Livingston F.C.

History

Ferranti Thistle (1943–1974)

The club began life as Ferranti Amateurs in 1943. A works team of the Ferranti engineering company, they initially played in the Edinburgh FA's Amateur Second Division. In 1948 the club became known as Ferranti Thistle and began competing in the Edinburgh and District Welfare Association where they competed for five seasons before moving to senior football in 1953, joining the East of Scotland League. During this period the club won the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup in 1963. In 1969 the club moved to the City Park ground in Edinburgh.

In 1972 the club became members of the Scottish Football Association, allowing them to enter the Scottish Qualifying Cup, which they won in 1973. The club's first match in the Scottish Cup was on 16 December 1972 against Duns.

In 1974, as a result of the demise of Third Lanark seven years earlier, and the new three-tier format of the Scottish Football League, a place opened up in the second division of the competition. After beating off competition from four Highland League sides as well as Hawick Royal Albert and Gateshead United, Ferranti Thistle were accepted into the league by a vote of 21–16 over Inverness Thistle. The club faced a number of obstacles before they could join the Division as their name did not meet stringent SFL rules on overt sponsorship of teams at the time and the City Ground was not up to standard. The local council offered use of Meadowbank Stadium, a modern stadium built in 1970. After an Edinburgh Evening News campaign to find a name for the club, the name Meadowbank Thistle was chosen. This was approved by the SFL in time for the new season.

Meadowbank Thistle (1974–1995)

Having had little time to form a team from the existing Ferranti squad, the first Meadowbank Thistle manager John Bain faced an uphill task to produce a competitive outfit in time for the new season. Meadowbank played their first competitive match in the League Cup, losing 1–0 to Albion Rovers. In 1983 the club achieved promotion to the First Division but were relegated back to the Second Division at the end of the 1984–85 season.

In the 1986–87 season, Meadowbank won the Second Division championship and promotion to the First Division. They finished runners-up in the First Division in the following season, but were denied promotion to the Premier Division due to league reconstruction.

The part-time club began to struggle despite becoming a limited company in 1993 and was relegated at the end of the 1992–93 season to the Second Division. Meadowbank suffered a second relegation in 1994–95, finishing second bottom in the Second Division and dropped to the newly created Third Division. After this, Chairman Bill Hunter claimed Meadowbank had run into severe financial difficulties and were facing closure as a result. In the face of significant opposition from many Meadowbank fans, who objected to the dropping of the club name and the team moving from Edinburgh, in 1995 Meadowbank Thistle relocated to a new stadium in the new town of Livingston and changed name once more to Livingston Football Club.

Livingston (1995–)

In their first season as Livingston they were crowned champions of the Third Division for the 1995–96 season. Three years later, in 1998–99, they won promotion again as Second Division champions. Another promotion followed in 2000–01 when the club finished champions of First Division and gained promotion to the Scottish Premier League (SPL), just six seasons after the relocation to Livingston. Livingston's first SPL campaign, 2001–02, brought more success as they finished third in the league (behind the Old Firm) and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time. Jim Leishman's side gave a competent showing in Europe. After disposing of FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein on the away goals rule after a 1–1 draw, they came up against SK Sturm Graz of Austria. A 14-goal, two-leg affair meant they missed out on the second round, being on the wrong side of an 8–6 aggregate scoreline. The club avoided relegation the following season, finishing 9th. That summer, manager Jim Leishman became the club's director of football and was replaced by Brazilian manager Márcio Máximo, who resigned only a few months into the following campaign and was in turn replaced by Leishman's former assistant Davie Hay. Under Hay's management, Livingston won their first national trophy in 2004 by winning the 2003–04 League Cup after a 2–0 win over Hibernian at Hampden Park. The goals in the final were scored by Derek Lilley and Jamie McAllister.

The club's rise was short-lived as they were plunged into administration on 3 February 2004. It was 13 May 2005 before Livingston emerged from administration, following a period of financial turmoil in which the previous boardroom occupants were ousted to make way for Pearse Flynn's Lionheart Consortium. Flynn's first decision was to sack Davie Hay, stating that he wanted a younger man in charge, appointing Allan Preston as the club's new manager. While Preston's term as Livingston manager started brightly with a 3–0 win over newly promoted Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the club failed to win another league game under his management, resulting in his dismissal in November with the club rooted to the bottom of the SPL. Richard Gough succeeded Preston and steered the club to survival on the last day of the season with a 1–1 draw with Dundee that relegated Dundee in their place. Gough however refused to stay as manager past the end of that season due to family problems and returned to the US, and Paul Lambert succeeded him. On 11 February 2006, Lambert resigned as Livingston manager after seven straight defeats left Livingston bottom of the Scottish Premier League. He was replaced by John Robertson. Despite his best efforts, Livingston were relegated for the first time in May 2006 after only picking up 18 points that season. It was the worst record since the SPL began and was only beaten during the 2007–08 season by Gretna, after they were deducted 10 points for going into administration.

