2007–08 Scottish Third Division (original) (raw)
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Football league season
Scottish Football League Third Division
| Season | 2007–08 |
|---|---|
| Champions | East Fife |
| Promoted | East FifeStranraerArbroath |
| Relegated | n/a |
| Matches played | 180 |
| Goals scored | 526 (2.92 per match) |
| Biggest home win | East Fife 7–0 Stenhousemuir(29 September 2007) |
| Biggest away win | Elgin City 0–5 Stranraer(27 February 2008) |
| Highest scoring | East Stirlingshire 4–5 Albion Rovers(8 December 2007) |
| Longest winning run | 8 gamesEast Fife |
| Longest unbeaten run | 11 gamesArbroathEast Fife |
| Longest winless run | 12 gamesEast Stirlingshire |
| Longest losing run | 10 gamesEast Stirlingshire |
| ← 2006–07 2008–09 → |
The 2007–08 Scottish Football League Third Division was the 14th season in the format of ten teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The season started on 4 August 2007 and ended on 26 April 2008. East Fife F.C. finished top and were promoted alongside Arbroath F.C. as play-off winners. Stranraer F.C. were also promoted due to Gretna being demoted to the Third Division.
Location of teams in 2007–08 Scottish Third Division
Berwick Rangers as champions of the 2006–07 season were directly promoted to the 2007–08 Scottish Second Division. They were replaced by Forfar Athletic who finished bottom of the 2006–07 Scottish Second Division.
A second promotion place was available via a play-off tournament between the ninth-placed team of the 2006–07 Scottish Second Division, Stranraer, and the sides ranked second, third and fourth in the 2006–07 Scottish Third Division, Arbroath, Queen's Park and East Fife respectively. The play-off was won by Queen's Park who defeated East Fife in the final. Stranraer were therefore relegated.
Relegated from Second Division to Third Division
- Forfar Athletic
- Stranraer (via play-offs)
Promoted from Third Division to Second Division
- Berwick Rangers
- Queens Park (via play-offs)
Stadia and attendances
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| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Highest | Lowest | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Fife | Bayview Stadium | 2,000 | 1,300 | 540 | 769 |
| Arbroath | Gayfield Park | 6,488 | 959 | 421 | 611 |
| Montrose | Links Park | 3,292 | 1,470 | 321 | 597 |
| Dumbarton | Strathclyde Homes Stadium | 2,025 | 907 | 258 | 559 |
| Elgin City | Borough Briggs | 3,927 | 624 | 301 | 471 |
| Stenhousemuir | Ochilview Park | 3,776 | 755 | 212 | 414 |
| Forfar Athletic | Station Park | 5,177 | 615 | 270 | 410 |
| East Stirlingshire | Firs Park | 1,800 | 791 | 235 | 377 |
| Albion Rovers | Cliftonhill | 1,249 | 512 | 186 | 307 |
| Stranraer | Stair Park | 5,600 | 487 | 117 | 255 |
Source: The League Insider
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stenhousemuir |  Campbell Money |
Resigned | 29 September 2007 | John Coughlin |
12 October 2007 |
| Ayr United | Neil Watt |
Resigned | 23 October 2007 | Brian Reid |
24 October 2007 |
| Dumbarton | Gerry McCabe |
Sacked | 11 November 2007 | Jim Chapman |
31 December 2007 |
| East Stirlingshire | Gordon Wylde |
Resigned | 28 February 2008 | Jim McInally |
13 March 2008 |
| Forfar Athletic | Jim Moffat |
Mutual consent | 21 April[1] | Dick Campbell |
8 May[2] |
| Berwick Rangers | Michael Renwick |
Sacked | 28 February[3] | Allan McGonigal |
13 May[4] |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Fife (C, P) | 36 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 77 | 24 | +53 | 88 | Promotion to the Second Division |
| 2 | Stranraer[a] (P) | 36 | 19 | 8 | 9 | 65 | 43 | +22 | 65 | Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs[b] |
| 3 | Montrose | 36 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 59 | 36 | +23 | 59 | |
| 4 | Arbroath (P, O) | 36 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 54 | 47 | +7 | 52 | |
| 5 | Stenhousemuir | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 50 | 59 | −9 | 48 | |
| 6 | Elgin City | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 56 | 68 | −12 | 47 | |
| 7 | Albion Rovers | 36 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 51 | 68 | −17 | 37 | |
| 8 | Dumbarton | 36 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 31 | 48 | −17 | 37 | |
| 9 | East Stirlingshire[c] | 36 | 10 | 4 | 22 | 48 | 71 | −23 | 34 | |
| 10 | Forfar Athletic | 36 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 35 | 62 | −27 | 33 |
Source: SPFL archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:
- ^ Stranraer won promotion to Second Division after Gretna were relegated to the Third Division.
