2016–17 Ayr United F.C. season

The 2016–17 season was Ayr United's 107th season of competitive football and their first season back in the second tier of Scottish football, now known as the Championship.[1] Ayr also competed in the League Cup, Scottish Cup and the Challenge Cup.

Ayr United

2016–17 season
Manager	Ian McCall
Stadium	Somerset Park
Scottish Championship	Tenth Place (Relegated)
Scottish Cup	Quarter-final
League Cup	Second Round
Challenge Cup	Quarter-final
Top goalscorer	League: Alan Forrest (6) All: Alan Forrest (9)
Highest home attendance	3,100 v Hibernian, Championship, 5 November 2016
Lowest home attendance	862 v Edinburgh City, League Cup, 23 July 2016
Average home league attendance	1,854
Home colours Away colours

Summary

Season

In their first season back in the second tier of Scottish football, Ayr United finished in tenth place and were relegated back to League One after only one season in the Scottish Championship. Their relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season with a 2–1 away defeat to Raith Rovers.[2]

Results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Pre-season and friendlies

2 July 2016	Stenhousemuir	0 – 2	Ayr United	Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir
14:00		Report

Raydale Cup

10 July 2016 Semi-final	Ayr United	0 – 2	South Shields	Raydale Park, Gretna
		Ayr United	Arca  39' Scroggins  41'

11 July 2016 3rd place play-off	Gretna 2008	0 – 8	Ayr United	Raydale Park, Gretna
14:00		Ayr United	Thomas  14', 62' (pen.) McCreadie  60' McGuffie  65' Forrest  71', 90' Donald  79' Crawford  82'

Scottish Championship

6 August 2016 1	Ayr United	0 – 2	Raith Rovers	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report	Callachan  19' Matthews  75'	Attendance: 1,550 Referee: Euan Anderson

13 August 2016 2	Queen of the South	4 – 1	Ayr United	Palmerston Park, Dumfries
15:00	Lyle  12', 53' Dobbie  44' Dykes  74'	Report	Nisbet  61'	Attendance: 1,982 Referee: Stephen Finnie

20 August 2016 3	Dundee United	3 – 0	Ayr United	Tannadice Park, Dundee
15:00	Murray  13' Robson  37' Flood  76'	Report		Attendance: 6,427 Referee: Greg Aitken

27 August 2016 4	Ayr United	1 – 1	St Mirren	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	Adams  14'	Report	Walsh  89'	Attendance: 2,165 Referee: Crawford Allan

10 September 2016 5	Ayr United	2 – 1	Greenock Morton	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	Cairney  47' Forrest  69'	Report	Forbes  86'	Attendance: 1,441 Referee: John McKendrick

17 September 2016 6	Hibernian	1 – 2	Ayr United	Easter Road, Edinburgh
15:00	Cummings  50' Bartley  67'	Report	Balatoni  74' Gilmour  80'	Attendance: 15,056 Referee: Nick Walsh

24 September 2016 7	Falkirk	2 – 0	Ayr United	Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
15:00	Meggatt  78' (o.g.) Miller  90+1'	Report		Attendance: 4,345 Referee: Willie Collum

1 October 2016 8	Ayr United	0 – 0	Dunfermline Athletic	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report		Attendance: 2,883 Referee: Don Robertson

15 October 2016 9	Dumbarton	0 – 3	Ayr United	Dumbarton Football Stadium, Dumbarton
15:00		Report	Forrest  2', 50', 62 pen.'	Attendance: 1,005 Referee: Gavin Duncan

22 October 2016 10	Ayr United	1 – 0	Queen of the South	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	Cairney  52'	Report		Attendance: 1,842 Referee: John Beaton

29 October 2016 11	Greenock Morton	2 – 1	Ayr United	Cappielow, Greenock
15:00	O'Ware  73' Oliver  89'	Report	Nisbet  37'	Attendance: 1,859 Referee: Mat Northcroft

5 November 2016 12	Ayr United	0 – 3	Hibernian	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report	Boyle  28', 77' McGinn  84'	Attendance: 3,100 Referee: Kevin Clancy

19 November 2016 13	Ayr United	0 – 1	Falkirk	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report	Craigen  15'	Attendance: 1,414 Referee: Gavin Duncan

22 November 2016 14	Raith Rovers	1 – 1	Ayr United	Stark's Park, Kirkcaldy
19:45	Coustrain  17' Benedictus  36'	Report	Cairney  57' Harkins  88'	Attendance: 1,241 Referee: Craig Charleston

3 December 2016 15	Dunfermline Athletic	1 – 1	Ayr United	East End Park, Dunfermline
15:00	Clark  30' Martin  48'	Report	Forrest  50', pen.'	Attendance: 3,250 Referee: Barry Cook

