2020–21 Livingston F.C. season

The 2020–21 season is the club's third season in the Scottish Premiership, the top flight of Scottish football. Livingston will also compete in the Scottish Cup and the League Cup.

Livingston

2020–21 season
Chairman	Robert Wilson
Manager	Gary Holt (until 26 Nov 20)[1] David Martindale (from 21 Dec 20)
Stadium	Tony Macaroni Arena
Scottish Premiership	5th
Scottish League Cup	Final
Top goalscorer	League: Scott Pittman (6) All: Alan Forrest (11)
Home colours Away colours

Season Summary

Goalkeeper Gary Maley signed a new contract after a Twitter poll "joke" vote from fans.[2][3] Marvin Bartley was named as new captain for the season.[4] On 19 August, Lyndon Dykes left the club to join Queens Park Rangers for £2,000,000, breaking the record for the fee of a player sold by the club but part of the fee will go to Queen of the South as a sell-on clause.[5] Having signed on 22 August, Anthony Stokes left the club on 15 September without making an appearance for the club.[6] After the defeat to Celtic, Livi were bottom of the table but back to back wins seen them move up to the top six before the October International break.[7] On 26 November, Gary Holt resigned as manager after failing to win in five matches.[1] David Martindale and Tony Caig took over as caretakers with Martindale insisting he was "a changed man".[8] Martindale’s appointment saw the club’s form improve dramatically, with the club getting 8 consecutive wins and going 10 consecutive games unbeaten after a 2-2 draw with Celtic.[9] Livi reached the League Cup final for the first time since 2004 after beating St Mirren at Hampden Park.[10] The SFA's 'Fit and proper person' hearing was a positive outcome for manager Martindale, who was turned down in his application to be a club official a year earlier but had since been supported publicly.[11] The winning run continued as Livi won at Pittodrie for the first time since 2004, making it 14 matches unbeaten.[12]

Results & fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Pre-season

18 July 2020 Friendly	Dundee United	0–0	Livingston	Tannadice Park
		Report		Attendance: 0

22 July 2020 Friendly	Kilmarnock	1–2	Livingston	Rugby Park
	McKenzie  25'	Report	Forrest  24' Ambrose  60'	Attendance: 0

25 July 2020 Friendly	Livingston	2–2	Ross County	Tony Macaroni Arena
14:00	Dykes  32' Kouider-Aïssa  49'	Report	Stewart  55' Fontaine  75'	Attendance: 0

Scottish Premiership

1 August 2020[13] 1	St Mirren	1–0	Livingston	St Mirren Park
15:00 BST	Tait  30'	Report		Attendance: 50 Referee: Don Robertson

8 August 2020 2	Livingston	1–4	Hibernian	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 BST	Dykes  60' (pen.)	Report	Nisbet  24', 37', 88' (pen.) Doidge  41'	Referee: Euan Anderson

12 August 2020 3	Motherwell	2–2	Livingston	Fir Park
19:45 BST	Turnbull  8' Campbell  35'	Report	Dykes  10' (pen.) Forrest  69'	Referee: Colin Steven

16 August 2020 4	Livingston	0–0	Rangers	Tony Macaroni Arena
16:30 BST		Report		Referee: Nick Walsh

23 August 2020[14] 5	Aberdeen	2−1	Livingston	Pittodrie Stadium
15:00 BST	Ferguson  49' Wright  55'	Report	Sibbald  42' Devlin  43' Pittman  69'

29 August 2020 6	Livingston	1−0	Ross County	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 BST	Guthrie  64' Serrano  67'	Report	Draper  18' Tremarco  51' Gardyne  65' Donaldson  90+3'	Referee: John Beaton

12 September 2020 7	Livingston	1−2	Hamilton Academical	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 BST	Pittman  1'	Report	Templeton  57' Munro  85'	Referee: Don Robertson

19 September 2020 8	Celtic	3−2	Livingston	Celtic Park
15:00 BST	McGregor  20' Christie  23' Ajeti  52'	Report	Holt  16' (pen.) Serrano  78'	Referee: Gavin Duncan

26 September 2020 9	Livingston	2−0	St Johnstone	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 BST	Tiffoney  34' Forrest  35'	Report		Referee: Craig Napier

