1. 41Racing & Football Outlook May 24-30, 2011
GOAL MACHINE: Peterborough’s Craig Mackail-Smith (second left)
final championship table
P W D L F A Pts
QPR (C) 46 24 16 6 71 32 88
Norwich City (P) 46 23 15 8 83 58 84
Swansea City (PO) 46 24 8 14 69 42 84
Cardiff City (PO) 46 23 11 12 76 54 80
Reading (PO) 46 20 17 9 77 51 77
Notts Forest (PO) 46 20 15 11 69 50 75
Preston (R) 46 10 12 24 54 79 42
Sheffield Utd (R) 46 11 9 26 54 79 42
Scunthorpe (R) 46 12 6 28 43 87 42
final league 1 table
P W D L F A Pts
Brighton (C) 46 28 11 7 85 40 95
Southampton (P) 46 28 8 10 86 38 92
Huddersfield (PO) 46 25 12 9 77 48 87
Peterborough (PO) 46 23 10 13 106 75 79
MK Dons (PO) 46 23 8 15 67 60 77
Bournemouth (PO) 46 19 14 13 75 54 71
Dagenham (R) 46 12 11 23 52 70 47
Bristol Rovers (R) 46 11 12 23 48 82 45
Plymouth (R) 46 15 7 24 51 74 42
Swindon Town (R) 46 9 14 23 50 72 41
final league 2 table
P W D L F A Pts
Chesterfield (C) 46 24 14 8 85 51 86
Bury (P) 46 23 12 11 82 50 81
Wycombe (P) 46 22 14 10 69 50 80
Shrewsbury (PO) 46 22 13 11 72 49 79
Accrington (PO) 46 18 19 9 73 55 73
Stevenage (PO) 46 18 15 13 62 45 69
Torquay (PO) 46 17 18 11 74 53 68
Lincoln (R) 46 13 8 25 45 81 47
Stockport (R) 46 9 14 23 48 96 41
monthly awards
Manager Player
August Neil Warnock Adel Taarabt
September Neil Warnock Jamie Mackie
October Dave Jones Jay Boothroyd
November Keith Millen James Hayter
December Simon Grayson Danny Graham
January Billy Davies Richie Wellens
February Brendan Rodgers Connor Wickham
March Malky Mackay Ian Harte
April Brian McDermott Simeon Jackson
top scorers championship
P Goals First Last
D Graham (Watford) 45 24 7 6
G Holt (Norwich) 45 21 9 5
S Long (Reading) 44 21 8 6
L Becchio (Leeds) 41 19 3 6
S Sinclair (Swansea) 43 19 9 7
J Bothroyd (Cardiff) 37 18 6 4
M Gradel (Leeds) 41 18 7 3
B Sharp (Doncaster) 29 15 5 2
S Morison (Millwall) 40 15 8 5
A King (Leicester) 45 15 5 8
final spl table
P W D L F A Pts
Rangers (C) 38 30 3 5 88 29 93
Celtic (EL) 38 29 5 4 85 22 92
Hearts (EL) 38 18 9 11 53 45 63
Hamilton (R) 38 5 11 22 24 59 26
monthly awards
Manager Player
August Walter Smith Kenny Miller
September Neil Lennon Kenny Miller
October Terry Butcher Steven Naismith
November Jim Jefferies Alexei Eremenko
December Mixu Paatelainen Marius Zallukas
January Neil Lennon Beram Kayai
February Colin Calderwood Miriam Kello
March Peter Houston David Goodwillie
April Neil Lennon Alan McGregor
final division one table
P W D L F A Pts
Dunfermline (C) 36 20 11 6 66 31 93
Cowdenbeath (PO) 36 9 8 19 41 72 35
Stirling (R) 36 4 8 24 33 82 20
final division two table
P W D L F A Pts
Livingston (C) 36 25 7 4 79 33 82
Ayr United (PO) 36 18 5 13 62 55 59
Forfar (PO) 36 17 8 11 50 48 59
Brechin (PO) 36 15 12 9 63 45 57
Alloa (PO) 36 9 9 18 49 71 36
Peterhead (R) 36 5 11 20 47 76 26
final division three table
P W D L F A Pts
Arbroath (C) 36 20 6 10 80 61 66
Albion (PO) 36 17 10 9 56 40 61
Queen’s Park (PO) 36 18 5 13 57 31 59
Annan (PO) 36 16 11 9 58 45 59
Clyde 36 8 8 20 37 67 32
Eugene Allen with an end of season report
the championship
queens park rangers
An FA investigation into the third-
party ownership of Alejandro
Faurlin threatened to derail their
season but the R’s escaped a points
deduction and were fined £875,000.
