2019–20 Arbroath F.C. season

Arbroath
2019–20 season
Chairman	Mike Caird
Manager	Dick Campbell
Stadium	Gayfield Park
Scottish Championship	5th
Scottish League Cup	Group stage
Scottish Challenge Cup	Fourth round
Scottish Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Bobby Linn (6); All: Bobby Linn (8)
Highest home attendance	1,733 vs. Falkirk, Scottish Cup, 18 January 2020
Lowest home attendance	485 vs. Elgin City, League Cup, 13 July 2019
Average home league attendance	1,362
Home colours	Away colours
	← 2018–19 2020–21 →

The 2019–20 season was Arbroath's first season in the Scottish Championship, following promotion from Scottish League One in the 2018–19 season after finishing in 1st place. Arbroath also competed in the Challenge Cup, League Cup and the Scottish Cup.^[1] The season was postponed in April 2020, with Arbroath finishing in fifth place, having played 26 games.^[2]

Summary

Season

On 13 March 2020, the Scottish football season was suspended with immediate effect due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak.^[3] On 9 April, the Scottish football season was further suspended until at least 10 June.^[4] On 18 May 2020, the SPFL declared the end of the season determining on an average points per game with Arbroath finishing in fifth place and surviving for another season.^[5]

Competitions

Scottish Championship

3 August 2019 1	Arbroath	0–0	Queen of the South	Arbroath
15:00 BST		Report		Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,100 Referee: Gavin Ross

10 August 2019 2	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2–1	Arbroath	Inverness
15:00 BST	Doran 44' Donaldson 47' Storey 82'	Report	Spence 5' Linn 26'	Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2,298 Referee: Mike Roncone

24 August 2019 3	Alloa Athletic	0–1	Arbroath	Alloa
15:00 BST	Hetherington 38' 77' Flannigan 65' Stirling 84'	Report	Linn 17' Whatley 63' Campbell 88'	Stadium: Recreation Park Attendance: 661 Referee: Colin Steven

31 August 2019 4	Arbroath	1–0	Dunfermline Athletic	Arbroath
15:00 BST	Spence 21' Donnelly 50' Whatley 90+1'	Report	Devine 24'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,624 Referee: Steven Kirkland

13 September 2019 5	Arbroath	1–1	Partick Thistle	Arbroath
19:05 BST	Thomson 14' 77'	Report	Penrice 25' Zanatta 62' Miller 65'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,214 Referee: David Munro

21 September 2019 6	Dundee United	2–1	Arbroath	Dundee
15:00 BST	Stanton 28' Robson 38' Butcher 39' Shankland 88', 90+2' 90+3'	Report	Donnelly 52'	Stadium: Tannadice Park Attendance: 7,877 Referee: Gavin Duncan

28 September 2019 7	Arbroath	0–3	Ayr United	Arbroath
15:00 BST	McKenna 33'	Report	Forrest 12', 20' Kelly 27'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,105 Referee: Grant Irvine

5 October 2019 8	Dundee	2–0	Arbroath	Dundee
15:00 BST	Mackie 30' McDaid 37' 38' 59' Byrne 66'	Report	McKenna 61' Virtanen 75' Stirling 81'	Stadium: Kilmac Stadium at Dens Park Attendance: 5,045 Referee: Alan Newlands

19 October 2019 9	Arbroath	1–0	Greenock Morton	Arbroath
15:00 BST	O'Brien 13' Linn 74'	Report	Blues 72'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,009 Referee: Willie Collum

26 October 2019 10	Partick Thistle	1–3	Arbroath	Glasgow
15:00 BST	Bannigan 59' (pen.) Zanatta 64'	Report	Donnelly 37' Virtanen 58' Thomson 72' McKenna 74' (pen.) Hamilton 77'	Stadium: The Energy Check Stadium Attendance: 2,793 Referee: Gavin Ross

29 October 2019 11	Dunfermline Athletic	2–0	Arbroath	Dunfermline
19:45 GMT	Ashcroft 22' Nisbet 59' 78'	Report	O'Brien 22' Virtanen 33' Thomson 74' McKenna 84'	Stadium: East End Park Attendance: 3,488 Referee: John McKendrick

2 November 2019 12	Arbroath	2–1	Alloa Athletic	Arbroath
15:00 GMT	Linn 16' Donnelly 27' Virtanen 67'	Report	Trouten 35' 87'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 921 Referee: Graham Beaton

9 November 2019 13	Arbroath	3–0	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Arbroath
15:00 GMT	Stewart 28' Linn 54' (pen.) Kader 86'	Report	Donaldson 38' Todorov 39' Tremarco 57'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,173 Referee: John Beaton

16 November 2019 14	Greenock Morton	1–0	Arbroath	Greenock
15:00 GMT	Lyon 3'	Report	Murphy 41' Hamilton 71' Stirling 86' Doris 89'	Stadium: Cappielow Park Attendance: 1,185 Referee: Alan Newlands

7 December 2019 15	Arbroath	1–1	Dundee	Arbroath
15:00 GMT	Little 34' Linn 37' Hamilton 60'	Report	Forster 4' McGhee 50' Hemmings 61' Mackie 87'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 2,170 Referee: Alan Newlands

