Arbroath

The club

Arbroath were founded on 1 July 1878 and play at Gayfield Park in Arbroath, Angus. The ground holds 6,056, of which 861 are seated. The club are the Red Lichties, after the harbour lights, and are also called the Smokies after the town's cured haddock. They play in maroon.

Recent seasons

The last six years take in the full range of the second and third tiers. Arbroath were Championship runners-up in 2021/22 with 65 points from 17 wins, 14 draws and only 5 defeats, scoring 54 and conceding 28, and lost the title to Kilmarnock, who beat them 2-1 in the decisive meeting between the top two. They then lost the Premiership play-off to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The fall was quick. In 2022/23 they finished eighth with 34 points from 6 wins, 16 draws and 14 defeats, scoring only 29 goals in 36 games. In 2023/24 they were relegated from the Championship, a 5-0 defeat at Ayr United on 13 April 2024 effectively settling it. They responded by winning League One at the first attempt in 2024/25 with 64 points, sealing the title with a 4-0 win over Stenhousemuir on 12 April 2025.

Back in the Championship in 2025/26 they finished third of ten with 52 points from 13 wins, 13 draws and 10 defeats, scoring 43 and conceding 41, behind champions St Johnstone on 77 and Partick Thistle on 66. Third put them in the Premiership play-offs.

Honours and landmarks

Arbroath have never won a national trophy. They have won the third tier twice, in 2018/19 and 2024/25, and the fourth tier twice, in 2010/11 and 2016/17, with a further fourth-tier play-off promotion in 2007/08. They have been second-tier runners-up five times, in 1934/35, 1958/59, 1967/68, 1971/72 and 2021/22. Their furthest Scottish Cup run was the semi-final of 1946/47 and their furthest League Cup run the semi-final of 1959/60. They won the Scottish Qualifying Cup in 1903 and the Forfarshire Cup eighteen times.

The landmark that matters is the scoreline. Record attendance is 13,510 against Rangers in the Scottish Cup on 23 February 1952, and the highest average gate was 4,780 across 17 games in 1959/60. Tom Cargill holds the league appearance record with 426 between 1966 and 1980. David Easson scored 45 league goals in 1958/59, a club record for a season. Ned Doig, capped five times by Scotland and twice while at Gayfield, is the club's most capped player.

Notable scorelines

Arbroath 36 Bon Accord 0, in the first round of the Scottish Cup on 12 September 1885, remains the world record score in a senior football match. Jocky Petrie scored 13 of them, and contemporary accounts hold that between five and seven further goals were disallowed for offside. Record defeat is 1-9 against Celtic in the League Cup on 25 August 1993. From the recent past, the 4-0 win over Stenhousemuir on 12 April 2025 that clinched the League One title is the result the club marks.

Head-to-head notes

Raith Rovers publish the all-time record between the clubs as Raith 51 wins, Arbroath 36, 24 draws. Arbroath won the most recent meeting, 2-1 on 18 April 2026. Against Ayr United, the opening opponents, Ayr won 1-0 on 11 April 2026 and had inflicted the 5-0 defeat that sent Arbroath down in April 2024. Greenock Morton won 2-1 on 28 March 2026. Arbroath beat Queen's Park 2-0 at Gayfield on 25 April 2026. Inverness Caledonian Thistle knocked Arbroath out of the Premiership play-offs in 2022 and are back in the Championship this season as League One champions. Stenhousemuir, promoted through the play-offs in May 2026, were beaten 4-0 by Arbroath in the match that won the 2024/25 League One title. No published all-time record was established against Dunfermline Athletic, Livingston or Partick Thistle; Livingston spent last season in the Premiership, and Arbroath's Jack Wilkie joined them on 1 June 2026.

Right now (2026/27)

David Gold and Colin Hamilton were appointed co-managers on 17 August 2024, after a 3-0 defeat by Kelty Hearts, and won League One in their first full season. Gold is listed as the manager of record for 2026/27. Brian Cargill is chairman.

Summer transfer business could not be established in detail. The club's own news feed did not carry any items from June or July 2026 when consulted on 31 July 2026, and the published Scottish transfer list records only one Arbroath move, Jack Wilkie leaving for Livingston on a free transfer on 1 June 2026. No incoming signings are listed here because none could be confirmed from a source that was actually read; this is a gap a reviewer should fill from the local press rather than an indication that Arbroath did no business.

The Premier Sports Cup brought a mixed Group B. Arbroath won 2-1 at The Spartans on 11 July, lost 3-0 at Dundee United on 18 July, lost 2-0 at home to Montrose on 21 July with both goals from Loudon, and beat Stirling Albion 1-0 at Gayfield on 25 July through a Dow goal on the hour. Six points left them third of five, behind Dundee United and Montrose, who both finished on nine; Dundee United took the group and Montrose qualified as one of the three best runners-up. Arbroath did not go through.

The Championship campaign opens away to Ayr United at Somerset Park on Saturday 1 August 2026.

Sources

Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.