| Competition: | Scottish League Two |
| Season: | 2017–18 |
| Winners: | Montrose |
| Promoted: | Montrose Stenhousemuir |
| Matches: | 180 |
| Total Goals: | 500 |
| League Topscorer: | David Goodwillie (25 goals)[1] |
| Biggest Home Win: | [2] (2 January 2018) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (7 April 2018) |
| Highest Scoring: | (30 December 2017) |
| Longest Wins: | 7 matches: Peterhead |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 10 matches: Montrose |
| Longest Winless: | 24 matches: Cowdenbeath |
| Longest Losses: | 5 matches: Cowdenbeath Edinburgh City |
| Highest Attendance: | 2,380 (28 April 2018) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 216 (24 February 2018) |
| Attendance: | 88,681 |
| Average Attendance: | 492 |
| Prevseason: | 2016–17 |
| Nextseason: | 2018–19 |
| Updated: | 12 May 2018 |
The 2017–18 Scottish League Two (known as Ladbrokes League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The last placed team entered a play-off with a team nominated by the Scottish Football Association from outside the SPFL determining which team enters League Two in the 2018–19 season.[3] The fixtures were published on 23 June 2017.[4]
Ten teams contested the league: Annan Athletic, Berwick Rangers, Clyde, Cowdenbeath, Edinburgh City, Elgin City, Montrose, Peterhead, Stenhousemuir and Stirling Albion.
In April 2018, the SPFL confirmed the prize money to be allocated to the league members at the conclusion of the competitions. The League Two winners would receive £64,000 with a total pot of £24.5 million to be distributed across the four divisions.[5]
The following teams changed division since the 2016–17 season.
Relegated from Scottish League One
Promoted to Scottish League One
| Annan Athletic | Berwick Rangers | Clyde | Cowdenbeath | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galabank | Shielfield Park | Broadwood Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 2,504[6] | Capacity: 4,099[7] | Capacity: 8,086[8] | Capacity: 4,309[9] | |
| Edinburgh City | Elgin City | |||
| Ainslie Park[10] | Borough Briggs | |||
| Capacity: 3,000 | Capacity: 4,520[11] | |||
| Montrose | Peterhead | Stenhousemuir | Stirling Albion | |
| Links Park | Balmoor | Ochilview Park | Forthbank Stadium | |
| Capacity: 4,936[12] | Capacity: 3,150[13] | Capacity: 3,746[14] | Capacity: 3,808[15] | |
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annan Athletic |  | [16] | Stanno | M&S Engineering Ltd[17] | |
| Berwick Rangers | Mitre[18] | JMS Harkin (H)[19] P J Brown (A) | |||
| Clyde | [20] | Hummel | Advance Construction Group (H)[21] Rock Regen (A) | ||
| Cowdenbeath | [22] | Uhlsport[23] | Subsea Pressure Controls | ||
| Edinburgh City | [24] | Joma[25] | CMC Property[26] | ||
| Elgin City | [27] | EC 1893[28] | McDonald & Munro | ||
| Montrose | [29] | Nike[30] | Carnegie Fuels Ltd | ||
| Peterhead | [31] | Adidas | Independent Oilfield Services | ||
| Stenhousemuir | [32] | Mitre[33] | Warriors in the Community | ||
| Stirling Albion | [34] | Macron | Prudential |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clyde | &<br /> (joint interim) | End of interim | 6 May 2017 | Pre-season | 20 May 2017[35] | ||
| Annan Athletic | Signed by Clyde | 20 May 2017 | | 2 June 2017 | |||
| Cowdenbeath | Signed by Heart of Midlothian | 1 July 2017[36] | 1 July 2017[37] | ||||
| Berwick Rangers |  | Sacked | 22 August 2017[38] | 9th | 29 August 2017[39] | ||
| Edinburgh City | Resigned | 30 September 2017[40] | 9th | 10 October 2017[41] | |||
| Elgin City | Signed by Forfar Athletic | 1 October 2017[42] | 6th | 12 October 2017[43] [44] | |||
| Cowdenbeath | Resigned | 31 October 2017[45] | 10th | 14 November 2017[46] | |||
| Clyde | Sacked | 31 October 2017[47] | 8th | 13 November 2017[48] |
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 League One | ||
| Qualification to League One play-offs | ||
| Qualification to League Two play-offs |
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | - align=center | 9 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 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
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.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Goodwillie | Clyde | 25 | |
| 2 | Darren L. Smith | Stirling Albion | 22 | |
| 3 | Rory McAllister | Peterhead | 20 | |
| Mark McGuigan | Stenhousemuir | |||
| 5 | Blair Henderson | Annan Athletic | 16 | |
| 6 | Russell McLean | Peterhead | 15 | |
| 7 | Aidan Smith | Annan Athletic | 12 | |
| 8 | Lewis Milne | Montrose | 11 | |
| Chris Templeman | Montrose | |||
| 10 | Brian Cameron | Elgin City | 10 |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blair Henderson | Annan Athletic | Stenhousemuir | 3–1 | [49] | ||
| Russell McLean | Peterhead | Annan Athletic | 3–3 | [50] | ||
| Montrose | Stirling Albion | 5–0 | [51] | |||
| Blair Henderson | Annan Athletic | Stirling Albion | 3–1 | [52] |
| Rank | Player | Club | Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Nicoll | Clyde | 13 |
| 2 | Peter Watson | Annan Athletic | 12 |
| Fraser Mullen | Cowdenbeath | ||
| 4 | Steven Swinglehurst | Annan Athletic | 11 |
| Craig Thomson | Edinburgh City | ||
| 6 | Robbie Buchanan | Cowdenbeath | 10 |
| Kyle Miller | Cowdenbeath | ||
| Darryl McHardy | Elgin City | ||
| Thomas Reilly | Elgin City |
| Rank | Player | Club | Cards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Nicoll | Clyde | 2 | |
| 2 | 24 players | 1 | ||
| Rank | Club | Cards | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annan Athletic | 74 | |
| 2 | Cowdenbeath | 72 | |
| 3 | Berwick Rangers | 67 |
| Rank | Club | Cards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clyde | 5 |
| Cowdenbeath | ||
| 3 | Annan Athletic | 4 |
| Edinburgh City |
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | ||
| August | Dave Mackay | Stirling Albion | Darren L. Smith | Stirling Albion | [53] |
| September | Brown Ferguson | Stenhousemuir | Mark McGuigan | Stenhousemuir | |
| October | Gavin Price | Elgin City | Craig Johnston | Montrose | |
| November | Stewart Petrie | Montrose | Cammy Ballantyne | Montrose | |
| December | Jim McInally | Peterhead | Rory McAllister | Peterhead | |
| January | Jim McInally | Peterhead | Darren L. Smith | Stirling Albion | |
| February | Dave Mackay | Stirling Albion | Peter MacDonald | Stirling Albion | |
| March | Danny Lennon | Clyde | Chris McStay | Clyde | |
The first round was contested between the winners of the 2017–18 Highland Football League (Cove Rangers) and the 2017–18 Lowland Football League (Spartans). The winners then played against the bottom club in League Two, and would have been promoted to League Two for the 2018–19 season if they had won.
Due to fixture congestion in the Highland League preventing a champion being crowned in time, the dates for the first round were pushed back a week.[54]