Neil Warnock’s men played an en-
tertaining brand of football in the
Championship, largely thanks to
Moroccan playmaker Adel Taarabt,
who helped his team win the league
in style at odds of 12-1.
norwich city
It seemed as though nobody want-
ed to follow QPR up to the Premier
League but the Canaries grasped
the nettle to clinch their second suc-
cessive promotion under Paul Lam-
bert. City finished four points clear
of the play-offs and will host top-
flight football at Carrow Road again
after a seven-year absence.
reading
Brian McDermott led his Reading
side to the play-off final after the
Royals beat Cardiff in the semis.
Shane Long was in fine scoring form,
bagging a total of 21 league goals
over the course of the campaign.
The 24-year-old will be hoping the
goals keep coming as his Reading
team are up against former manager
Brendan Rodgers in the final, whose
Swansea side beat Forest.
sheffield united
Gary Speed replaced Kevin Black-
well as manager in August and
was doing a steady job until the
Welsh FA came calling in December.
The Blades were as short as 5-1 to
go up in the ante-post markets, but
Micky Adams was unable to save
the club from the drop after taking
over from Speed, winning just four
of his 24 games at the helm.
league 1
brighton
Gus Poyet’s Brighton won the title
in impressive style and with games
to spare. The Seagulls made a sur-
prisingly good start to the campaign
after being priced up at 16-1 last
summer. Glenn Murray’s 22 goals
were a contributing factor and the
future looks bright for the Seasiders,
who move into a new stadium next
season.
southampton
Southampton were many punters’
idea of a banker, although the
League 1 ‘good things’ were 3-1 from
12-5 to finish top after losing 1-0 at
home to Plymouth on opening day.
The Saints clinched promotion to
the Championship on the final day,
with a 3-1 home win over Walsall.
huddersfield
Huddersfield finished third in
League 1, just five points off the au-
tomatic promotion places. The Ter-
riers won a close semi-final against
Bournemouth on penalties to clinch
their spot in the play-off finals.
Lee Clark is now just a game away
from managing in the second tier of
English football.
peterborough
After an uncertain season, Peter-
bourough secured their place in the
play-off final after coming from be-
hind to beat the MK Dons 4-3 on
aggregate. The Posh have the divi-
sion’s top scorer in striker Craig
Mackail-Smith, who finished the
regular season with 27 goals.
plymouth argyle
Relegated from the Championship
and hit with a deduction after go-
ing into administration, Argyle were
always going to find the season
tough. Peter Reid took over from
Paul Mariner in the summer and,
despite doing the league double
over play-off hopefuls MK Dons, the
Pilgrims finished second-bottom.
league 2
chesterfield
Chesterfield were 14-1 shots in the
ante-post markets to win League 2
at the start of the season but John
Sheridan’s men finished five points
ahead of managerless Bury, who se-
cured second place. Joint-favourites
Gillingham, 10-1 in the betting last
summer, missed out on the play-offs
on goal difference.
wycombe
Relegated from League 1 last sea-
son, Gary Waddock’s men go
straight back up, after clinching the
third automatic promotion spot.
They went unbeaten in their last ten
league games and will be hoping to
improve on their 22nd place finish
in League 1 in 2009-10.
stockport county
The Hatters had three managers
this season, with Ray Mathias un-
able to save them from the drop af-
ter taking charge in March.
Stockport conceded 96 goals this
term, more than any other team in
League 2 and it was their inability
to defend that ultimately cost them.
They finished bottom.
torquay
Torquay have a play-off final to look
forward to after taking care of
Shrewsbury in the semis. Chris Ze-
broski’s 14 goals helped the Gulls
to a seventh-place finish and Paul
Buckle’s men are now a game away
from playing League 1 football next
term.
bradford
Bradford were installed as 10-1
joint favourites for the League 2 ti-
tle last summer but the Bantams
struggled and finished the season
with a heavy 5-1 defeat at the
hands of Crewe. Peter Jackson re-
placed Peter Taylor in the dugout
in February and guided his side to
18th place, five points clear of the
relegation zone.
