2008–09 Scottish First Division

Irn-Bru Scottish First Division
	St Johnstone player Gary Irvine holding the First Division trophy in May 2009
Season	2008–09
Champions	St Johnstone
Promoted	St Johnstone
Relegated	Clyde
Top goalscorer	Stephen Dobbie (24)
Biggest home win	Queen of the South 7–1 Clyde
Biggest away win	Airdrie United 0–4 St Johnstone
	← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The 2008–09 Scottish First Division was the 15th season of the First Division in its current format of ten teams.

Promotion and relegation from 2007–08

SPL & First Division

Promoted from First Division to Scottish Premier League

Hamilton Academical^[1]

First & Second Divisions

Relegated from First Division to Second Division

Stirling Albion^[2]

Promoted from Second Division to First Division

Ross County (champions)^[3]
Airdrie United (losing play-off finalists,^[4] promoted due to Gretna's relegation to Division Three)^[5]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	St Johnstone (C, P)	36	17	14	5	55	35	+20	65	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Partick Thistle	36	16	7	13	39	38	+1	55
3	Dunfermline Athletic	36	14	9	13	52	44	+8	51
4	Dundee	36	13	11	12	33	32	+1	50
5	Queen of the South	36	12	11	13	57	50	+7	47
6	Greenock Morton	36	12	11	13	40	40	0	47
7	Livingston (R)	36	13	8	15	56	58	−2	47^[a]	Relegation to the Third Division
8	Ross County	36	13	8	15	42	46	−4	47
9	Airdrie United	36	10	12	14	29	43	−14	42^[b]	Qualification for the First Division Play-offs^[c]
10	Clyde (R)	36	10	9	17	41	58	−17	39	Relegation to the Second Division

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Demoted to 3rd Division for Financial Irregularities
^ Spared Relegation as Losing Finalist in the playoff due to Livingston
^ The 9th placed team will be entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2009–10 First Division.

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.

First half of season

Home \ Away	AIR	CLY	DND	DNF	GMO	LIV	PAR	QOS	ROS	STJ
Airdrie United		0–2	0–0	1–3	5–0	0–0	0–1	2–0	0–2	1–1
Clyde	1–0		1–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–2
Dundee	1–1	1–0		0–0	1–0	0–3	0–0	2–0	1–2	1–1
Dunfermline Athletic	0–0	4–4	0–1		0–1	1–2	1–0	2–1	3–1	1–2
Greenock Morton	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–1		1–2	2–0	0–0	2–1	2–2
Livingston	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–3	1–0		3–1	2–0	2–0	0–1
Partick Thistle	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–1		2–0	0–1	4–0
Queen of the South	0–0	0–2	3–1	1–2	1–4	6–1	2–0		1–0	2–2
Ross County	2–0	3–0	1–2	2–1	3–0	1–4	1–0	0–2		1–2
St Johnstone	3–1	2–3	2–0	0–3	1–0	2–0	3–0	0–0	2–1

Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season

Home \ Away	AIR	CLY	DND	DNF	GMO	LIV	PAR	QOS	ROS	STJ
Airdrie United		1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	4–4	0–1	2–0	1–0	0–4
Clyde	3–0		2–0	1–4	2–4	0–1	2–4	1–1	2–0	1–3
Dundee	0–1	2–1		1–0	0–0	4–1	4–0	2–3	2–0	0–1
Dunfermline Athletic	1–1	1–1	1–1		2–1	1–0	0–1	0–2	1–2	1–3
Greenock Morton	0–0	2–0	2–0	2–1		2–2	0–1	2–2	0–2	0–0
Livingston	1–1	1–1	0–1	4–2	0–2		2–4	2–2	4–2	1–0
Partick Thistle	0–1	0–1	1–1	2–3	1–0	1–0		0–2	0–2	0–0
Queen of the South	4–0	7–1	0–1	0–3	1–1	3–3	2–2		1–2	3–3
Ross County	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–3	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–0		2–2
St Johnstone	3–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	3–1	1–0	1–1	2–3	0–0

Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Team	Goals
1	Stephen Dobbie	Queen of the South	24
2	Leigh Griffiths	Livingston	18
3	Andy Kirk	Dunfermline Athletic	15
4	Steven Milne	St Johnstone	14
4	Mickaël Antoine-Curier	Dundee	14
6	Pat Clarke	Clyde	11
7	Simon Lynch	Airdrie United	10
	Steven Craig	Ross County
	Sean Higgins	Ross County
10	Peter Weatherson	Greenock Morton	9
	Brian Wake	Greenock Morton
	Gary Harkins	Partick Thistle
13	Nick Phinn	Dunfermline Athletic	8
14	Colin McMenamin	Dundee	7
15	William McLaren	Clyde	6
15	Ruari MacLennan	Clyde	6

Source: The League Insider

Attendance

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Highest	Lowest	Average
Dundee	Dens Park	11,856	6,537	2,831	3,995
St Johnstone	McDiarmid Park	10,673	7,238	2,259	3,502
Dunfermline Athletic	East End Park	11,998	4,998	1,371	3,255
Partick Thistle	Firhill Stadium	10,887	3,378	2,296	2,956
Queen of the South	Palmerston Park	6,412	3,339	2,029	2,720
Greenock Morton	Cappielow	11,612	3,323	1,685	2,279
Ross County	Victoria Park	6,310	3,444	1,625	2,279
Livingston	Almondvale Stadium	10,016	2,169	1,068	1,728
Airdrie United	New Broomfield	10,171	2,165	633	1,356
Clyde	Broadwood Stadium	8,006	2,114	776	1,236

Source: The League Insider

Kits and shirt sponsors

Team	Kit supplier	Shirt sponsor(s)	Notes
Airdrie United	Surridge	St. Andrew's Hospice	New home strip.^[6]
Clyde	Surridge	Optical Express/Reface Scotland	New kit supplier and new away kit sponsor. Reface Scotland are away kit sponsor.^[7]
Dundee	Bukta	Bukta	New home kit, Bukta replace Signitures4U as sponsor.^[8]
Dunfermline Athletic	Puma	The Purvis Group	New kit supplier, return to traditional black and white striped home kit.^[9]
Greenock Morton	Bukta	Millions	New home kit^[10]
Livingston	Macron	RDF Consulting	New kit supplier Macron replacing Nike with a new yellow home kit, while IT solutions provider RDF Consulting sponsor the Lions for the next two seasons.^[11]
Partick Thistle	Puma	Ignis Asset Management	Puma replace Diadora as kit supplier.^[12]
Queen of the South	Surridge	JB Houston Butchers/Maxwelltown Builders	New home and away kits. Home kit is traditional blue and Away kit is red. JB Houston Butchers displayed on front of shirt, Maxwelltown Builders at the back.^[13]
Ross County	Adidas	HIGHnet
St Johnstone	Surridge	George Wimpey	New home kit^{[citation needed]}

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Table position^[14]
Dundee	Alex Rae	Sacked	20 October^[15]	Jocky Scott	30 October^[16]	8
Livingston	Roberto Landi	Sacked	1 December^[17]	Paul Hegarty	5 December^[18]	5
Livingston	Paul Hegarty	Suspended	25 April^[19]	John Murphy	30 June^[20]	6

Monthly awards

Month	First Division manager		SFL Player		SFL Young player
Month	Manager	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
August^[21]	Roberto Landi	Livingston	Stephen Robertson	Airdrie United	Leigh Griffiths	Livingston
September^[22]	Jim McIntyre	Dunfermline Athletic	Paul McManus	East Fife	Calum Elliot	Livingston
October^[23]	Derek McInnes	St Johnstone	Steven Milne	St Johnstone	Dominic Shimmin	Greenock Morton
November^[24]	Jocky Scott	Dundee	Bryan Prunty	Ayr United	Kyle Benedictus	Dundee
December^[25]	John Brown	Clyde	Alan Main	St Johnstone	Chris McMenamin	Berwick Rangers
January^[26]	Ian McCall	Partick Thistle	Willie McLaren	Clyde	Bobby Barr	Albion Rovers
February^[27]	Jocky Scott	Dundee	Gary Harkins	Partick Thistle	Fraser McLaren	Berwick Rangers
March^[28]	Paul Hegarty	Livingston	Kevin Rutkiewicz	St Johnstone	Leigh Griffiths	Livingston
April^[29]	Gordon Chisholm	Queen of the South	Stephen Dobbie	Queen of the South	Kevin Moon	St Johnstone

First Division play-offs

Semi-finals

The ninth placed team in the First Division played the fourth placed team in the Second Division and third placed team in the Second Division played the second placed team in the Second Division. The play-offs were played over two legs, the winning team in each semi-final advanced to the final.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Airdrie United	4 – 1	Peterhead	2–0	2–1
Brechin City	2 – 5	Ayr United	0–2	2–3

First legs

13 May 2009

19:45

Brechin City	0 – 2	Ayr United
	Report	Aitken 8' 36' (pen.)

