2011–12 Scottish Third Division

The 2011–12 Scottish Football League Third Division (also known as the 2011–12 Irn Bru Scottish Football League Third Division for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The season started on 6 August 2011 and finished on 5 May 2012.^[4]

Irn Bru Scottish Third Division

Season	2011–12
Champions	Alloa Athletic
Promoted	Alloa Athletic Stranraer
Relegated	n/a
Matches played	180
Goals scored	581 (3.23 per match)
Top goalscorer	Martin Boyle (22)
Biggest home win	Alloa Athletic 8–1 Elgin City (7 April 2012)
Biggest away win	Montrose 0–6 Stranraer (27 August 2011)
Highest scoring	East Stirlingshire 6–3 Peterhead (3 March 2012) Alloa Athletic 8–1 Elgin City (7 April 2012)
Longest winning run	7 games Alloa Athletic
Longest unbeaten run	15 games Alloa Athletic
Longest winless run	12 games East Stirlingshire
Longest losing run	10 games East Stirlingshire
Highest attendance	2,551[1] Alloa Athletic v Annan Athletic (5 May 2012)
Lowest attendance	215[2] East Stirlingshire v Annan Athletic (3 December 2011)
Average attendance	475[3]
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

Alloa Athletic secured the Third Division title on 7 April 2012, ending their one-year spell in the bottom tier of the Scottish Football League. A second promotion place is available through the play-offs which will be contested by runners-up Queen's Park along with Stranraer, Elgin City, and Albion Rovers of the Second Division. There is no relegation from this division but East Stirlingshire finished bottom for the sixth time in 10 years.

Teams

Alloa Athletic

Annan Athletic

Berwick Rangers

Clyde

East Stirlingshire

Elgin City

Montrose

Peterhead

Queen's Park

Stranraer

Location of teams in 2011–12 Scottish Third Division

A total of 10 teams competed in the league, including eight sides from the previous season and the two teams relegated from the 2010–11 Scottish Second Division.

Arbroath as champions of the 2010–11 season were directly promoted to the 2011–12 Scottish Second Division.^[5] Thus completing only a one-year stay in the bottom tier of the Scottish Football League. In the process, winning the club's first ever senior silverware since the club was founded in 1878 − 133 years ago. They were replaced by Peterhead who finished bottom of the 2010–11 Scottish Second Division, relegated for the first time since joining the Scottish Football League in 2000.^[5]

A second promotion place was available via a play-off tournament between the ninth-placed team of the 2010–11 Scottish Second Division, Alloa Athletic, and the sides ranked second, third and fourth of the 2010–11 Scottish Third Division; Albion Rovers, Queen's Park and Annan Athletic respectively. The play off was won by Albion Rovers who defeated Annan Athletic in the final. Alloa Athletic were therefore relegated.^[5]

Stadia and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity[6]	Average[3]
Alloa Athletic	Alloa	Recreation Park	3,100	672
Annan Athletic	Annan	Galabank	2,007	473
Berwick Rangers	Berwick-upon-Tweed	Shielfield Park	4,065	396
Clyde	Cumbernauld	Broadwood	8,006	566
East Stirlingshire	Stenhousemuir	Ochilview Park[A]	3,746	321
Elgin City	Elgin	Borough Briggs	3,927	628
Montrose	Montrose	Links Park	3,292	335
Peterhead	Peterhead	Balmoor	3,150	488
Queen's Park	Glasgow	Hampden Park	52,025	519
Stranraer	Stranraer	Stair Park	6,250	354

A.^ East Stirlingshire ground shared with Stenhousemuir.^[7]

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Alloa Athletic	Paul Hartley	Pendle	mte
Annan Athletic	Harry Cairney	Stanno	M&S Engineering
Berwick Rangers	Jimmy Crease	Zoo Sport	JB Site Investigations
Clyde	Jim Duffy	Joma	Floortel
East Stirlingshire	John Coughlin	Jako	Foxlane
Elgin City	Ross Jack	Hummel
Montrose	Ray Farningham	Nike	Fotheringham Property Developments
Peterhead	Jim McInally	Umbro	Bon Accord Glass
Queen's Park	Gardner Speirs	Joma	Irn-Bru
Stranraer	Keith Knox	Stanno	Stena Line

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or qualification
1	Alloa Athletic (C, P)	36	23	8	5	70	39	+31	77	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Queen's Park	36	19	6	11	70	48	+22	63	Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs
3	Stranraer (P)	36	17	7	12	77	57	+20	58[a]
4	Elgin City	36	16	9	11	68	60	+8	57
5	Peterhead	36	15	6	15	51	53	−2	51
6	Annan Athletic	36	13	10	13	53	53	0	49
7	Berwick Rangers	36	12	12	12	61	58	+3	48
8	Montrose	36	11	5	20	58	75	−17	38
9	Clyde	36	8	11	17	35	50	−15	35
10	East Stirlingshire	36	6	6	24	38	88	−50	24

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

1. Stranraer advanced to the final of the Second Division play-offs but were defeated by Albion Rovers, who retained their place in the Second Division. However, following the demotion of Rangers to the Third Division, Dundee were promoted from the First Division to the SPL, Airdrie United promoted from the Second to the First Division, and Stranraer were promoted from the Third to the Second Division.

Results

Each team plays every other team four times in the season. In each half of the season, a team plays every opponent once at home and once away from home. The same set of fixtures is repeated for the second half of the season, bringing each team's tally of games to 36.

