2018–19 Ross County F.C. season

Ross County
2018–19 season
Chairman	Roy MacGregor
Manager	Steven Ferguson and; Stuart Kettlewell
Ground	Victoria Park
Scottish Championship	First (champions)
Scottish League Cup	Second Round
Scottish Challenge Cup	Winners
Scottish Cup	Fifth round
Top goalscorer	League: Billy McKay (17); All: Billy McKay (20)
Highest home attendance	League: 6,402 vs Inverness Caledonian Thistle ; 22 September 2018 ; Cup: 1,532 vs Dundee United; League Cup; 17 July 2018
Lowest home attendance	League: 3,065 vs Alloa Athletic ; 22 September ; Cup: 790 vs Raith Rovers; Challenge Cup; 8 September 2018
Average home league attendance	3,849
Home colours	Away colours
	← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The 2018–19 season seen the club's return to the Scottish Championship after being relegated from the Scottish Premiership, the top flight of Scottish football. On 26 April 2019 however, they were crowned Champions and made an immediate return to the Premiership.^[1]

Ross County also be competed in the League Cup, the Scottish Cup and the Scottish Challenge Cup. They won the Challenge Cup beating Connah's Quay Nomads in the final.

Results & fixtures

Win Draw Loss Postponed

Pre-season

*Note: Games played on the same day and same time are played with two different squads led by two different managers. Fixtures are being played on the same day as to avoid preseason friendlies leaking into time taken up by the League Cup Group Stage.

30 June 2018^[2] Friendly	Nairn County	0–3	Ross County	Nairn
15:00		Report	Draper 37' Fontaine 63', 78'	Stadium: Station Park Referee: Stuart Riddoch

30 June 2018^[3] Friendly	Wick Academy	3–1	Ross County XI	Wick
13:00	David Allan 24', 86' Craig Gunn 73'		Joel MacBeath 20'	Stadium: Harmsworth Park Referee: Gordon Seago

4 July 2018^[4] Friendly	Sint-Truidense V.V.	2–0	Ross County	Netherlands
18:00				Stadium: VV DUNO Training ground Attendance: Behind closed doors^[5]

6 July 2018^[4] Friendly	Utrecht	2–0	Ross County	Netherlands
19:00	V.D. Maarel 53' V.D. Streek 90' (pen.)			Stadium: Dolderse Sportclub DOSC

10 July 2018^[3] Friendly	Clachnacuddin	0–7	Ross County	Inverness
19:30		Report		Stadium: Grant Street, Inverness

21 July 2018^[3] Friendly	Formartine United	6–1	Ross County XI	Aberdeenshire
		Report

Scottish Championship

4 August 2018 1	Ross County	1–0	Alloa Athletic	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Fraser 88' Lindsay 90+5'		Hetherington 24'	Attendance: 3,065 Referee: Mike Roncone

11 August 2018 2	Dunfermline Athletic	1–3	Ross County	East End Park
15:00	Vincent 22' Longridge 28' Ashcroft 54'	[1]	Mullin 25' Watson 30' 68' Gardyne 42'	Attendance: 4,949 Referee: Craig Thomson

25 August 2018 3	Greenock Morton	2–1	Ross County	Cappielow Park
15:00	Buchanan 41' Tidser 60' McHugh 77'	[2]	Gardyne 48' Cowie 58' 75' Vigurs 73'	Attendance: 1,994 Referee: Greg Aitken

1 September 2018 4	Ross County	2–0	Falkirk	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Morris 39' Lindsay 68' McManus 90' Vigurs 90+2'	[3]	Muirhead 40' Kidd 73' Harrison 89'	Attendance: 3,564 Referee: Nick Walsh

15 September 2018 5	Queen of the South	0–0	Ross County	Palmerston Park
15:00	Jacobs 6'		Vigurs 54'	Attendance: 1,509 Referee: Steven Maclean

22 September 2018 6	Ross County	0–0	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Kelly 72'	[4]	Donaldson 89'	Attendance: 6,402 Referee: Willie Collum

29 September 2018 7	Dundee United	1–5	Ross County	Tannadice Park
15:00	Safranko 17' Curran 37' Murdoch 59'	[5]	McKay 11', 29', 51' Morris 20' Watson 34' Kelly 42' Mullin 50'	Attendance: 4,446 Referee: John Beaton

