1996–97 Scottish Second Division

Scottish Second Division
Season	1996–97
Champions	Ayr United
Promoted	Ayr United; Hamilton Academical
Relegated	Dumbarton; Berwick Rangers
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Scottish Second Division was won by Ayr United who, along with second placed Hamilton Academical, were promoted to the First Division. Stenhousemuir and Berwick Rangers were relegated to the Third Division.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Ayr United (C, P)	36	23	8	5	61	33	+28	77	Promotion to the First Division
2	Hamilton Academical (P)	36	22	8	6	75	28	+47	74	Promotion to the First Division
3	Livingston	36	18	10	8	56	38	+18	64
4	Clyde	36	14	10	12	42	39	+3	52
5	Queen of the South	36	13	8	15	55	57	−2	47
6	Stenhousemuir	36	11	11	14	49	43	+6	44
7	Brechin City	36	10	11	15	36	49	−13	41
8	Stranraer	36	9	9	18	29	51	−22	36
9	Dumbarton (R)	36	9	8	19	44	66	−22	35	Relegation to the Third Division
10	Berwick Rangers (R)	36	4	11	21	32	75	−43	23	Relegation to the Third Division

Source: "1996-1997 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Top scorers

P	Name	Goals
1	Iain Stewart (Inverness CT)	16
2	G Harvey (Livingston)	15
=	Ian Little (Stenhousemuir)	15
4	Martin McLauchan (Forfar Athletic)	14
5	Colin McDonald (Clydebank)	13
=	B Thomson (Inverness CT)	13
7	Ben Honeyman (Forfar Athletic)	12
8	Tommy Bryce (Queen of the South)	11
=	Matthew Dyer (East Fife)	11
=	Gordon Young (Stranraer)	11

References

v t e 1996–97 in Scottish football
« 1995–96 1997–98 »
Domestic leagues	Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Third Division Highland League
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Challenge Cup Final Junior Cup
European competitions	Champions League UEFA Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup
Related to national team	Results 1998 World Cup qualifying (Group 4)
Club seasons
Premier Division	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock Motherwell Raith Rovers Rangers
First Division	Airdrieonians Clydebank Dundee East Fife Falkirk Greenock Morton Partick Thistle St. Johnstone St. Mirren Stirling Albion
Second Division	Ayr United Berwick Rangers Brechin City Clyde Dumbarton Hamilton Academical Livingston Queen of the South Stenhousemuir Stranraer
Third Division	Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Arbroath Cowdenbeath East Stirlingshire Forfar Athletic Inverness Caledonian Thistle Montrose Queen's Park Ross County

v t e Third division football seasons in Scotland
Division Three / C	1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 Not held between 1926–27 and 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 Not held between 1955–56 and 1974–75
Second Division	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
League One	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Winners	List of winners of the Scottish League One and predecessors