Glebe Park, Brechin

Attendance: 902

Referee: B Winter

14 May 2009

19:45

Peterhead	0 – 2	Airdrie United
	Report	Baird 9' McLaughlin 47'

Balmoor, Peterhead

Attendance: 1,364

Referee: C MacKay

Second legs

16 May 2009

15:00

Ayr United	3 – 2	Brechin City
Prunty 15' Connolly 70' Aitken 72'	Report	McAllister 38' 53' (pen.)

Somerset Park, Ayr

Attendance: 1,974

Referee: C Allan

17 May 2008

15:00

Airdrie United	2 – 1	Peterhead
Smyth 61' Baird 85'	Report	McKay 45'

New Broomfield, Airdrie

Attendance: 1,008

Referee: S Finnie

Final

The two semi-final winners played each other over two legs. The winning team was awarded a place in the 2009–10 First Division.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Airdrie United	2 – 3	Ayr United	2–2	0–1

First leg

20 May 2009

19:45

Ayr United	2 – 2	Airdrie United
Roberts 48' 67'	Report	di Giacomo 30' Baird 43'

Somerset Park, Ayr

Attendance: 3,378

Referee: E Smith

Second leg

24 May 2009

15:15

Airdrie United	0 – 1	Ayr United
	Report	Stevenson 29'

New Broomfield, Airdrie

Attendance: 3,303

Referee: I Brines

References

^ "Hamilton Accies 2-0 Clyde". BBC Sport. 2008-04-19. Archived from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
^ "Partick Thistle 1-0 Stirling Alb". BBC Sport. 2008-04-08. Archived from the original on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
^ "Ross County 4-0 Berwick Rangers". BBC Sport. 2008-04-05. Archived from the original on April 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
^ "Clyde 2-0 Airdrie United (3-0)". BBC Sport. 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
^ "Gretna demoted to Division Three". BBC Sport. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
^ "New logo [and strip] revealed". Airdrie United F.C. 2008-07-15. Archived from the original on 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
^ "A bit of R & R!". Clyde F.C. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
^ "New Dundee Home Strip Unveiled". Vital football. 2008-05-08. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
^ "Dunfermline kit". Dunfermline Athletic F.C. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
^ "Greenock Morton kit". Greenock Morton F.C. 2008-05-23. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
^ "Livingston announce new sponsor". Livington F.C. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
^ "Partick Thistle net new kit deal". BBC Sport. 2008-03-11. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
^ "Queen of the South kit". 2008-05-29. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
^ Shows position in table at time when manager departed.
^ "Dundee sack Rae and seek new boss". BBC Sport. 2008-10-20. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
^ "Scott is Dens boss for third time". BBC Sport. 2008-10-30. Archived from the original on 1 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
^ "Sack for Livingston manager Landi". BBC Sport. 1 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
^ "Livi confirm Hegarty as new boss". BBC Sport. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
^ "Hegarty turned away at Almondvale". BBC Sport. 27 April 2009. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
^ "Livi name coach as deadline looms". BBC Sport. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
^ "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards August, 2008". Scottish Football League. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards September, 2008". Scottish Football League. 15 October 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
^ "THE IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards October, 2008". Scottish Football League. 11 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
^ "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards November, 2008". Scottish Football League. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
^ "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards December, 2008". Scottish Football League. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards January, 2009". Scottish Football League. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
^ "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards February, 2009". Scottish Football League. 19 March 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
^ "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards March, 2009". Scottish Football League. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "IThe IRN-BRU SFL Phenomenal Manager and Player of the Month Awards April, 2009". Scottish Football league. 26 May 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.