- ^ The 9th placed Second Division team were entered into a play-off with the Third Division's 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams. The winning team were awarded a place in the 2008–09 Second Division, Cowdenbeath were relegated and Arbroath were promoted. With Gretna being relegated to the Third Division, Stranraer were also promoted.
- ^ Had East Stirlingshire finished bottom of the table for what would have been a sixth consecutive time, they would have lost their Scottish Football League status, they finished second bottom.[_citation needed_]
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
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Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Second half of season
[edit]
Updated to match(es) played on 27 April. Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
| Scorer | Goals | Team |
|---|---|---|
| John Baird |
18 | Montrose |
| Paul McManus |
17 | East Fife |
| Michael Mullen |
13 | Stranraer |
| Roddy Hunter |
12 | Montrose |
| Darren Shallicker |
Elgin City | |
| Andrew Brand |
11 | East Stirlingshire |
| John Gemmell |
Albion Rovers | |
| Brian Scott |
Arbroath | |
 Gregory Tade |
Stranraer | |
| Joseph Savage |
10 | East Stirlingshire |
| Kenny Wright |
Albion Rovers | |
| Scott Dalziel |
9 | Stenhousemuir |
| William Martin |
8 | Albion Rovers |
| Barry Sellars |
Arbroath | |
| Douglas Cameron |
East Fife | |
| Greig McDonald |
7 | East Fife |
Source: The League Insider
- 15 March: East Fife confirm their promotion to the Second Division as Third Division champions with a 3–0 victory over East Stirlingshire, becoming the first team in Britain to win a league trophy in the 2007–08 season.[5]
- 29 March: Berwick Rangers are relegated from the Second Division after a 2–2 draw with Peterhead.[6]
- 10 May: Arbroath are promoted to the Second Division after a 2–1 aggregate win over Stranraer in the Second Division play-off final.[7] Cowdenbeath, who were beaten by Arbroath in the semi-finals, are relegated to the Third Division.
- 29 May: Second Division play-off runners-up Stranraer are promoted to the Second Division following Gretna's demotion to the Third Division.[8]
| Month | Third Division manager | SFL Player | SFL Young player |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | Gordon Wylde (East Stirlingshire) |
First Division player | First Division player |
| September | John McGlashan (Arbroath) |
Second Division player | First Division player |
| October |  David Baikie (East Fife) |
First Division player | First Division player |
| November | David Baikie (East Fife) |
First Division player | Scott Fox (East Fife) |
| December | Gerry Britton (Stranraer) |
Second Division player | First Division player |
| January | David Baikie (East Fife) |
Second Division player | First Division player |
| February | Derek Ferguson (Stranraer) |
First Division player | First Division player |
| March | Robbie Williamson (Elgin City) |
First Division player | First Division player |
| April | Derek Ferguson (Stranraer) |
First Division player | First Division player |
Second Division play-offs
[edit]
- ^ "Forfar exit for manager Moffat". BBC Sport website. 21 April 2008. Archived from the original on 27 April 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ "Campbell takes the helm at Forfar". BBC Sport. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
- ^ "Berwick part company with Renwick". BBC Sport website. 21 April 2008. Archived from the original on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ "McGonigal takes over at Berwick". BBC Sport. 8 May 2008. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
- ^ "East Stirlingshire 0–3 East Fife". BBC Sport. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
- ^ "Berwick Rangers 2–2 Peterhead". BBC Sport. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
- ^ "Stranraer 1–0 Arbroath (1–2)". BBC Sport. 10 May 2008. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
- ^ "Gretna demoted to Division Three". BBC Sport. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2008.