Divisions 1, 2 and 3.
Falkirk finally earned the SPL place they should have had 2 seasons ago with an all the way victory in Division 1. Their 15 point winning margin summed up their dominance of a disappointing league. The reason for this gap was probably a joint effort of Falkirk's side living up to potential and no real challenge from anyone else in the league.
"Not only was Anelka manager and 'owner' he was also the agent of the imported players and it was obviously in his interests to see them playing."
Two sides went down under contrasting expectations. Raith Rovers became the play thing of Claude (brother of Nicolas) Anelka at the start of the season. His idea of importing out of contract players from the lower reaches of France and other European leagues, playing them, getting them to attract the attention of others and the flogging them never worked. The set up was always doomed to failure and conflict of interest. Not only was Anelka manager and "owner", he was also the agent of the imported players and it was obviously in his interests to see them playing and in the shop window. Thankfully Rovers sank without trace and match reports suggested some of the imports were bad beyond belief. While no one is arguing that Scottish football in the lower leagues has strength in depth and great quality, it was gratifying to see someone who thought they could just make up a team of journeymen European never-wases and expect to do well, proved spectacularly wrong. The experiment failed miserably with Rovers 30 points away from safety and losing 26 out of their 36 league games. Anelka, not surprisingly, shipped out long before the end of the season but the mess he left will take longer to sort.
The other side to follow Raith down was expected title challengers Partick Thistle. Thistle were relegated from the SPL at the end of the previous season but were expected to be challenging Falkirk for the right to go up this season. That challenge never arose and they faced the embarrassment of two successive relegations, finishing 7 points below 8th placed St Johnstone. That brings us to the 3rd side who were expected to be in the shake up for the title. St Johnstone are always regarded as a potential for promotion, probably because they have a nice all-seater stadium and nothing to do with the quality of their side, but again failed to deliver. Perhaps it highlights the unpredictability of the Scottish leagues that two sides fancied to challenge to go up found themselves relegated and one place off relegation.
Division 2 was back to its usual unpredictable self. It shouldn't be a surprise in a league that sees 40% of the teams being new to the league every season. The unpredictable nature was backed up by the two sides going up being Brechin, as champions, who were relegated from Division 1 last season, and Stranraer, as runners up, who were promoted from Division 3 in the previous season. Brechin were boosted by the signing of Paul Ritchie, the previous seasons Division 1 top scorer. Ritchie felt at 35 that he wouldn't be good enough for the SPL with ICT so took the step down to Division 2. He was certainly good enough for this league and his 14 goals helped guide Brechin up to Division 1. To confirm the theory of unpredictability in this league, Arbroath, relegated from Division 1 two seasons ago dropped again into Division 3. The league however is best summed up by the fact that Stirling finished in 4th but were only 13 points above relegated Arbroath. Only Morton and Brechin won more than 50% of their home games. Morton were expected to challenge, as they had done the previous season, but missed out by 1 point on promotion.
Division 3 is summed up in one word, Gretna! 98 points, 20 clear of 2nd placed Peterhead and a massive 47 clear of 3rd placed Cowdenbeath. The FLS lovers favourite team finished with a goal difference of +101 and were only 2 goals away from setting the highest ever goal scoring record in one Scottish season. Kenny Deuchar seemed to score hat tricks on a weekly basis and ended up with 38 goals from 30 starts. Just don't mention the 2nd last game of the season v East Stirling and the over 2.5 goals price of 1.67 with Globet :(
The benefits of having a professional set up and more importantly money to spend in a league of, at times, £10 per game part-time players, was a massive advantage. The players willing to step into the 3rd Division of Scottish football included many who would be candidates for a starting place in a fair few SPL sides. Bingham, Tosh, Townsley, Innes and Nicholls were either playing SPL football this season or have done in the past 2 seasons. The gulf in class was as big as expected.
Peterhead followed them up, 27 points better than 3rd placed Cowdenbeath and it was no surprise to see everyone's 2nd favourite Scottish side, East Stirling, finishing bottom. However there were improvements, 5 wins in total and more points this season than the previous two seasons added together.
Pointers for next season
Falkirk can take inspiration from ICT's mid table finish in the SPL. It's no longer a case of the team who goes up to the SPL being nailed on certs to go back down. They should certainly go into the SPL feeling on a par with some of this season's under performers.
The first division in the coming season looks poor. No one really made a challenge to Falkirk this season and Dundee will be kicking themselves if they don't go back up at the first attempt. However with relegation comes cost cutting and at an already cash strapped club this could mean a drastic change in playing personnel for them next season. Any ante-post wagers on them winning the league should probably be left until the probable summer clear out and replacements are confirmed.
"Gretna will also be potential champions and again should have more money than anyone in this league."
The second division could me much more interesting. Morton missed out by 1 point and now have a potentially very strong attack in this league. Chris Templeman got 21 league goals between his stints at Brechin and Morton this season, Peter Weatherston got 25 and they have just added Derek Lilley on a 3 year contract from SPL side Livingston who should prove pretty useful at this level. Gretna will also be potential champions and again should have more money than anyone in this league. Their close season signings will be interesting and any SPL quality players will add to a squad already good enough, IMO, to win this league. Partick Thistle, 2 relegations in 2 seasons will also have to fancy their chances of going up even though, like Dundee, their personnel could change dramatically from the season just finished. They and Morton are the "big clubs", Gretna the ones with money. Should be a great battle and unfortunately for one side, only 2 can go up. What we do know is that, on current set ups, there should be 3 teams worth backing quite consistently in this league next season.
As for Division 3, well it's anyone's guess. Again you could favour the two relegated sides, Arbroath and Berwick but I wouldn't be putting money on either. There doesn't appear to be any "strong" side in Division 3 next season, certainly at this stage of the close season.
BBC