First half of season Home \ Away ALO ANN BER CLY EST ELG MON PET QPA STR Alloa Athletic 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 3–0 4–2 2–1 1–0 1–0 Annan Athletic 2–0 2–2 1–0 3–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 5–2 0–3 Berwick Rangers 2–2 0–1 0–2 4–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–2 Clyde 0–1 0–0 1–4 7–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 East Stirlingshire 0–1 1–0 1–3 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–3 1–3 Elgin City 5–0 3–0 4–1 0–3 2–0 3–1 1–6 2–0 1–1 Montrose 1–1 2–3 3–5 4–0 2–1 3–0 2–1 0–1 0–6 Peterhead 1–1 2–3 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–3 2–3 1–1 1–3 Queen's Park 1–3 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 6–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 Stranraer 2–3 4–2 2–1 0–0 6–0 1–0 4–4 2–1 2–3 Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2012. Source: BBC Sport Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season Home \ Away ALO ANN BER CLY EST ELG MON PET QPA STR Alloa Athletic 1–1 0–1 1–0 5–1 8–1 2–0 3–1 4–0 3–1 Annan Athletic 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–2 0–3 2–3 1–3 Berwick Rangers 5–0 1–3 3–0 0–2 3–3 2–2 0–1 1–4 1–0 Clyde 1–1 1–1 2–2 3–0 0–2 1–2 0–1 1–2 2–1 East Stirlingshire 1–3 0–4 2–1 0–1 2–2 3–1 6–3 1–2 2–2 Elgin City 3–0 1–2 4–0 1–1 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 Montrose 0–2 1–1 1–1 5–0 3–1 2–3 1–3 3–1 1–3 Peterhead 0–1 3–2 1–2 1–1 2–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 Queen's Park 1–2 2–0 2–2 3–0 5–1 1–3 5–0 0–1 3–2 Stranraer 0–4 4–2 1–3 1–0 4–1 5–2 3–1 0–3 2–3 Updated to match(es) played on 5 May 2012. Source: BBC Sport Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Pos	Player	Club	Goals[8]
1	Martin Boyle	Montrose	22
2	Jamie Longworth	Queen's Park	20
	Rory McAllister	Peterhead
4	Stevie May	Alloa Athletic	19
5	Craig Gunn	Elgin City	18
6	Craig Malcolm	Stranraer	15
7	Michael Moore	Stranraer	12
	Stephen Stirling	Stranraer
9	Ryan McCord	Alloa Athletic	11
10	Michael Daly	Queen's Park	10
	Darren Gribben	Berwick Rangers

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Craig Gunn4	Elgin City	Berwick Rangers	4–1	6 August 2011
Stevie May	Alloa Athletic	East Stirlingshire	3–1	2 January 2012
Jamie Longworth4	Queen's Park	Elgin City	6–0	14 January 2012
Craig Gunn	Elgin City	Montrose	3–2	25 February 2012
Stevie May4	Alloa Athletic	Elgin City	8–1	7 April 2012
Martin Boyle	Montrose	Clyde	5–0	5 May 2012

• ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Awards

Month	Third Division Manager of the Month		SFL Player of the Month		SFL Young player of the Month		Ginger Boot
	Manager	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
August[9]	Harry Cairney	Annan Athletic	First division player		First division player		Craig Gunn	Elgin City
September[10]	Paul Hartley	Alloa Athletic	First division player		Second division player		First division player
October[11]	Gardner Speirs	Queen's Park	First division player		First division player		Second division player
November[12]	Ian Little	Berwick Rangers	First division player		Second division player		Darren Gribben	Berwick Rangers
December[13]	Keith Knox	Stranraer	First division player		Stephen Stirling	Stranraer	Stephen Stirling	Stranraer
January[14]	Paul Hartley	Alloa Athletic	Stevie May	Alloa Athletic	Stevie May	Alloa Athletic	Stevie May	Alloa Athletic
February[15]	Ross Jack	Elgin City	Second division player		First division player		Second division player
March
April

References

1. Alloa Athletic 1 - 1 Annan Athletic : Saturday, 5 May 2012 Archived 25 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Scottish Football League. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
2. East Stirlingshire 1 - 0 Annan Athletic : Saturday, 3 December 2011 Archived 23 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Scottish Football League. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
3. Third Division soccerway.com. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
4. BBC Sport - Football - 2011-2012 Scottish football fixtures - Scots Div 3 Archived 20 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine, news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
5. BBC Sport - Football - Ups and downs, news.bbc.co.uk Retrieved 25 May 2011.
6. "IRN-BRU Third Division Clubs". www.scottishfootballleague.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
7. East Stirlingshire FC Archived 6 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, www.eaststirlingshirefc.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
8. Scottish Third Division Top Scorers BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 May 2012
9. "IRN-BRU Phenomenal Awards for August 2011". Scottish Football League. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 24 October 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
10. "IRN-BRU Phenomenal Awards - September 2011". Scottish Football League. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
11. "IRN-BRU SFL Phenomenal Awards - October 2011". Scottish Football League. 18 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
12. "IRN-BRU SFL November Manager and Player of the Month Awards". Scottish Football League. 18 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
13. "IRN-BRU SFL Phenomenal Awards - December 2011". Scottish Football League. 23 January 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
14. "IRN-BRU SFL Phenomenal Awards - January 2012". Scottish Football League. 17 February 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
15. "IRN-BRU SFL Phenomenal Awards - February 2012". Scottish Football League. 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2012.

External links

• Official site
• 2011/2012 Scottish Third Division at Soccerway