10 December 2016 16	Ayr United	0 – 1	Dundee United	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report	Obadeyi  6'	Attendance: 2,049 Referee: Willie Collum

17 December 2016 17	St Mirren	1 – 1	Ayr United	St Mirren Park, Paisley
15:00	Sutton  81'	Report	Cairney  63' Adams  77'	Attendance: 3,124 Referee: Greg Aitken

24 December 2016 18	Ayr United	4 – 4	Dumbarton	Somerset Park, Ayr
12:30	McKenna  31' Harkins  43' Forest  74' (pen.) Cairney  85'	Report	R. Thomson  45+2' Harvie  52' Stirling  73' J. Thomson  84' Stevenson  88'	Attendance: 1,441 Referee: Craig Charleston

31 December 2016 19	Queen of the South	0 – 0	Ayr United	Palmerston Park, Dumfries
14:00		Report		Attendance: 1,594 Referee: Steven Kirkland

7 January 2017 20	Ayr United	0 – 2	Dunfermline Athletic	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report	Clark  26' Geggan  33'	Attendance: 2,261 Referee: Craig Thomson

14 January 2017 21	Falkirk	1 – 1	Ayr United	Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
15:00	Grant  45+2'	Report	Harkins  24'	Attendance: 5,038 Referee: Bobby Madden

28 January 2017 22	Ayr United	1 – 4	Greenock Morton	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	Adams  36'	Report	Forbes  11', 19' Oliver  31', 65'	Attendance: 1,576 Referee: Don Robertson

4 February 2017 23	Hibernian	1 – 1	Ayr United	Easter Road, Edinburgh
15:00	Cummings  74'	Report	Crawford  4'	Attendance: 14,349 Referee: Crawford Allan

18 February 2017 24	Dumbarton	2 – 2	Ayr United	Dumbarton Football Stadium, Dumbarton
15:00	Stanton  62', 75'	Report	Docherty  27' Rose  90+1' Moore  90+3' (pen.)	Attendance: 1,198 Referee: John McKendrick

25 February 2017 25	Ayr United	0 – 2	St Mirren	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report	Sutton  51' Morgan  82'	Attendance: 2,712 Referee: Craig Thomson

28 February 2017 26	Ayr United	1 – 0	Raith Rovers	Somerset Park, Ayr
19:45	El Alagui  62'	Report		Attendance: 1,103 Referee: Willie Collum

11 March 2017 27	Ayr United	1 – 4	Falkirk	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	Harkins  64'	Report	Austin  8', 63' Sibbald  90' Aird  90+2'	Attendance: 1,614 Referee: Steven McLean

18 March 2017 28	Dunfermline Athletic	0 – 1	Ayr United	East End Park, Dunfermline
15:00		Report	Docherty  49'	Attendance: 3,276 Referee: Bobby Madden

25 March 2017 29	Ayr United	2 – 1	Dumbarton	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	El Alagui  45+1' Crawford  51'	Report	R. Thomson  21' Fleming  71'	Attendance: 1,608 Referee: Craig Charleston

28 March 2017 30	Dundee United	2 – 1	Ayr United	Tannadice Park, Dundee
19:45	Murray  23' Durnan  78'	Report	Harkins  51' (pen.)	Attendance: 4,661 Referee: Barry Cook

1 April 2017 31	St Mirren	6 – 2	Ayr United	St Mirren Park, Paisley
15:00	Mallan  5' MacKenzie  20' McGinn  23' Magennis  36' Morgan  52' Smith  88'	Report	Cairney  74' El Alagu  87'	Attendance: 4,620 Referee: Gavin Duncan

8 April 2017 32	Ayr United	0 – 2	Queen of the South	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report	Dobbie  71', 76'	Attendance: 1,476 Referee: Alan Newlands

15 April 2017 33	Ayr United	0 – 0	Dundee United	Somerset Park, Ayr
17:15		Report		Attendance: 1,205 Referee: Crawford Allan

22 April 2017 34	Greenock Morton	1 – 1	Ayr United	Cappielow, Greenock
15:00	Shankland  38'	Report	Moore  45+1'	Attendance: 2,390 Referee: Steven Kirkland

29 April 2017 35	Ayr United	0 – 4	Hibernian	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report	Cummings  27', 72' Boyle  30' Keatings  66'	Attendance: 2,152 Referee: Stephen Finnie

6 May 2017 36	Raith Rovers	2 – 1	Ayr United	Stark's Park, Kirkcaldy
15:00	Penska  4' Court  37' McManus  90'	Report	Docherty  70'	Attendance: 3,064 Referee: Steven McLean