6 October 2018 8	Partick Thistle	0–2	Ross County	Firhill Park
15:00	Bannigan 8' Keown 38' Elliott 55' Erskine 56'	[6]	Mullin 14' McKay 56' Draper 90+1'	Attendance: 2,784 Referee: Nick Walsh

20 October 2018 9	Ross County	2–1	Ayr United	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Morris 21' McKay 23' Mullin 34' Watson 70' Demetriou 83' Keillor-Dunn 87'	[7]	Shankland 50' Moore 55'	Attendance: 3,140 Referee: Steven McLean

27 October 2018 10	Ross County	5–0	Greenock Morton	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	McKay 9', 42', 48' Keillor-Dunn 57' Graham 90+1'	[8]	Telfer 45+1'	Attendance: 3,481 Referee: Steven Reid

30 October 2018 11	Falkirk	1–1	Ross County	Falkirk Stadium
19:45	Draper 26' (o.g.) Muirhead 63' Robson 75'	[9]	Graham 66' Vigurs 72' 78'	Attendance: 3,767 Referee: Euan Anderson

3 November 2018 12	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2–2	Ross County	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Oakley 19' Rooney 30' Calder 45+1' Walsh 49'	[10]	Lindsay 17' 90+3' Mackay 43' (o.g.) Vigurs 67'	Attendance: 4,353 Referee: Kevin Clancy

10 November 2018 13	Ross County	0–1	Dundee United	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Mullin 36' Kelly 39'	[11]	Watson 15' McMullan 21' Fyvie 60' Murdoch 90+6' Rabitsch 90+6'	Attendance: 4,565 Referee: Alan Newlands

24 November 2018 14	Ross County	2–1	Dunfermline Athletic	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	McKay 9' Lindsay 60'	Report	Higginbotham 15' Vincent 31' Longridge 74' Ashcroft 83'	Attendance: 3,121 Referee: Alan Muir

1 December 2018 15	Alloa Athletic	0–1	Ross County	The Indodrill Stadium
15:00	Flannigan 41' Zanatta 57'	[12]	Grivosti 66' Watson 90+1'	Attendance: 592 Referee: Greg Aitken

8 December 2018 16	Ross County	1–1	Queen of the South	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Fraser 24' Mullin 55'	Report	Norman 35' Stirling 71'	Attendance: 3,305 Referee: Mike Roncone

15 December 2018 17	Ayr United	3–3	Ross County	Somerset Park
15:00	Shankland 21', 25' Geggan 43' 63' Bell 47'	[13]	Mullin 12' Demetriou 24' Mckay 48' Cowie 52' Lindsay 61'	Attendance: 2,030 Referee: Bobby Madden

22 December 2018 18	Ross County	2–0	Partick Thistle	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Mckay 26' Draper 71' Stewart 79'		Bannigan 57' Scobbie 61'	Attendance: 3,467 Referee: Colin Steven

29 December 2018 19	Ross County	2–1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Mckay 26' Stewart 85' Graham 90'	[14]	White 44' Rooney 90'	Attendance: 6,313 Referee: Andrew Dallas

4 January 2019 20	Greenock Morton	1–0	Ross County	Cappielow Park
19:45	Tidser 53' McHugh 54' Waddell 66' Iredale 73' Millar 90'	[15]	Fraser 90' Gardyne 90+1'	Attendance: 1,537 Referee: Willie Collum

12 January 2019 21	Queen of the South	4–0	Ross County	Palmerston Park
15:00	Dobbie 12', 77' Doyle 45' Maguire 45'	[16]	Gardyne 38' Spence 59' Mullin 68'	Attendance: 1,386 Referee: Steven Reid

26 January 2019 22	Ross County	2–0	Alloa Athletic	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	McManus 12' Spence 24' Lindsay 62'			Attendance: 3,521 Referee: Steven Kirkland

2 February 2019 23	Dunfermline Athletic	1–2	Ross County	East End Park
15:00	Craigen 9' Devine 24' Anderson 41' Smith 79' Higginbotham 87'	[17]	Mckay 52' Lindsay 68' Gardyne 77' Spence 89' van der Weg 89'	Attendance: 4,347 Referee: Barry Cook

23 February 2019 24	Partick Thistle	2–4	Ross County	Firhill Park
15:00	Fitzpatrick 21' Elliott 24'	[18]	Stewart 47', 74' Lindsay 64' McKay 79'	Attendance: 3,007 Referee: Gavin Duncan

