# 2017–18 Scottish Championship

The 2017–18 Scottish Championship (known as the Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 23 June 2017.
Ten teams contested the league: Brechin City, Dumbarton, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Falkirk, Greenock Morton, Inverness CT, Livingston, Queen of the South and St Mirren.
St Mirren won the league title, and promotion to the Premiership, after a 0–0 draw with Livingston on 14 April 2018.
Brechin City became the first team in 126 years to go through a Scottish league season without a win. Their total of 4 points was the lowest ever recorded in the Scottish second tier, the lowest in the three points for a win era and the joint-lowest in any Scottish division.

## Prize money

In April 2018, the SPFL confirmed the prize money to be allocated to the league members at the conclusion of the competitions. The Championship winners would receive £533,000 with a total pot of £24.5 million to be distributed across the four divisions.

## Teams

The following teams have changed division since the 2016–17 season.

### Stadia and locations

| Brechin City | Dumbarton | Dundee United | Dunfermline Athletic |
| Glebe Park | Dumbarton Football Stadium | Tannadice Park | East End Park |
| Capacity: 4,083 | Capacity: 2,020 | Capacity: 14,223 | Capacity: 11,480 |
| Falkirk | Brechin CityDumbartonDundee UtdDunfermline AthleticFalkirkMortonInverness Caledonian ThistleLivingstonQueen of the SouthSt Mirren | Brechin CityDumbartonDundee UtdDunfermline AthleticFalkirkMortonInverness Caledonian ThistleLivingstonQueen of the SouthSt Mirren | Greenock Morton |
| Falkirk Stadium | Brechin CityDumbartonDundee UtdDunfermline AthleticFalkirkMortonInverness Caledonian ThistleLivingstonQueen of the SouthSt Mirren | Brechin CityDumbartonDundee UtdDunfermline AthleticFalkirkMortonInverness Caledonian ThistleLivingstonQueen of the SouthSt Mirren | Cappielow Park |
| Capacity: 7,937 | Brechin CityDumbartonDundee UtdDunfermline AthleticFalkirkMortonInverness Caledonian ThistleLivingstonQueen of the SouthSt Mirren | Brechin CityDumbartonDundee UtdDunfermline AthleticFalkirkMortonInverness Caledonian ThistleLivingstonQueen of the SouthSt Mirren | Capacity: 11,589 |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Livingston | Queen of the South | St Mirren |
| Caledonian Stadium | Almondvale Stadium | Palmerston Park | Paisley 2021 Stadium |
| Capacity: 7,750 | Capacity: 8,716 | Capacity: 8,690 | Capacity: 8,023 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Brechin City | Darren Dods | Paul McLean | Pendle | Delson |
| Dumbarton | Stephen Aitken | Andy Dowie | Joma | Turnberry Homes |
| Dundee United | Csaba László | Tam Scobbie | Nike | McEwan Fraser Legal |
| Dunfermline Athletic | Allan Johnston | Callum Morris | Joma | SRJ Windows |
| Falkirk | Paul Hartley | Aaron Muirhead | Puma | Central Demolition |
| Greenock Morton | Jim Duffy | Thomas O'Ware | Vision Outsourcing | Millions |
| Inverness CT | John Robertson | Gary Warren | Erreà | McEwan Fraser Legal |
| Livingston | David Hopkin | Craig Halkett | FBT | Tony Macaroni |
| Queen of the South | Gary Naysmith | John Rankin | Macron | J.B. Houston |
| St Mirren | Jack Ross | Stephen McGinn | Joma | Skyview Capital |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Inverness CT | Richie Foran | Sacked | 29 May 2017 | Pre-season | John Robertson | 14 June 2017 |
| Falkirk | Peter Houston | Sacked | 24 September 2017 | 9th | Alex Smith (interim) | 24 September 2017 |
| Falkirk | Alex Smith (interim) | End of interim | 4 October 2017 | 8th | Paul Hartley | 4 October 2017 |
| Dundee United | Ray McKinnon | Sacked | 24 October 2017 | 4th | Laurie Ellis (interim) | 25 October 2017 |
| Dundee United | Laurie Ellis (interim) | End of interim | 8 November 2017 | 2nd | Csaba László | 8 November 2017 |

## League summary
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | St Mirren (C, P) | 36 | 23 | 5 | 8 | 63 | 36 | +27 | 74 | Promotion to the Premiership |
| 2 | Livingston (O, P) | 36 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 56 | 37 | +19 | 62 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-final |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 52 | 42 | +10 | 61 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final |
| 4 | Dunfermline Athletic | 36 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 60 | 35 | +25 | 59 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final |
| 5 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 36 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 53 | 37 | +16 | 57 | |
| 6 | Queen of the South | 36 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 59 | 53 | +6 | 52 | |
| 7 | Greenock Morton | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 47 | 40 | +7 | 50 | |
| 8 | Falkirk | 36 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 45 | 49 | −4 | 47 | |
| 9 | Dumbarton (R) | 36 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 27 | 63 | −36 | 30 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 10 | Brechin City (R) | 36 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 20 | 90 | −70 | 4 | Relegation to League One |

### Positions by Round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.
* Leader - Promotion to 2018–19 Scottish Premiership
* Qualification to Premiership play-off semi-finals
* Qualification to Premiership play-off quarter-finals
* Qualification to Championship play-offs
* Relegation to 2018–19 Scottish League One
| Team \ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| St Mirren | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Livingston | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Dundee United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 8 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Queen of the South | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Greenock Morton | 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Falkirk | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Dumbarton | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Brechin City | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Source:
Updated: 28 April 2018

## Results

Teams play each other four times, twice in the first half of the season (home and away) and twice in the second half of the season (home and away), making a total of 180 games, with each team playing 36.