[table_hth_LIV0.29287815899257-6] Demoted to 3rd Division for Financial Irregularities

[table_hth_AIR0.29287815899257-7] Spared Relegation as Losing Finalist in the playoff due to Livingston

[table_note_res_RP0.29287815899257-8] The 9th placed team will be entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2009–10 First Division.

[1] "Hamilton Accies 2-0 Clyde". BBC Sport. 2008-04-19. Archived from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-19.

[2] "Partick Thistle 1-0 Stirling Alb". BBC Sport. 2008-04-08. Archived from the original on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-08.

[3] "Ross County 4-0 Berwick Rangers". BBC Sport. 2008-04-05. Archived from the original on April 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-07.

[4] "Clyde 2-0 Airdrie United (3-0)". BBC Sport. 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-08-18.

[5] "Gretna demoted to Division Three". BBC Sport. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-29.

[9] "New logo [and strip] revealed". Airdrie United F.C. 2008-07-15. Archived from the original on 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-08-02.

[10] "A bit of R & R!". Clyde F.C. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-10.

[11] "New Dundee Home Strip Unveiled". Vital football. 2008-05-08. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-20.

[12] "Dunfermline kit". Dunfermline Athletic F.C. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.

[13] "Greenock Morton kit". Greenock Morton F.C. 2008-05-23. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2008-05-25.

[14] "Livingston announce new sponsor". Livington F.C. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2013.

[15] "Partick Thistle net new kit deal". BBC Sport. 2008-03-11. Retrieved 2008-05-20.

[16] "Queen of the South kit". 2008-05-29. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.

[17] Shows position in table at time when manager departed.

[18] "Dundee sack Rae and seek new boss". BBC Sport. 2008-10-20. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-20.

[19] "Scott is Dens boss for third time". BBC Sport. 2008-10-30. Archived from the original on 1 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-01.

[20] "Sack for Livingston manager Landi". BBC Sport. 1 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2008.

[21] "Livi confirm Hegarty as new boss". BBC Sport. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.

[22] "Hegarty turned away at Almondvale". BBC Sport. 27 April 2009. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.

[23] "Livi name coach as deadline looms". BBC Sport. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.

[24] "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards August, 2008". Scottish Football League. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.^{[permanent dead link]}

[25] "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards September, 2008". Scottish Football League. 15 October 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2008.

[26] "THE IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards October, 2008". Scottish Football League. 11 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2008.

[27] "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards November, 2008". Scottish Football League. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2008.

[28] "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards December, 2008". Scottish Football League. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}

[29] "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards January, 2009". Scottish Football League. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.

[30] "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards February, 2009". Scottish Football League. 19 March 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.

[31] "The IRN-BRU SFL Manager and Player of the Month Awards March, 2009". Scottish Football League. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}

[32] "IThe IRN-BRU SFL Phenomenal Manager and Player of the Month Awards April, 2009". Scottish Football league. 26 May 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.

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v t e Second tier football seasons in Scotland
Division Two / B	1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75
First Division	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
Championship	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Winners	List of winners of the Scottish Championship and predecessors

v t e 2008–09 in Scottish football
« 2007–08 2009–10 »
Domestic leagues	Premier League Football League First Division Second Division Third Division Highland League East of Scotland Women's Premier League Women's First Division
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Challenge Cup Final Junior Cup Youth Cup Women's Cup Women's League Cup
European competitions	Champions League UEFA Cup Intertoto Cup
Related to national team	Results 2010 World Cup qualifying (UEFA Group 9)
Club seasons
Premier League	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Falkirk Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers St. Mirren
First Division	Airdrie United Clyde Dundee Dunfermline Athletic Greenock Morton Livingston Queen of the South Partick Thistle Ross County St. Johnstone
Second Division	Alloa Athletic Arbroath Ayr United Brechin City East Fife Peterhead Queen's Park Raith Rovers Stirling Albion Stranraer
Third Division	Albion Rovers Annan Athletic Berwick Rangers Cowdenbeath Dumbarton East Stirlingshire Elgin City Forfar Athletic Montrose Stenhousemuir
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2008–09 Scottish First Division

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2008–09 Scottish First Division

2008–09 Scottish First Division

2008–09 Scottish First Division

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