26 February 2019 25	Ross County	3–2	Ayr United	Global Energy Stadium
19:45	McKay 35', 70', 75'	[19]	Shankland 62' Murdoch 73'	Attendance: 3,489 Referee: Nick Walsh

9 March 2019 26	Ross County	2–0	Greenock Morton	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Mullin 55' Graham 78'	[20]		Attendance: 3,110 Referee: Greg Aitken

12 March 2019 27	Ross County	2–1	Falkirk	Global Energy Stadium
19:45	Graham 12' Watson 22' Grivosti 85'	[21]	McShane 87'	Attendance: 3,148 Referee: Steven Kirkland

19 March 2019 28	Dundee United	1–0	Ross County	Tannadice Park
19:45	Butcher 7' Connolly 29' Clark 90+1'	[22]	Stewart 11' Lindsay 90+2'	Attendance: 4,290 Referee: Willie Collum

30 March 2019 29	Alloa Athletic	1–0	Ross County	The Indodrill Stadium
15:00	Zanatta 33'	[23]		Attendance: 697 Referee: Colin Steven

2 April 2019 30	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	1–2	Ross County	Caledonian Stadium
19:05	Tremarco 24' Trafford 45+1'	[24]	Mullin 8' Boyle 34'	Attendance: 3,795 Referee: Nick Walsh

5 April 2019 31	Ross County	1–1	Dundee United	Global Energy Stadium
19:05	Lindsay 90+4'	[25]	Pavol Šafranko 12'	Attendance: 3,550 Referee: Steven McLean

9 April 2018 32	Ross County	1–0	Dunfermline Athletic	Global Energy Stadium
19:45	Grivosti 60'	[26]		Attendance: 3,222 Referee: Don Robertson

13 April 2019 33	Ross County	0–0	Partick Thistle	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	Kelly 82'		Gordon 72'	Attendance: 4,031 Referee: Gavin Duncan

19 April 2019 34	Ayr United	1–3	Ross County	Somerset Park
19:05	Miller 12' Harvie 57'	[27]	Graham 42', 46', 71' 73' Gardyne 84'	Attendance: 1,692 Referee: Euan Anderson

26 April 2018 35	Ross County	4–0	Queen of the South	Global Energy Stadium
19:05	Stewart 29' Graham 51', 81' Mullin 54' Gardyne 76'	[28]	Wilson 5' Dykes 85'	Attendance: 4,805 Referee: John Beaton

4 May 2019 36	Falkirk	3–2	Ross County	Falkirk Stadium
15:00	Rudden 27' McKenna 75' McGhee 77'	[29]	Stewart 29' Vigurs 73'	Attendance: 4,682 Referee: Steven McLean

For upcoming Scottish Premiership fixtures, see the official Ross County F.C. website Archived 20 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine

Scottish League Cup

Matches

14 July 2018^[6] Group A^[6]	Ross County	2–0	Elgin City	Global Energy Stadium
15:00	McManus 61' Mullin 82' Morris 88'	Report	Miller 54' McLeish 73'	Attendance: 1,270 Referee: Alan Newlands

17 July 2018 Group A^[6]	Ross County	1–0	Dundee United	Global Energy Stadium
19:45	Draper 32' Lindsay 85'	Sky Report United Report	Stanton 22' Smith 26'	Attendance: 1,532 Referee: Willie Collum

25 July 2018 Group A^[6]	Arbroath	4–1	Ross County	Gayfield Park
19:45	McKenna 6' 43', 59' Hamilton 72' Hester 83'	P&J Report	Mckay 23' Dingwall 57' Vigurs 69' Draper 81'	Attendance: 496 Referee: Steven Kirkland

28 July 2018 Group A^[6]	Alloa Athletic	0–2	Ross County	Recreation Park
15:00	Karadachki 54' Trouten 54'	Report	McManus 50' Morris 59' Dow 81' Paton 90+2'	Attendance: 431 Referee: Ryan Lee

18 August 2018 Second round	Hibernian	3–2	Ross County	Easter Road
15:00 BST	Gray 15' Mallan 70' Horgan 90+1' Whittaker 90+5'	Report	Vigurs 1' Gardyne 10' Draper 28' Morris 45' Mullin 64' Cowie 75'	Attendance: 7,452 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Scottish Challenge Cup