2 October 2020 10	Dundee United	1−2	Livingston	Tannadice Park
19:45 BST	Clark  18'	Report	Guthrie  53' Forrest  90'	Referee: John Beaton

17 October 2020 11	Livingston	1−3	Kilmarnock	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 BST	Pittman  11'	Report	Tshibola  24' Burke  37' (pen.) Kiltie  57'	Referee: Greg Aitken

25 October 2020 12	Rangers	2−0	Livingston	Ibrox Stadium
15:00 BST	Aribo  9' Defoe  16' Jack  89'	Report	Guthrie  68'	Referee: Nick Walsh

31 October 2020 13	Livingston	0−2	Motherwell	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 GMT	Guthrie  45+1' Bartley  66'	Report	Lang  22' Watt  45+2',  73' Maguire  70'	Referee: John Beaton

6 November 2020 14	Ross County	1−1	Livingston	Global Energy Stadium
19:45 GMT	Shaw  28' Kelly  90'	Report	Devlin  56' Bartley  70'	Attendance: 300 Referee: Kevin Clancy

21 November 2020 15	Livingston	0−1	St Mirren	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 GMT		Report	Doyle-Hayes  56'	Referee: Willie Collum

5 December 2020 16	Livingston	2−0	Dundee United	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 GMT	Pittman  57' Bartley  73'	Report		Referee: Don Robertson

12 December 2020 17	St Johnstone	1−2	Livingston	McDiarmid Park
15:00 GMT	Kane  54'	Report	Guthrie  48' Robinson  65'	Attendance: 0 Referee: John Beaton

23 December 2020 19	Hamilton Academical	0−2	Livingston	New Douglas Park
18:00 GMT		Report	Guthrie  51' Mullin  90+1'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Gavin Duncan

26 December 2020 20	Kilmarnock	1−2	Livingston	Rugby Park
15:00 GMT	Burke  48 pen.'	Report	Emmanuel-Thomas  51' Robinson  90+2'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Clancy

2 January 2021 22	Hibernian	0−3	Livingston	Easter Road
15:00 GMT		Report	Mullin  9' Guthrie  16' Robinson  47'	Attendance: 0 Referee: David Munro

9 January 2021 23	Livingston	3−1	Ross County	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 GMT	Robinson  9' Forrest  81' Hamilton  90+1'	Report	Lakin  28'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Alan Muir

16 January 2021 24	Celtic	0−0	Livingston	Celtic Park
15:00 GMT		Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: John Beaton

20 January 2021 18[N 1]	Livingston	2−2	Celtic	Tony Macaroni Arena
20:15 GMT	Brown  15' Emmanuel-Thomas  60'	Report	Elyounoussi  28' Bitton  28' Brown  83'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Willie Collum
Note: Game televised on Sky Sports.

27 January 2021 25	Livingston	2−0	Kilmarnock	Tony Macaroni Arena
19:45 GMT	Kabia  89' Pittman  90'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: Steve Kirkland

30 January 2021 21[N 1]	Livingston	0−0	Aberdeen	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 GMT	Holt  85'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: Steven McLean

2 February 2021 26	Aberdeen	0−2	Livingston	Pittodrie Stadium
18:00GMT	Ferguson  32' Hoban  77'	Report	Lewis  7' (o.g.) Devlin 16' Longridge  44'	Referee: Nick Walsh

6 February 2021 27	Livingston	1−2	St Johnstone	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00 GMT	Pittman  83'	Report	Tanser  45+2' Rooney  51'	Attendance: 0 Referee: Euan Anderson

For upcoming Scottish Premiership fixtures, see the official Livingston F.C. website

Scottish League Cup

Group Stage

6 October 2020 Group H	Edinburgh City	1−5	Livingston	Ainslie Park
19:45	Handling  70' (pen.)	Report	Robinson  7' Mullin  22', 40' Poplatnik  65' Lokotsch  77'	Referee: Willie Collum

10 October 2020 Group H	Livingston	2–1	Alloa Athletic	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00	Forrest  46' Mullin  50'	Report	Thomson  31'	Referee: Alan Muir

10 November 2020 Group H	Stenhousemuir	0–4	Livingston	Ochilview Park
19:30		Report	Forrest  1', 8' Poplatnik  30' Taylor-Sinclair  65'	Referee: Colin Steven