### First half of season

| Home \ Away | BRE | DUM | DUN | DNF | FAL | GMO | INV | LIV | QOS | STM |
| Brechin City | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Dumbarton | 2–1 | — | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 |
| Dundee United | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 2–5 | 3–0 |
| Falkirk | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 0–0 |
| Greenock Morton | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 |
| Inverness CT | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Livingston | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–3 |
| Queen of the South | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | — | 2–3 |
| St Mirren | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | — |

### Second half of season

| Home \ Away | BRE | DUM | DUN | DNF | FAL | GMO | INV | LIV | QOS | STM |
| Brechin City | — | 1–3 | 0–5 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 0–1 |
| Dumbarton | 1–0 | — | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Dundee United | 4–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 4–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 |
| Falkirk | 3–0 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 |
| Greenock Morton | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Inverness CT | 4–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
| Livingston | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| Queen of the South | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–3 | — | 1–3 |
| St Mirren | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | — |

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

    As of matches played on 28 April 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Stephen Dobbie | Queen of the South | 18 |
| 2 | Scott McDonald | Dundee United | 15 |
| 3 | Nicky Clark | Dunfermline Athletic | 14 |
| 3 | Lewis Morgan | St Mirren | 14 |
| 5 | Gavin Reilly | St Mirren | 11 |
| 6 | Kallum Higginbotham | Dunfermline Athletic | 10 |
| 6 | Cammy Smith | St Mirren | 10 |
Source:

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Stephen Dobbie | Queen of the South | Falkirk | 4–1 | 26 August 2017 |
| Stephen Dobbie | Queen of the South | Dunfermline Athletic | 5–2 | 10 December 2017 |
| Stephen Dobbie | Queen of the South | Brechin City | 3–1 | 27 January 2018 |
| Stephen Dobbie | Queen of the South | Brechin City | 5–1 | 28 April 2018 |
| Nicky Clark | Dunfermline Athletic | Brechin City | 3–0 | 20 March 2018 |
| Nicky Clark | Dunfermline Athletic | Queen of the South | 3–1 | 31 March 2018 |
| Nathan Austin | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Dumbarton | 5–1 | 14 April 2018 |

### Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Dundee United | 99,097 | 6,936 | 3,620 | 5,505 | −16.4%$^†$ |
| 2 | Dunfermline Athletic | 94,382 | 7,585 | 2,249 | 5,243 | +18.1%$^†$ |
| 3 | Falkirk | 84,175 | 6,094 | 3,864 | 4,676 | −7.1%$^†$ |
| 4 | St Mirren | 80,061 | 6,422 | 3,023 | 4,447 | +23.6%$^†$ |
| 5 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 41,296 | 3,415 | 1,801 | 2,294 | −41.9%$^†$ |
| 6 | Greenock Morton | 35,739 | 4,661 | 1,134 | 1,985 | −15.9%$^†$ |
| 7 | Queen of the South | 26,232 | 2,019 | 1,062 | 1,457 | −21.5%$^†$ |
| 8 | Livingston | 24,268 | 2,708 | 732 | 1,348 | +69.3%$^†$ |
| 9 | Brechin City | 16,619 | 2,627 | 445 | 923 | +115.7%$^†$ |
| 10 | Dumbarton | 15,085 | 1,652 | 392 | 838 | −25.8%$^†$ |
| | League total | 518,654 | 7,585 | 392 | 2,881 | −35.8%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 28 April 2018 Source:

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref. |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Ref. |
| August | Allan Johnston | Dunfermline Athletic | Joe Cardle | Dunfermline Athletic | |
| September | David Hopkin | Livingston | Lewis Morgan | St Mirren | |
| October | John Robertson | Inverness CT | Carl Tremarco | Inverness CT | |
| November | Stephen Aitken | Dumbarton | Scott Fraser | Dundee United | |
| December | Jack Ross | St Mirren | Stephen Dobbie | Queen of the South | |
| January | Jack Ross | St Mirren | Stephen McGinn | St Mirren | |
| February | David Hopkin | Livingston | Ryan Hardie | Livingston | |
| March | Jack Ross | St Mirren | Nicky Clark | Dunfermline Athletic | |

## Championship play-offs

The second bottom team will enter into a 4-team playoff with the 2nd-4th placed teams in League One.