queen of the South | 15 |
| 3 | Liam Buchanan | Alloa Athletic | 14 |
| 4 | Dominique Malonga | Hibernian | 13 |
| 5 | Gavin Reilly | Queen of the South | 12 |
| 6 | Jordan White | Livingston | 11 |
| 6 | James Keatings | Heart of Midlothian | 11 |
| 8 | Nicky Law | Rangers | 10 |
| 8 | Mark Stewart | Raith Rovers | 10 |
| 8 | Danny Mullen | Livingston | 10 |
| 8 | Jamie Walker | Heart of Midlothian | 10 |
| 8 | Género Zeefuik | Heart of Midlothian | 10 |