Scottish League Cup

Group Stage

Results

16 July 2016 Group G	Ayr United	2 – 1	Hamilton Academical	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	Forrest  2' (pen.) Crawford  49'	Report	Longridge  90+4'	Attendance: 994 Referee: Willie Collum

19 July 2016 Group G	St Mirren	1 – 0	Ayr United	St Mirren Park, Paisley
19:45	Baird  90+3'	SPFL Report		Attendance: 2,098 Referee: John Beaton

23 July 2016 Group G	Ayr United	1 – 0	Edinburgh City	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	Gilmour  11'	Report		Attendance: 862 Referee: Barry Cook

26 July 2016 Group G	Livingston	0 – 2	Ayr United	Almondvale, Livingston
19:45		Report	Murphy  19' McGuffie  78'	Attendance: 643 Referee: David Lowe

Group G Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hamilton Academical (Q)	4	3	0	1	10	5	+5	9	Qualification to Second Round
2	Ayr United (Q)	4	3	0	1	5	2	+3	9	Advances to Best Runners-up
3	St Mirren	4	3	0	1	7	5	+2	9
4	Livingston	4	1	0	3	6	7	−1	3
5	Edinburgh City	4	0	0	4	2	11	−9	0

Updated to match(es) played on 30 July 2016. Source: BBC, Soccerway
(Q) Qualified.

Knockout phase

10 August 2016 Second round	Ayr United	1 – 2	Aberdeen	Somerset Park, Ayr
19:45	Forrest  41'	Report	Meggatt 3' (o.g.) McGinn  30'	Attendance: 2,653 Referee: Alan Muir

Scottish Challenge Cup

4 September 2016 Third round	Ayr United	3 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Airdrieonians	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	McGuffie  35' Forrest  45' Balatoni  97'	Report	Conroy  14' Balatoni  49' (o.g.) Russell  113'	Attendance: 1,135 Referee: Barry Cook

7 October 2016 Fourth round	Ayr United	1 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Falkirk	Somerset Park, Ayr
19:45	Harkins  114'	Report		Attendance: 1,247 Referee: Alan Muir

13 November 2016 Quarter-final	St Mirren	2 – 1	Ayr United	St Mirren Park, Paisley
15:00	Sutton  83', 85'	Report	O'Connell  68'	Attendance: 2,199 Referee: Crawford Allan

Scottish Cup

26 November 2016 Third round	Brechin City	P – P	Ayr United	Glebe Park, Brechin
15:00

29 November 2016 Third round	Brechin City	0 – 1	Ayr United	Glebe Park, Brechin
19:45		Report	O'Connell  70'	Attendance: 308 Referee: Alan Muir

21 January 2017 Fourth round	Ayr United	0 – 0	Queen's Park	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00		Report		Attendance: 1,326 Referee: Barry Cook

24 January 2017 Fourth round reply	Queen's Park	2 – 2 (a.e.t.) (4 – 5 p)	Ayr United	Hampden Park
19:45	Woods  4' Bryan Wharton  32' Burns  97'	Report	Moore  26' Cairney Balatoni  83'	Attendance: 1,026 Referee: Barry Cook

11 February 2017 Fifth round	Ayr United	1 – 1	Clyde	Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00	Cairney  70'	Report	Gormley  55'	Attendance: 1,554 Referee: Stephen Finnie

14 February 2017 Fifth round replay	Clyde	1 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Ayr United	Broadwood Stadium
19:45	Gormley  88'	Report	McDaid  11' Wardrope  117'	Attendance: 965 Referee: Stephen Finnie

4 March 2017 Quarter-final	Hibernian	3 – 1	Ayr United	Easter Road Stadium
15:00	McGinn  7' Cummings  12' (pen.) Keatings  79'	Report	McGuffie  33' McKenna  45'	Attendance: 13,602 Referee: Nick Walsh

Player statistics

Squad, appearance and goals

As of 6 May 2017[3]