10 December 2019 16	Ayr United	1–1	Arbroath	Ayr
19:45 GMT	Kelly 22' Moore 77'	Report	McKenna 48' (pen.) Donnelly 78' Stewart 82'	Stadium: Somerset Park Attendance: 777 Referee: Colin Steven

14 December 2019 17	Arbroath	0–1	Dundee United	Arbroath
15:00 GMT	Kader 39' Gaston 54' Little 74'	Report	Stanton 6' Shankland 87'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 4,052 Referee: Graham Beaton

21 December 2019 18	Queen of the South	2–0	Arbroath	Dumfries
15:00 GMT	Pybus 24' 33' Little 87' (o.g.)	Report	McKenna 68'	Stadium: Palmerston Park Attendance: 1,094 Referee: Grant Irvine

28 December 2019 19	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0–1	Arbroath	Inverness
15:00 GMT		Report	Hamilton 20' Donnelly 47' Virtanen 76'	Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2,287 Referee: Graham Beaton

4 January 2020 20	Arbroath	1–2	Greenock Morton	Arbroath
15:00 GMT	Sewart 23' O'Brien 65'	Report	Sutton 12' Colville 20' Jacobs 61'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,273 Referee: Gavin Duncan

21 January 2020 21	Alloa Athletic	2–0	Arbroath	Alloa
19:45 GMT	O'Hara 24' 27'	Report		Stadium: The Indodrill Stadium Attendance: 765 Referee: Craig Napier

25 January 2020 22	Arbroath	2–1	Partick Thistle	Arbroath
15:00 GMT	McKenna 6' Wighton 34' Virtanen 90+4'	Report	Graham 90+5'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,418 Referee: David Lowe

1 February 2020 23	Dundee United	0–1	Arbroath	Dundee
15:00 GMT	Pawlett 74'	Report	Wighton 26' Hamilton 40'	Stadium: Tannadice Park Attendance: 8,056 Referee: Alan Muir (referee)

15 February 2020 24	Arbroath	2–0	Queen of the South	Arbroath
15:00 GMT	Gold 6' Hilson 35'	Report	Pybus 55' Holt 79'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 801 Referee: Steven Reid

4 March 2020 25	Arbroath	0–0	Dunfermline Athletic	Arbroath
19:45 GMT	Little 70'	Report	Thomas 16' Afolabi 90'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,146 Referee: John McKendrick

7 March 2020 26	Greenock Morton	1–1	Arbroath	Greenock
15:00 GMT	Cadden 34' McAlister 90' McGinty 90+3'	Report	Wighton 49' Stewart 79' Hilson 85'	Stadium: Cappielow Park Attendance: 1,472 Referee: Steven Reid

Scottish League Cup

Group stage

13 July 2019 1	Arbroath	2–1	Elgin City	Arbroath
15:00 BST	Kader 44' Doris 90+2'	Report	Sutherland 29'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 485 Referee: Graham Beaton

17 July 2019 2	Stirling Albion	1–6	Arbroath	Stirling
19:45 BST	Mackin 47'	Report	Gold 1', 57' McKenna 28' Hamilton 82' Spence 87', 90'	Stadium: Forthbank Stadium Attendance: 474 Referee: Craig Napier

23 July 2019 3	Hibernian	3–0	Arbroath	Edinburgh
19:45 BST	Kamberi 3' Allan 44' (pen.) Murray 87'	Report		Stadium: Easter Road Attendance: 4,769 Referee: Bobby Madden

27 July 2019 4	Arbroath	2–3	Alloa Athletic	Arbroath
15:00 BST	Linn 18' Thomson 74'	Report	Buchanan 18' Trouten 51', 78'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 590 Referee: Barry Cook

Scottish Challenge Cup

7 September 2019 Third round	Dundee United	0–0 (3–4 p)	Arbroath	Dundee
15:00		Report		Stadium: Tannadice Park Attendance: 2,568 Referee: David Lowe

12 October 2019 Fourth round	Arbroath	0–2	Clyde	Arbroath
15:00		Report	Johnston 9' Little 68 o.g.'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 806 Referee: David Lowe

Scottish Cup

23 November 2019 Third round	Auchinleck Talbot	1–1	Arbroath	Auchinleck
15:00 GMT	Hyslop 11'	Summary	McKenna 84' (pen.)	Stadium: Beechwood Park Attendance: 921 Referee: David Lowe

27 November 2019 Third round replay	Arbroath	3–0	Auchinleck Talbot	Arbroath
19:45 GMT	McKenna 26' Linn 54' Stewart 64'	Summary		Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,022 Referee: David Lowe

18 January 2020 Fourth round	Arbroath	0–0	Falkirk	Arbroath
15:00 GMT	Whatley 75' Virtanen 77' McKenna 79'	Summary	Durnan 40' Dixon 90+2'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,733 Referee: Greg Aitken