14 August 2018 First round	Heart of Midlothian Colts	1–2	Ross County	Tynecastle
19:45	Keena 44' 67' Cochrane 47'	Report	Mckay 4', 30' Dow 52' Dingwall 82'	Attendance: 344 Referee: Gavin Duncan

8 September 2018 Second round	Ross County	5–0	Raith Rovers	Victoria Park
15:00	Graham 18', 29', 40', 42' Lindsay 37'	Report	Gillespie 80'	Attendance: 790 Referee: John Beaton

13 October 2018 Third round	Ross County	3–1	Montrose	Victoria Park
15:00	Ross Stewart 20' Davis Keillor-Dunn 41', 51'	[30]	Johnston 44'	Attendance: 1,122 Referee: Craig Napier

17 November 2018 Quarter final	Motherwell Colts	1–2	Ross County	Fir Park
15:00	Rodriguez 15' Livingstone 53' Mbulu 54' Watson 90+4'	[31]	Demetriou 45' Stewart 51', 56' Draper 53'	Attendance: 1,209 Referee: David Munro

15 February 2019 Semi final	Ross County	2–1	East Fife	Victoria Park
19:45	Armstrong 18' McManus 38'	[32]	Dowds 39'	Attendance: 1,283 Referee: Alan Newlands

Connah's Quay Nomads

23 March 2019 Final	Ross County	3–1	Connah's Quay Nomads	Caledonian Stadium
16:30	Mullin 75', 78' Lindsay 86'	Report	Bakare 22'	Attendance: 3,057 Referee: Alan Muir

Scottish Cup

19 January 2019 Forth round	Motherwell	1–2	Ross County	Fir Park
15:00	Hastie 90+1'	Report	Graham 52', 60' Draper 68'	Attendance: 3,869 Referee: Steven McLean

11 February 2019 Fifth round	Ross County	2–2	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Global Energy Stadium
19:15	Stewart 55' Watson 68' Mullin 90+1'	[33]	Doran 13' Welsh 25' McKay 65' Chalmers 77'	Referee: John Beaton

19 February 2019	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Ross County	Inverness
19:45	White 56', 81'	Report	Stewart 22' Gardyne 67'	Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3,608 Referee: John Beaton
	Penalties
	White Donaldson Welsh Polworth Austin		Gardyne Fraser McManus Graham Draper

Squad statistics

Appearances

As of 4 May 2019

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Championship		League Cup		Scottish Cup		Challenge Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	SCO	Scott Fox	45	0	36	0	5	0	3	0	1	0
2	DF	SCO	Marcus Fraser (c)	36	1	26	1	4	0	3	0	3	0
3	DF	SCO	Sean Kelly	27	1	19+1	1	5	0	1	0	1	0
4	DF	ENG	Liam Fontaine	13	0	8+1	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
5	DF	IRL	Callum Morris	19	1	12	0	4+1	1	0	0	2	0
6	MF	ENG	Ross Draper	35	0	23+1	0	3+1	0	3	0	4	0
7	FW	SCO	Michael Gardyne	35	4	19+6	2	5	1	3	1	1+1	0
8	MF	SCO	Jamie Lindsay	48	9	34+1	6	4+1	1	2+1	0	4+1	2
9	FW	NIR	Billy Mckay	34	20	22+2	17	3+1	1	2+1	0	2+1	2
10	FW	SCO	Declan McManus	45	4	12+20	2	4+1	1	1+2	0	4+1	1
11	MF	SCO	Iain Vigurs	19	2	13+2	2	3	0	0	0	1	0
12	DF	IRL	Andy Boyle	15	1	9+2	1	0	0	2	0	2	0
14	MF	SCO	Josh Mullin	40	14	29+2	9	3+1	2	1+1	1	2+1	2
15	DF	SCO	Keith Watson	35	3	27	3	4	0	3	0	1	0
16	MF	SCO	Lewis Spence	18	0	11+3	0	0	0	3	0	0+1	0
18	DF	ENG	Callum Semple	4	0	2+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	FW	SCO	Brian Graham	38	14	12+18	8	0+1	0	2+1	2	4	4
21	GK	SCO	Ross Munro	6	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
24	MF	CAN	Harry Paton	7	1	0+4	0	0+1	1	0	0	2	0
26	MF	SCO	Don Cowie	33	2	21+8	2	0+1	0	0	0	3	0
27	FW	SCO	Ross Stewart	32	10	17+6	6	0	0	1+2	1	5+1	3
28	DF	NED	Kenny van der Weg	17	0	12	0	0	0	3	0	2	0
31	MF	SCO	Daniel Armstrong	8	1	3+3	0	0	0	0	0	1+1	1
41	GK	ENG	Joe Williams	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
43	FW	SCO	James Wallace	3	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0+1	0
44	DF	ENG	Tom Grivosti	19	1	12+5	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
46	MF	SCO	Jack Murray	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
48	DF	SCO	Tom Kelly	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
49	MF	SCO	Mark Gallagher	3	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
50	FW	SCO	Joel MacBeath	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who left the club during the season
12	DF	CYP	Stelios Demetriou	15	0	8+1	0	1+1	0	0	0	4	0
16	MF	SCO	Dylan Dykes	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
17	MF	ENG	Davis Keillor-Dunn	16	3	6+5	1	0+2	0	0	0	3	2
18	FW	SCO	Ryan Dow	7	0	0+2	0	2+2	0	0	0	1	0
20	FW	SCO	Greg Morrison	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
22	MF	SCO	Tony Dingwall	8	0	1+1	0	2	0	0	0	3+1	0
23	FW	SCO	Russell Dingwall	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
40	MF	SCO	Ross Maciver	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Ross County (C, P)	36	21	8	7	63	34	+29	71	Promotion to the Premiership
2	Dundee United	36	19	8	9	49	40	+9	65	Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-final
3	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	36	14	14	8	48	40	+8	56	Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final
4	Ayr United	36	15	9	12	50	38	+12	54	Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-final
5	Greenock Morton	36	11	13	12	36	45	−9	46

Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Points in head-to-head matches; 5) Goal difference in hth matches; 6). Goals scored in hth matches; 7). Play-off (only for deciding promotion, play-off participation and relegation).^[7]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

League Cup table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	ROS	ARB	ALO	DUN	ELG
1	Ross County (Q)	4	3	0	0	1	6	4	+2	9	Qualification for the Second round	—	—	—	1–0	2–0
2	Arbroath	4	2	1	0	1	9	6	+3	8		4–1	—	—	—	2–0
3	Alloa Athletic	4	2	1	0	1	8	5	+3	8		0–2	4–2	—	—	—
4	Dundee United	4	1	0	2	1	6	3	+3	5		—	1–1p	1–1p	—	—
5	Elgin City	4	0	0	0	4	0	11	−11	0		—	—	0–3	0–4	—

Source: ^[8]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[9]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Transfers

Out

Date	Player	To	Fee
1 June 2018	Craig Curran	Dundee United	Free^[23]
12 June 2018	Jason Naismith	Peterborough United	Undisclosed^[24]
14 June 2018	Thomas Mikkelsen	Breiðablik	Free^[25]^[26]
15 June 2018	Christopher Routis	Servette	Free^[27]^[28]
16 June 2018	Max Ashmore	Stranraer	Free^[25]^[29]
25 June 2018	Andrew Davies	Hartlepool	Free
27 June 2018	Blair Malcolm	Cowdenbeath	Free^[25]^[30]
1 July 2018	Sam Morrison	Buckie Thistle	Free^[25]
9 July 2018	Kyle Johnson	Stenhousemuir	Free^[25]^[31]
10 July 2018	Alex Schalk	Servette	Free^[32]
17 July 2018	Reghan Tumilty	Greenock Morton	Free^[25]^[33]
20 July 2018	Mark Foden	Gateshead	Free^[25]^[34]
3 August 2018	Tim Chow	Spartak Subotica	Free^[25]^[35]
10 August 2018	David N'Gog	Budapest Honvéd	Free
23 August 2018	Greg Morrison	Elgin City	Loan
31 August 2018	Aaron McCarey	Warrenpoint Town	Free^[25]^[36]
11 September 2018	Harry Paton	Stenhousemuir	Loan
13 September 2018	Jim O’Brien	Bradford City	Free^[37]
14 September 2018	Ryan Dow	Peterhead	Loan^[38]
3 January 2019	Ryan Dow	Peterhead	Free^[39]
8 January 2019	Russell Dingwall	Stenhousemuir	Loan
10 January 2019	Davis Keillor-Dunn	Falkirk	Loan
11 January 2019	Dylan Dykes	Greenock Morton	Free
11 January 2019	Tony Dingwall	Raith Rovers	Free

Notes and references

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

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