No.	Nat	Player	Total		League		Scottish Cup		League Cup		Other
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1		Greg Fleming	49	0	36	0	6	0	4	0	3	0
19		Jordan Hart	2	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
		Andy Lyall	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
22		Conrad Balatoni	39	3	30	1	6	1	0	0	3	1
3		Patrick Boyle	40	1	26 (3)	0	5	0	5	0	1	0
2		Nicky Devlin	48	0	34	1	6	0	5	0	3	0
25		Andy Johnston	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (2)	0	0	0
22		Craig McCracken	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26		Scott McKenna	14	1	11	1	2	0	0	0	1	0
18		Daryll Meggatt	43	0	31	0	4	0	5	0	2 (1)	0
6		Peter Murphy	36	0	29 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5		Michael Rose	24	1	10 (10)	1	0 (4)	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
16		Jamie Adams	25	2	16 (2)	2	2 (1)	0	4	0	0	0
14		Paul Cairney	42	6	27 (3)	5	3 (1)	1	4 (1)	0	2 (1)	0
8		Robbie Crawford	37	3	24 (3)	2	3	0	5	1	1 (1)	0
23		Ross Docherty	42	2	29	2	6	0	4	0	3	0
11		Michael Donald	13	0	1 (5)	0	1	0	2 (1)	0	0 (3)	0
10		Alan Forrest	45	9	24 (10)	6	1 (5)	0	2	2	3	1
4		Brian Gilmour	37	2	19 (6)	1	4 (2)	0	2 (2)	1	2	0
12		Gary Harkins	40	6	30 (2)	5	6	0	0	0	2	0
21		Craig McGuffie	42	3	6 (20)	1	3 (3)	1	2 (3)	0	3	1
15		Andy O'Connell	15	3	1 (7)	1	1	1	1 (2)	0	0 (3)	1
20		Michael Wardrope	11	1	2 (3)	1	0 (2)	1	0 (3)	0	1	0
Forwards
15		Farid El Alagui	11	3	8 (3)	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
17		Sean McKenzie	1	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0
9		Craig Moore	17	3	9 (4)	2	3	1	1	0	0	0
17		Kevin Nisbet	20	2	11 (9)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
7		Jamie Thomas	7	0	0 (3)	0	0	0	3	0	1	0

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
6	Queen of the South	36	11	10	15	46	52	−6	43
7	St Mirren	36	9	12	15	52	56	−4	39
8	Dumbarton	36	9	12	15	46	56	−10	39
9	Raith Rovers (R)	36	10	9	17	35	52	−17	39	Qualification for the Championship play-offs
10	Ayr United (R)	36	7	12	17	33	62	−29	33	Relegation to League One

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(R) Relegated.

Division summary

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A
Result	L	L	L	D	W	W	L	D	W	W	L	L	L	D	D	L	D	D	D	L	D	L	D	D	L	W	L	L	W	W	L	L	D	D	L	L
Position	10	10	10	10	7	6	6	7	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10

Updated to match(es) played on 6 May 2017. Source: [4]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Transfers

Players in Player From Fee Paul Cairney Stranraer Free[5] Michael Rose Aberdeen Free[6] Daryll Meggatt Dundee Free[7] Andy O’Connell Cork City Free Jordan Hart Annan Athletic Free[8] Jamie Thomas Burnley Loan[9] Craig Moore Motherwell Loan[10] Kevin Nisbet Partick Thistle Loan[11] Gary Harkins Dundee Free[12] Conrad Balatoni Kilmarnock Free[13] Scott McKenna Aberdeen Loan[14] Declan McDaid Partick Thistle Free[15] Farid El Alagui Dunfermline Athletic Free[16]

Players out Player To Fee Andy Graham Alloa Athletic Free[17] Ryan Stevenson Dumbarton Free[18] Alan Trouten Brechin City Free[19] Andy Johnston Stranraer Free Michael Donald Stranraer Free Gerry McLauchlan Cowdenbeath Free[20] Jordan Preston Guiseley Free[21] Craig McCracken Auchinleck Talbot Free

References

1. "Ayr United 0-0 Stranraer (agg 1-1, 3-1 pens)". BBC Sport. BBC. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
2. "Ayr United are relegated from the Championship after last day defeat to Raith Rovers". dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
3. "Ayr FC Player Appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
4. "Scottish Championship 2016/17". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
5. "United sign Cairney". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. Ayr United F.C. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
6. "Michael Rose signs for 16/17". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. Ayr United F.C. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
7. "Meggatt signs for United". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. Ayr United F.C. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
8. "Ayr United sign goalkeeper Jordan Hart from Annan Athletic". dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
9. "Thomas Joins Ayr On Loan". burnleyfootballclub.com. Burnley F.C. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
10. "Craig Moore returns". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. Ayr United F.C. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
11. "Kevin Nisbet signs". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. Ayr United F.C. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
12. "Gary Harkins signs". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. Ayr United F.C. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
13. "Balatoni signs for United". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. Ayr United F.C. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
14. "Ayr United sign Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna on loan". dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
15. "Declain McDaid joins United". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. Ayr United F.C. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
16. "Farid signs for United". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. Ayr United F.C. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
17. "Graham moves from Ayr to Alloa". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
18. "Stevenson switches to Sons from Ayr United". dumbartonfootballclub.com. Dumbarton F.C. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
19. "Players released". Brechin Advertiser. 8 June 2016. Archived from the original on 18 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
20. "Gerry Signs For Cowden". cowdenbeathfc.com. Cowdenbeath F.C. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
21. "Jordan Preston signs". guiseleyafc.co.uk. Guiseley F.C. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2020.