| Pixels: | 250 |
| Competition: | Scottish League Two |
| Season: | 2016–17 |
| Winners: | Arbroath |
| Promoted: | Arbroath Forfar Athletic |
| Matches: | 180 |
| Total Goals: | 531 |
| League Topscorer: | Shane Sutherland (18 goals)[1] [2] |
| Biggest Home Win: | [3] (10 December 2016) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (15 October 2016) |
| Highest Scoring: | (27 August 2016) (27 August 2016) |
| Longest Wins: | 7 matches: Forfar Athletic |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 10 matches: Forfar Athletic |
| Longest Winless: | 14 matches: Clyde |
| Longest Losses: | 7 matches: Cowdenbeath |
| Highest Attendance: | 1,748 (6 May 2017) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 241 (10 December 2016) |
| Attendance: | 96,248 |
| Average Attendance: | 537 (18[4]) |
| Prevseason: | 2015–16 |
| Nextseason: | 2017–18 |
| Updated: | 7 May 2017 |
The 2016–17 Scottish League Two (known as Ladbrokes League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The last placed team (Cowdenbeath) entered a play-off with a team nominated by the Scottish Football Association from outside the SPFL (East Kilbride), to determine which team entered League Two in the 2017–18 season.[5] The fixtures were published on 17 June 2016.[6]
Ten teams contested the league: Annan Athletic, Arbroath, Berwick Rangers, Clyde, Cowdenbeath, Edinburgh City, Elgin City, Forfar Athletic, Montrose and Stirling Albion. Arbroath won the league and were promoted, while Forfar were also promoted via the League One play-offs.
The following teams changed division since the 2015–16 season.
Promoted from Lowland Football League
Relegated from Scottish League One
Relegated to Lowland Football League
Promoted to Scottish League One
| Annan Athletic | Arbroath | Berwick Rangers | Clyde | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galabank | Gayfield Park | Shielfield Park | Broadwood Stadium | |
| Capacity: 2,504[7] | Capacity: 6,600[8] | Capacity: 4,099[9] | Capacity: 8,086[10] | |
| Cowdenbeath | Edinburgh City | |||
| Meadowbank Stadium | ||||
| Capacity: 4,309[11] | Capacity: 5,000[12] | |||
| Elgin City | Forfar Athletic | Montrose | Stirling Albion | |
| Borough Briggs | Station Park | Links Park | Forthbank Stadium | |
| Capacity: 4,520[13] | Capacity: 6,777[14] | Capacity: 4,936[15] | Capacity: 3,808[16] | |
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annan Athletic | Jim Chapman | Steven Black | Stanno | M&S Engineering Ltd | |
| Arbroath | Dick Campbell | Mark Whatley | Pendle | Megatech | |
| Berwick Rangers |  John Coughlin | Jordyn Sheerin | Zoo Sport | Simple Energy Scotland Ltd | |
| Clyde | Jon-Paul McGovern &<br /> Peter MacDonald (joint interim) | Scott Ferguson | Hummel | Advance Construction Group (H), Heartfelt Limited (A) | |
| Cowdenbeath | Gary Locke | David McGurn | Uhlsport | Subsea Pressure Controls | |
| Edinburgh City | Gary Jardine | Dougie Gair | Joma | Hutchinson Networks | |
| Elgin City | Jim Weir | Archie MacPhee | EC 1893 | McDonald & Munro | |
| Forfar Athletic | Gary Bollan | David Cox | Pendle | Orchard Timber Products | |
| Montrose | Stewart Petrie | Paul Watson | Nike | Intervention Rentals | |
| Stirling Albion | Dave Mackay | Ross McMillan | Macron | Prudential |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowdenbeath | Sacked | 12 May 2016[17] | Pre-season | 23 May 2016 | |||
| Stirling Albion | Sacked | 24 September 2016[18] | 9th | (caretaker) | 24 September 2016 | ||
| Stirling Albion | (caretaker) | Stepped down | 5 November 2016[19] | 7th | 9 November 2016[20] | ||