Favourites flop in
all three divisions
spl
rangers
In Walter Smith’s final season in
charge, Rangers had a solid cam-
paign, vying for first place with
Celtic all season. The fight for the
title went to the final day, with the
Gers beating Kilmarnock 5-1 to
clinch the title in style.
celtic
After a difficult first full season in
charge, Bhoys boss Neil Lennon
won the Scottish Cup but missed
out on the title by a point.
hearts
Although never looking likely win-
ners of the SPL, Hearts were the
closest club to Rangers and Celtic.
Jim Jefferies’ men finished the cam-
paign in third place, securing a spot
in the qualifying rounds of next sea-
son’s Europa League. They were
9-2 in the betting without the Old
Firm before the big kick-off.
hamilton
The Accies found it tough in the
Premier League. Priced up at 5-1 to
finish bottom, Billy Reid’s men
were battling relegation all term and
will play their football in Division
One next season.
top goalscorers
Celtic’s Gary Hooper finished sec-
ond in the goal scoring charts with
20, behind ex-Rangers striker Ken-
ny Miller, who left the Gers after
scoring 21 league goals.
David Goodwillie of Dundee Unit-
ed scored 17 goals to help his side
finish fourth while Anthony Stokes,
who started the season at Hibs and
is now of Celtic, scored an impres-
sive total of 15 goals this term.
most assists
David Goodwillie of Dundee Unit-
ed, topped the assists chart with
ten. On-loan from Man City, Slova-
kian midfielder Vladimir Weiss was
an influential creator for Rangers.
He finished in second place with
nine alongside Christopher Maguire
of Aberdeen.
Anthony Stokes of Celtic and Alex-
ei Eremenko of Kilmarnock laid on
eight goals each.
divsion one
dunfermline
Andy Kirk’s goals ensured that the
Pars, 5-1 title shots ante-post, fin-
ished top and Jim McIntyre can now
look forward to taking on the likes
of Neil Lennon and Ally McCoist in
the SPL next season.
dundee
Dundee were a best-priced 6-4 to
win promotion to the SPL but their
title hopes took a knock after they
were handed a 25-point penalty for
going into administration. The Dark
Blues finished fifth but were the only
team in Division One to go un-
beaten at home all season.
stirling albion
Division Two champions last sea-
son, John O’Neill’s men found the
step up tough. The Binos finished
bottom after only managing to
gather a total of 20 points during the
course of the season.
top stat
Partick Thistle kept 16 clean sheets
this season, the most in the league,
but too many draws saw them fin-
ish fifth.
divsion two
livingston
Ante-post 13-8 favourites to win the
Division Two title, Livi lived up to
expectations and were unbeaten at
home in the league all season. They
ran out comfortable winners in the
end, finishing 23 points ahead of sec-
ond-placed Ayr.
ayr
Livingston’s closest challengers fin-
ished level on points with Forfar. Bri-
an Reid’s men secured promotion
to Division One after beating
Brechin in the play-offs thanks to
two late goals at Glebe Park.
peterhead
The Blue Toon finished the season
bottom of the table after conceding
a total of 76 goals, the most in Di-
vision Two. Winless since January,
manager Neale Cooper now faces
the unenviable task of regrouping
and preparing for life in Division
Three.
top stat
Champions Livingston kept a divi-
sion-high 15 clean sheets.
division 3
arbroath
The Red Litchties didn’t fail to im-
press this season and were consis-
tent throughout, finishing top of
Division Three. Gavin Swankie was
in scoring form for much of the cam-
paign and finished with 23 goals, the
most in the division.
albion rovers
Albion made the play-offs after
missing out last season by a single
point. The Wee Rovers beat Queens
Park and Annan and can look for-
ward to playing in Division Two next
season.
clyde
Quoted as 13-5 favourites to win the
title at the start of the season, Clyde
flirted with relegation for much of
the campaign and eventually fin-
ished bottom of the league with just
32 points.
top stat
Albion Rovers conceded just 40
goals – the lowest in the division –
securing them a play-off spot.
Smith leaves the Ibrox
dugout as title winner