# Scottish Championship

The Scottish Championship is the second tier of the [Scottish Professional Football League](https://www.edgepedia.org/scottish-professional-football-league) (SPFL), the body that operates Scotland's senior league football. In the SPFL's own rules it is defined as Division Two, sitting below the [Scottish Premiership](https://www.edgepedia.org/scottish-premiership) and above League One and League Two.<sup>[1](https://historic-media.scottishfa.co.uk/media/13353/sfa_jpp-2025-26_digital.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://spfl.co.uk/admin/filemanager/images/shares/pdfs/SPFL%20Rules%20and%20Regulations%2016-Mar-21%20%28MASTER%20COPY%29%20CLEAN.pdf)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position in the pyramid | Second tier of the SPFL, defined as Division Two in the league's rules<sup>[1](https://historic-media.scottishfa.co.uk/media/13353/sfa_jpp-2025-26_digital.pdf)</sup> |
| Promotion and relegation | Governed by SPFL Rules C19-C21, covering movement between the Championship, League One and League Two<sup>[2](https://spfl.co.uk/admin/filemanager/images/shares/pdfs/SPFL%20Rules%20and%20Regulations%2016-Mar-21%20%28MASTER%20COPY%29%20CLEAN.pdf)</sup> |
| Play-offs | The Premiership/Championship Play-Off Competition is set out in Rules C22-C28, and a Championship/League One play-off also exists<sup>[2](https://spfl.co.uk/admin/filemanager/images/shares/pdfs/SPFL%20Rules%20and%20Regulations%2016-Mar-21%20%28MASTER%20COPY%29%20CLEAN.pdf)</sup> |
| Points system | Three points for a win, one for a draw, in SPFL league matches<sup>[3](https://swpl.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Schedule-1-Competitions-Rules-05-Jun-24.pdf)</sup> |
| Prize money | The Championship winner receives 2.25% of the SPFL prize money pot (£758,000 in the year ending May 2024), against 13.40% (£4.5m) for the Premiership champion<sup>[4](https://www.scottishfootball.info/p/spfl-annual-report-year-ending-may)</sup> |
| Notable example | Rangers played in the Championship in 2015-16 before returning to the Premiership in 2016-17<sup>[5](https://fraserofallander.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Economic-contribution-of-Scottish-Football-FINAL-1.pdf)</sup> |

## Status within Scottish football

The Championship is one of four divisions operated by the Scottish Professional Football League, which was formed as a separate body from the Scottish Football Association; a separate organization of clubs founded the Scottish Football League in 1890 without the association's involvement, and the league remains a distinct organization from the governing body.<sup>[6](https://scottishfootballhistory.scot/national-team/scotland-sfa/the-league-is-a-different-body/)</sup> The SPFL's rules allocate promotion and relegation between the Championship and the divisions above and below it, and define a Premiership/Championship Play-Off Competition and a Championship/League One Play-Off to settle the remaining promotion and relegation places each season.<sup>[2](https://spfl.co.uk/admin/filemanager/images/shares/pdfs/SPFL%20Rules%20and%20Regulations%2016-Mar-21%20%28MASTER%20COPY%29%20CLEAN.pdf)</sup>

**Promotion and relegation.** The champion club of the Championship is promoted to the [Premiership](https://www.edgepedia.org/premiership), and the bottom club is relegated toward League One, with the play-off competitions determining additional places. Where league positions cannot be separated by points and the outcome affects promotion, relegation or a championship, the clubs concerned play a single deciding match.<sup>[3](https://swpl.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Schedule-1-Competitions-Rules-05-Jun-24.pdf)</sup>

## Attendance and finance

Scottish football's attendances are high by European standards: the SPFL reported that Scotland had 21.3 attendees per 1,000 people at matches across its top four divisions, the highest figure across Europe.<sup>[7](https://spfl.co.uk/news/press-release-spfl-attendances-202324)</sup> The Championship shares in this support. During 2023/24, Raith Rovers, a Championship club, recorded the largest proportional growth in attendance among all SPFL teams: over their 18 home league fixtures, the average crowd climbed from 1,982 in 2022/23 to 4,192 in 2023/24.<sup>[7](https://spfl.co.uk/news/press-release-spfl-attendances-202324)</sup>

**Financial distribution.** The financial gap between the divisions is large. In the SPFL annual report for the year ending May 2024, Premiership champions Celtic received 13.40% of the entire prize money pie, £4.5m, while Dundee United, the winners of the Championship, received only 2.25%, £758k.<sup>[4](https://www.scottishfootball.info/p/spfl-annual-report-year-ending-may)</sup> Money distributed to clubs covers amounts allocated via the ladder system, under which a set share of fees is tied to each club's final league position, as well as parachute payments and facility fees for matches that are broadcast.<sup>[8](https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/scottish-premiership/latest-premiership-news/how-scottish-clubs-landed-ps49m-in-windfall-after-history-making-financial-results-9273916)</sup>

## Movement of clubs

The division's membership changes each season through promotion, relegation and the play-offs. Rangers spent the 2015-16 season in the Championship, and attendances shifted between the Premiership and the Championship in response to that movement before their return to the Premiership in 2016-17.<sup>[5](https://fraserofallander.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Economic-contribution-of-Scottish-Football-FINAL-1.pdf)</sup> In 2026, [Stenhousemuir](https://www.edgepedia.org/stenhousemuir) were promoted to the Championship for the first time following a 3-2 aggregate win over Alloa Athletic in the play-off final.<sup>[9](https://clublogin.spfl.co.uk/news/stenhousemuir-promoted)</sup>

## References

1. [Scottish FA Judicial Panel Protocol 2025-26, Scottish FA](https://historic-media.scottishfa.co.uk/media/13353/sfa_jpp-2025-26_digital.pdf)
2. [The Rules and Regulations of the Scottish Professional Football League (16 March 2021)](https://spfl.co.uk/admin/filemanager/images/shares/pdfs/SPFL%20Rules%20and%20Regulations%2016-Mar-21%20%28MASTER%20COPY%29%20CLEAN.pdf)
3. [Schedule 1: Competitions Rules, SPFL](https://swpl.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Schedule-1-Competitions-Rules-05-Jun-24.pdf)
4. [SPFL Annual report year ending May 2024, Scottish Football Info](https://www.scottishfootball.info/p/spfl-annual-report-year-ending-may)
5. [The Economic Contribution of Scottish Professional Football, Fraser of Allander Institute](https://fraserofallander.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Economic-contribution-of-Scottish-Football-FINAL-1.pdf)
6. [Scottish Football Association: The Association is not the League, 1890-2013, Scottish Football History](https://scottishfootballhistory.scot/national-team/scotland-sfa/the-league-is-a-different-body/)
7. [Press Release: SPFL attendances 2023/24, SPFL](https://spfl.co.uk/news/press-release-spfl-attendances-202324)
8. [How Scottish clubs landed £49m in windfall after 'history-making' financial results, The Scotsman](https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/scottish-premiership/latest-premiership-news/how-scottish-clubs-landed-ps49m-in-windfall-after-history-making-financial-results-9273916)
9. [Stenhousemuir promoted, SPFL](https://clublogin.spfl.co.uk/news/stenhousemuir-promoted)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football competitions and records › Competitions and recurring events › Domestic leagues and league seasons › Other European domestic leagues*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license