14 November 2020 Group H	Livingston	4–1	Airdrieonians	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00	Forrest  57', 83' Emmanuel-Thomas  58' (pen.), 67'	Report	Robert  52'	Referee: David Munro

Knockout Round

28 November 2020 Second round	Livingston	4–0	Ayr United	Tony Macaroni Arena
15:00	Chalmers  4' (o.g.) Fitzwater  6', 12' Forrest  44'	Report		Referee: David Munro

15 December 2020 Quarter-final	Livingston	2–0	Ross County	Tony Macaroni Arena
19:45	Sibbald  4' Forrest  24'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: Steven McLean

24 January 2021 Semi-Final	Livingston	1–0	St Mirren	Hampden Park
16:00	Robinson  9'	Report		Attendance: 0 Referee: David Munro Man of the Match: Robinson

28 February 2021 Final	St Johnstone	v	Livingston	Hampden Park
14:00

Scottish Cup

Livingston were drawn to play Stirling Albion or Raith Rovers at home.[15] Currently, the cup is suspended.[16]

Squad statistics

Appearances

As of 6 February 2021

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premiership		League Cup		Scottish Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Robby McCrorie	11	0	11	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF		Nicky Devlin	33	2	25+1	2	6+1	0	0	0
3	DF		Ciaron Brown	18	1	13+3	1	0+2	0	0	0
5	DF		Jack Fitzwater	16	2	11	0	4+1	2	0	0
6	MF		Marvin Bartley (c)	29	1	24	1	5	0	0	0
8	MF		Scott Pittman	33	6	27	6	6	0	0	0
9	FW		Jay Emmanuel-Thomas	19	4	7+8	2	3+1	2	0	0
10	MF		Craig Sibbald	28	1	19+3	0	5+1	1	0	0
11	MF		Alan Forrest	28	11	17+5	4	6	7	0	0
12	DF		Julien Serrano	23	2	15+3	2	4+1	0	0	0
14	FW		Josh Mullin	18	6	10+2	3	6	3	0	0
15	FW		Matej Poplatnik	14	2	2+8	0	2+2	2	0	0
17	MF		Scott Robinson	28	6	15+9	4	4	2	0	0
18	MF		Jason Holt	24	1	15+3	1	3+3	0	0	0
19	FW		Salim Kouider-Aissa	4	0	0+4	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW		Gavin Reilly	4	0	1+2	0	0+1	0	0	0
21	DF		Jack McMillan	8	0	3+2	0	2+1	0	0	0
22	MF		Scott Tiffoney	11	1	4+5	1	1+1	0	0	0
23	MF		Jackson Longridge	4	0	2+1	0	0+1	0	0	0
25	DF		Efe Ambrose	23	0	15+3	0	3+2	0	0	0
27	DF		Jon Guthrie	29	4	24	4	5	0	0	0
29	DF		Aaron Taylor-Sinclair	8	1	4	0	2+2	1	0	0
32	GK		Max Stryjek	20	0	15	0	5	0	0	0
33	DF		Steve Lawson	10	0	6+3	0	1	0	0	0
37	FW		Jaze Kabia	3	1	0+3	1	0	0	0	0
39	MF		Carlo Pignatiello	3	0	0+1	0	0+2	0	0	0
40	GK		Gary Maley	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Players who left the club during the season
9	FW		Lyndon Dykes	3	2	3	2	0	0	0	0
13	FW		Lars Lokotsch	5	1	2+2	0	0+1	1	0	0
16	MF		Robbie Crawford	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW		Aymen Souda	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
30	GK		Brian Schwake	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	FW		Jack Hamilton	5	1	2+3	1	0	0	0	0

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
3	Hibernian (X)	28	14	7	7	39	26	+13	49	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
4	Aberdeen	27	12	8	7	31	28	+3	44
5	Livingston	27	11	6	10	35	31	+4	39
6	St Mirren	25	9	5	11	26	28	−2	32
7	Dundee United	28	7	10	11	23	38	−15	31

Updated to match(es) played on 7 February 2021. Source: BBC SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-Head points; 5) Head-to-Head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification, second stage group allocation or relegation).[17]
(X) Assured a place of the top 6 group.
Notes:

1. Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).