| Montrose | Sacked | 16 November 2016[21] | 9th | (caretaker) | 16 November 2016 | ||
| Montrose | (caretaker) | Interim ended | 4 December 2016[22] | 10th | 4 December 2016 | ||
| Clyde | Resigned | 26 February 2017[23] | 8th | (interim) | 26 February 2017[24] | ||
| Clyde | Bob Malcolm (interim) | Interim ended | 2 March 2017[25] | 9th | &<br /> (joint interim) | 2 March 2017 | |
| Cowdenbeath | Resigned | 6 March 2017[26] | 10th | 10 March 2017[27] |
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 36 games.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane Sutherland | Elgin City | 18 |
| 2 | Peter MacDonald | Clyde | 17 |
| 3 | Ryan McCord | Arbroath | 13 |
| Steven Thomson | Berwick Rangers | ||
| Brian Cameron | Elgin City | ||
| 6 | Steven Doris | Arbroath | 12 |
| Danny Denholm | Forfar Athletic | ||
| 8 | David McKenna | Annan Athletic | 11 |
| Gary Fraser | Montrose | ||
| David Cox | Forfar Athletic | ||
| Josh Peters | Forfar Athletic | ||
| Darren Smith | Stirling Albion |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbroath | Stirling Albion | 5–3 | [28] | ||
| Elgin City | Berwick Rangers | 6–0 | [29] | ||
| Elgin City | Edinburgh City | 3–1 | [30] | ||
| Steven Thomson | Berwick Rangers | Annan Athletic | 4–1 | [31] | |
| Clyde | Elgin City | 3–2 | [32] | ||
| Arbroath | Elgin City | 3–2 | [33] | ||
| Rank | Player | Club | Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Bolochoweckyj | Montrose | 12 |
| 2 | Mark Nicolson | Elgin City | 10 |
| Terry Masson | Montrose | ||
| 4 | Kyle Miller | Cowdenbeath | 9 |
| David Gormley | Clyde | ||
| 6 | Darren Lavery | Berwick Rangers | 8 |
| Sean Higgins | Clyde | ||
| Aaron Dunsmore | Edinburgh City | ||
| Ryan Porteous | Edinburgh City | ||
| Martyn Fotheringham | Forfar Athletic | ||
| Gavin Swankie | Forfar Athletic |
| Rank | Player | Club | Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael McKenna | Berwick Rangers | 3 |
| 2 | Darren Ramsay | Annan Athletic | 2 |
| Ricky Little | Arbroath | ||
| Jassem Sukar | Arbroath | ||
| Gary Fraser | Montrose | ||
| Terry Masson | Montrose |
| Rank | Club | Cards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forfar Athletic | 72 |
| 2 | Berwick Rangers | 68 |
| Clyde |
| Rank | Club | Cards | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berwick Rangers | 9 | |
| 2 | Montrose | 8 | |
| 3 | Forfar Athletic | 6 |
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | ||
| August | Gary Bollan | Forfar Athletic | Josh Peters | Forfar Athletic | [34] |
| September | Gary Bollan | Forfar Athletic | Thomas O'Brien | Forfar Athletic | |
| October | Jim Weir | Elgin City | Shane Sutherland | Elgin City | |
| November | Gary Jardine | Edinburgh City | Marc Laird | Edinburgh City | |
| December | Gary Jardine | Edinburgh City | Andrew Stobie | Edinburgh City | |
| January | Gary Bollan | Forfar Athletic | Shane Sutherland | Elgin City | |
| February | Jim Chapman | Annan Athletic | Gavin Skelton | Annan Athletic | |
| March | Dave Mackay | Stirling Albion | Greg Rutherford | Berwick Rangers | |
| April | Dick Campbell | Arbroath | Ryan McCord | Arbroath | |
| PFA Scotland Team of the Year[35] [36] |
The PFA Scotland Scottish Championship Team of the Year was:[35] [36]
The semi-final was contested between the winners of the 2016–17 Highland Football League (Buckie Thistle)[38] and the 2016–17 Lowland Football League (East Kilbride).[39] The winners then played off against the bottom club in League Two (Cowdenbeath).[40]