28 January 2020 Fourth round replay	Falkirk	2–0	Arbroath	Falkirk
19:45 GMT	McManus 47' Sammon 66' Doyle 77'	Report	Donnelly 61'	Stadium: Falkirk Stadium Attendance: 2,704 Referee: Euan Anderson

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

As of 7 March 2020

No.	Pos	Player	Championship		League Cup		Challenge Cup		Scottish Cup		Total
No.	Pos	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Darren Jamieson	7	0	2	0	2	0	3	0	14	0
2	DF	Jason Thomson	17+1	1	4	1	1	0	2	0	25	2
3	DF	Colin Hamilton	26	1	4	1	1	0	4	0	35	2
4	DF	Ricky Little	26	0	2	0	2	0	4	0	34	0
5	DF	Thomas O'Brien	25	0	4	0	2	0	4	0	35	0
6	MF	Mark Whatley	22	1	3	0	2	0	4	0	31	1
7	MF	David Gold	17+3	1	3+1	2	1+1	0	2+1	0	29	3
8	MF	Michael McKenna	15+7	3	2+2	1	2	0	4	2	32	6
9	FW	Dale Hilson	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
10	MF	Gavin Swankie	3+3	0	3	0	0	0	0+1	0	10	0
11	MF	Bobby Linn	21+2	6	4	1	0+2	0	4	1	33	8
12	MF	Omar Kader	4+15	1	2+2	1	2	0	1+2	0	28	2
14	FW	Craig Wighton	5	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	3
15	FW	Luke Donnelly	14+7	5	0+1	0	1+1	0	4	0	28	5
16	DF	Scott Stewart	15+2	2	0+2	0	0	0	2+2	1	23	3
18	MF	James Murphy	10+7	0	1+1	0	1+1	0	1	0	22	0
19	DF	Ben Stirling	4+2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	8	0
20	MF	Josh Campbell	2+7	0	0	0	0	0	0+2	0	11	0
21	GK	Derek Gaston	19	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	22	0
22	MF	Miko Virtanen	18+2	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	23	0
23	MF	Logan Chalmers	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0+2	0	3	0
32	MF	James Craigen	1+3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Players who left the club during the 2019–20 season
9	FW	Steven Doris	3+9	0	4	1	2	0	0	0	18	1
14	FW	Greig Spence	5+6	0	2+2	2	0	0	1+1	0	17	2
17	DF	Robert Wilson	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
19	DF	Ben Stirling	4+2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	8	0
20	MF	Josh Campbell	2+7	0	0	0	0	0	0+2	0	11	0

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG
3	Dundee	27	11	8	8	32	31	+1	41	1.52
4	Ayr United	27	12	4	11	38	35	+3	40	1.48
5	Arbroath	26	10	6	10	24	26	−2	36	1.38
6	Dunfermline Athletic	28	10	7	11	41	36	+5	37	1.32
7	Greenock Morton	28	10	6	12	45	52	−7	36	1.29

Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game.
Notes:

League Cup table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	HIB	ALO	ARB	ELG	STI
1	Hibernian	4	3	1	0	0	8	1	+7	11	Qualification for the Second Round	—	2–0	3–0	—	—
2	Alloa Athletic	4	2	0	1	1	8	8	0	7		—	—	—	3–3p	2–1
3	Arbroath	4	2	0	0	2	10	8	+2	6		—	2–3	—	2–1	—
4	Elgin City	4	1	1	0	2	7	7	0	5		0–2	—	—	—	3–0
5	Stirling Albion	4	0	0	1	3	3	12	−9	1		1–1p	—	1–6	—	—

Source: ^[7]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[8]

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2019	GK`	Derek Gaston	Greenock Morton	Free transfer	^[9]
1 July 2019	MF	Scott Stewart	Airdrieonians		^[10]
8 July 2019	DF	Robert Wilson	Berwick Rangers		^[11]
17 July 2019	MF	James Murphy	Free agent		^[12]
18 January 2020	FW	Dale Hilson	Forfar Athletic		^[13]

Transfers out

Date	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
9 June 2019	MF	Ryan McCord	Brechin City	Free transfer	^[14]
1 July 2019	GK	Darren Hill	Cumbernauld United		^[15]
1 July 2019	FW	Ryan Wallace	East Fife		^[16]
31 July 2019	MF	Danny Denholm	East Fife		^[17]
10 January 2020	FW	Greig Spence	Stenhousemuir		^[18]
10 January 2020	DF	Robert Wilson	Stenhousemuir		^[18]
18 January 2020	FW	Steven Doris	Forfar Athletic		^[19]

Loans in

Date	Position	Name	From	End date	Ref.
23 August 2019	DF	Ben Stirling	Hibernian	6 January 2020	^[20]
23 August 2019	MF	Josh Campbell	Hibernian	6 January 2020	^[20]
29 August 2019	MF	Miko Virtanen	Aberdeen	31 May 2020	^[21]
10 January 2020	FW	Logan Chalmers	Dundee United	31 May 2020	^[22]
23 January 2020	FW	Craig Wighton	Heart of Midlothian	31 May 2020	^[23]
31 January 2020	MF	James Craigen	AFC Fylde	31 May 2020	^[24]

References

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[a]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

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