League Cup table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LIV	ALO	EDI	AIR	STE
1	Livingston	4	4	0	0	0	15	3	+12	12	Qualification for the Second Round		—	2–1	—	4–1	—
2	Alloa Athletic	4	3	0	0	1	9	5	+4	9			—	—	2–1	—	4–2
3	Edinburgh City	4	1	0	1	2	5	9	−4	4			1–5	—	—	—	2–2p
4	Airdrieonians	4	1	0	0	3	3	7	−4	3			—	0–2	0–1	—	—
5	Stenhousemuir	4	0	1	0	3	4	12	−8	2			0–4	—	—	0–2	—

Source: [18]
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) goal difference, 3) goals scored, 4) away goals scored, 5) matches won, 6) away matches won, 7) drawing of lots.[19]

Transfers

Players in Date Player From Fee 1 June 2020 Alan Forrest Ayr United Free[20] 8 July 2020 Jack Fitzwater West Bromwich Albion Free[21] 8 July 2020 Matej Poplatnik Kerala Blasters Free[21] 9 July 2020 Robby McCrorie Rangers Loan[22] 13 July 2020 Salim Kouider-Aissa Queens Park Free[23] 20 July 2020 Max Stryjek Eastleigh Free[24] 21 July 2020 Ciaron Brown Cardiff City Loan[25] 11 August 2020 Jason Holt Rangers Free[26] 21 August 2020 Julien Serrano AS Monaco Loan[27] 21 August 2020 Lars Lokotsch SV Rödinghausen Free[27] 22 August 2020 Anthony Stokes Persepolis Free[28] 30 September 2020 Jay Emmanuel-Thomas PTT Rayong Free[29] 5 October 2020 Josh Mullin Ross County Free[30] 5 January 2021 Gavin Reilly Carlisle United Free[31] 8 January 2021 Jaze Kabia Shelbourne Free[32] 19 January 2021 Jackson Longridge Bradford City Free[33] 1 February 2021 Djibril Diani Grasshopper Loan[34]

Players out Date Player To Fee 1 June 2020 Craig Henderson East Stirlingshire Free[35] 10 June 2020 Ricki Lamie Motherwell Free[36] 13 July 2020 Steven Lawless Burton Albion Free[37] 14 July 2020 Chris Erskine East Kilbride Free[38] 31 July 2020 Hakeem Odoffin Hamilton Academical Undisclosed[39] 13 August 2020 Ross Stewart Heart of Midlothian Loan[40] 19 August 2020 Lyndon Dykes Queens Park Rangers £2,000,000[5] 21 August 2020 Dolly Menga Released[41] 21 August 2020 Cécé Pepe Released[41] 8 September 2020 Jack Hamilton East Fife Loan[42] 1 September 2020 Brian Schwake Linlithgow Rose Loan[43] 15 September 2020 Anthony Stokes Released[6] 16 September 2020 Salim Kouider-Aissa Partick Thistle Loan[44] 16 September 2020 Robbie Crawford Motherwell Loan[45] 5 October 2020 Aymen Souda Released[46] 9 October 2020 Raffaele De Vita Edinburgh City Loan[47] 27 October 2020 Lars Lokotsch Raith Rovers Loan[48] 29 January 2021 Jack Hamilton Arbroath Loan[49] 1 February 2021 Robbie Crawford Motherwell Free[50]

