The 2017–18 Scottish Championship (known as the Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the current format of ten 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 four 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.
To Championship
Promoted from Scottish League One Brechin City Livingston
Relegated from Scottish Premiership Inverness Caledonian Thistle
From Championship
Relegated to Scottish League One Ayr United Raith Rovers
Promoted to Scottish Premiership Hibernian
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 Greenock Morton Falkirk Stadium Cappielow Park Capacity: 7,937 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 Pendle Delson Dumbarton Joma Turnberry Homes Dundee United Csaba László Nike McEwan Fraser Legal Dunfermline Athletic Joma SRJ Windows Falkirk Puma Central Demolition Greenock Morton Vision Outsourcing Millions Inverness CT Erreà McEwan Fraser Legal Livingston FBT Tony Macaroni Queen of the South Macron J.B. Houston St Mirren Joma Skyview Capital
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Inverness CT Sacked 29 May 2017 Pre-season 14 June 2017 Falkirk Sacked 24 September 2017 9th (interim) 24 September 2017 Falkirk (interim) End of interim 4 October 2017 8th 4 October 2017 Dundee United 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
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 \ Round1 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 1Livingston 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 2Dundee 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 3Dunfermline 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 4Inverness 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 5Queen 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 6Greenock 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 7Falkirk 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 8Dumbarton 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 9Brechin 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
Second half of season
Season statistics
Scoring Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Stephen DobbieQueen of the South182 Scott McDonaldDundee United153 Nicky ClarkDunfermline Athletic14 Lewis MorganSt Mirren5 Gavin ReillySt Mirren116 Kallum HigginbothamDunfermline Athletic10 Cammy SmithSt Mirren
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Ref Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South Falkirk 4–1 Dunfermline Athletic 5–2 Brechin City 3–1 Brechin City 5–1 Nicky Clark Dunfermline Athletic Brechin City 3–0 Queen of the South 3–1 Nathan Austin Inverness Caledonian Thistle Dumbarton 5–1
Discipline
Player
Yellow cards
RankPlayerClubCards1 Iain VigursInverness Caledonian Thistle142 Brad McKayInverness Caledonian Thistle133 James DaleBrechin City10 Gary HarkinsGreenock Morton
Red cards
RankPlayerClubCards1 Aron LynasBrechin City2 Craig BarrDumbarton Paul McMullanDundee United Iain VigursInverness Caledonian Thistle528 players1
Club
Yellow cards
RankClubCards1Inverness CT762Dunfermline Athletic723Brechin City69
Red cards
RankClubCards1Inverness CT72Brechin City5DumbartonLivingston
Attendances
Awards
Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthRef.ManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Allan Johnston Dunfermline Athletic Joe Cardle Dunfermline Athletic September David Hopkin Livingston Lewis Morgan St MirrenOctober John Robertson Inverness CT Carl Tremarco Inverness CTNovember Stephen Aitken Dumbarton Scott Fraser Dundee UnitedDecember Jack Ross St Mirren Stephen Dobbie Queen of the SouthJanuary Jack Ross St Mirren Stephen McGinn St MirrenFebruary David Hopkin Livingston Ryan Hardie LivingstonMarch 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.
Semi-finals First leg
Second leg
Final First leg
Second leg
References