See also

List of Livingston F.C. seasons

Footnotes

1. Rearranged match after postponement

References

1. "Gary Holt leaves Livingston FC". Livingston FC. 26 November 2020.
2. "Twitter poll earns Livi keeper deal". BBC Sport. 27 May 2020.
3. "The people have spoken – Gary Maley stays!". Livingston FC. 27 May 2020.
4. "Marvin Bartley – Livingston FC Captain for 2020/21". Livingston FC. 10 July 2020.
5. "Lyndon Dykes: Queens Park Rangers sign Livingston striker". BBC Sport. 19 August 2020.
6. "Livingston: Anthony Stokes leaves without playing game". BBC Sport. 15 September 2020.
7. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54290320
8. McLauchlin, Brian (11 December 2020). "Martindale a changed man - Livi chief". BBC Scotland.
9. "FT - Livingston 2-2 Celtic". Twitter. 20 January 2021.
10. Watt, Martin (24 January 2021). "Livi edge St Mirren to reach final". BBC Scotland.
11. Livingston: - David Martindale deemed fit and proper by SFA, Kheredeine Idessane, BBC Sport, 26 January 2021
12. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55806188
13. "SPFL Premiership fixtures for 2020/21". Livingston. 6 July 2020.
14. McLauchlin, Brian (7 August 2020). "Sturgeon criticises Aberdeen players after the game is called off following positive tests". BBC Scotland.
15. "Stage set for Scottish Cup Third Round". SFA. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
16. "Scottish FA Board confirms three-week suspension of professional football beneath SPFL Championship". SFA. 11 January 2021.
17. "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). SPFL. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
18. "Summary - League Cup Group H". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
19. "Format". SPFL. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
20. "Alan Forrest: Pre-Contract Agreement". Livingston FC. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
21. "Double delight as duo put pen to paper". Livingston FC. 8 July 2020.
22. "Robby McCrorie: Livingston re-sign Rangers goalkeeper on year-long loan". BBC Sport. 9 July 2020.
23. "New Week – New Signing! Welcome, Salim Kouider-Aïssa". Livingston FC. 13 July 2020.
24. "Livingston sign goalkeeper Max Stryjek". BBC Sport. 20 July 2020.
25. "Livingston sign defender Ciaron Brown on loan from Cardiff City". 21 July 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
26. "Jason Holt: Livingston sign experienced midfielder on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 11 August 2020.
27. "Lars Lokotsch and Julien Serrano join the Lions". Livingston F.C. 21 August 2020.
28. Mark, Hendry. "Ex-Celtic striker Anthony Stokes signs one-year deal at Livingston". Glasgow Evening Times. Glasgow Evening Times. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
29. "Jay Emmanuel-Thomas: Livingston sign former Ipswich & Bristol City striker". BBC Sport. 30 September 2020.
30. "Josh Mullin: Midfielder back at Livingston after Ross County exit". BBC Sport. 5 October 2020.
31. "Livingston sign striker Gavin Reilly from Carlisle Utd". BBC Sport. 5 January 2020.
32. "Livingston: New signing Jaze Kabia may be loaned out". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
33. "Jackson Longridge: Livingston re-sign 'infectious personality' after Bradford City release". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
34. "Livingston: French midfielder Djibril Diani signs on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
35. "Signing News: Craig Henderson". eaststirlingshirefc.co.uk. East Stirlingshire FC. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
36. "Motherwell sign defender Ricki Lamie after Livingston departure". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
37. "Steven Lawless: Burton Albion sign former Livingston winger on one-year contract". BBC Sport. 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
38. "EXCLUSIVE: East Kilbride boss confirms Chris Erskine set for FIFTH tier switch after Livingston exit". Daily Record. 2020-07-14. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
39. "Hakeem Odoffin: Hamilton sign defender from Livingston for undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 31 July 2020.
40. https://www.heartsfc.co.uk/news/article/stewart-signs-on-loan
41. "Cece Pepe & Dolly Menga Depart". Livingston FC. 21 August 2020.
42. "East Fife take Livingston striker Jack Hamilton on loan". www.fifetoday.co.uk.
43. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/livingston-keeper-brian-schwakes-loan-22611171
44. "Livingston striker Salim Kouider-Aissa signs one-year loan deal with Partick Thistle". Glasgow Times.
45. "Motherwell: Robbie Crawford joins on loan from Livingston". BBC Sport. 18 September 2020.
46. https://livingstonfc.co.uk/aymen-souda-departs/
47. Oliver, David (9 October 2020). "Edinburgh City sign former Falkirk, Blackburn and Swindon midfielder Rafa de Vita on loan from Livingston". Edinburgh Evening News.
48. Collin, Iain (27 October 2020). "Raith Rovers strengthen their attacking options with the loan signing of Livingston striker Lars Lokotsch". The Courier.
49. "Jack Hamilton - Arbroath FC". Arbroath FC. 29 January 2020.
50. "Robbie Crawford makes Motherwell move permanent after Livingston release". BBC Sport. 1 February 2020.