Colours and badge

The predominant club colours are amber and black, which have been used since the formation of the club in 1943. The strip typically has an amber top, with the shorts normally black and the socks amber, usually with some black detail. The original strip for the club during the first couple of seasons in the Ferranti Thistle era was amber and black hoops. After this, solid amber shirts, black shorts and amber socks (occasionally black) became established as the club's home kit. During the recent Livingston era the club have also used all black home strips, and a white and orange kit was used during 2002–03 season. The colours of white, black, purple, blue and red have been used as the away strip colour.

The badge used to identify the club has changed four times in the club's history. The Ferranti Thistle badge featured a black circular base. Three symbols were incorporated into the badge; a football, a thistle and a lion rampant in the centre holding aloft a Scottish flag. A new badge was then designed as the club changed their name to Meadowbank Thistle. The badge was based on a traditional shield shape with black being the predominant colour and amber on the outer-trim. The badge featured a thistle as the centre piece, with the flower part of the plant being replaced with a football. As the club moved to Livingston, the badge was changed again. The design of the thistle and the football was altered slightly, with the one major change being the addition of a Latin club motto "Fortitier omnia vincit", the English translation being "Bravely conquers all". The current badge is modernised from the original Livingston badge but most of the features remain. The present badge also reintroduced the lion rampant in the centre of the laurel.

Sponsorship

In the Meadowbank Thistle era between 1973 and 1995, the club sourced various shirt sponsorship deals largely from small businesses such as Ferranti, Sports Conscious, Park & Milton, Raj Restaurant, ACA and PAR Scaffolding. Mitsubishi became the first major shirt sponsor of the club for the first three seasons of the Livingston era. Motorola then sponsored the club for the next four years. However, Motorola withdrew their shirt sponsorship at the end of the 2001–02 season, after the company's decline in the area. In 2002, Intelligent Finance, one of the largest employers in the West Lothian area, agreed an initial two-year sponsorship deal with the club worth an undisclosed six-figure sum. The company extended their shirt sponsorship for three more years, making their total sponsorship span over a five-year period.

Smarter Loans became the club's main sponsor during the 2007–08 season, before the IT company, RDF, signed a two-year deal to become main sponsors for seasons 2008–09 and 2009–10. However they withdrew their sponsorship after only one year, as a result of the ongoing financial crisis at the club that summer. Local company Fasteq became the new main sponsor for season 2009–10 after the arrival of the new club owners. After four successful years as sponsors, Fasteq withdrew their sponsorship and Livingston announced that they were looking for new shirt sponsors for season 2013–14. Local business Energy Assets were confirmed as new main sponsors on a three-year deal in June 2013.

Stadiums

The club have had three main grounds in their history; as Ferranti Thistle, the club initially played in local parks before finding a home at City Park in Edinburgh in 1969, then moving to Meadowbank Stadium in 1974 which was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games.

Livingston currently play their home games at the Almondvale Stadium in Livingston. It is currently known as The Home of the Set Fare Arena due to a sponsorship deal. The 9,713 capacity stadium was constructed in 1995 as a joint venture between Meadowbank Thistle and the Livingston Development Corporation (LDC). Part of the deal involved the relocation of Meadowbank Thistle to the town and a name change to Livingston. When the LDC was wound up, ownership of the Stadium was transferred to West Lothian Council and the council have since rented the stadium to the club. The ground has hosted Scotland under-21, under-19, under-17s and Ladies matches, as well as one home game for Gretna due to problems with their ground share at Fir Park. In April 2011 it was revealed that it was possible Livingston would relocate to a new stadium around one mile from the current site due to West Lothian Council looking to sell the current site to a supermarket chain.

Players

First-team squad

As of 1 September 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Notable players

For a complete list of former and current Livingston F.C. players with a Wikipedia article, see here.

Players who reached full international status:

Club staff

Coaching staff

Source

Former non-playing staff

For a complete list of former and current Livingston F.C. non-playing staff with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Livingston F.C. non-playing staff.

Managerial history

¹ Managers between 1974 and 1995, when the club were known as Meadowbank Thistle.

c Caretaker managers.

p Player managers.

Honours

From major national honours to reserve league wins, Livingston have been successful in recent history, and were the first club in Scotland to win all three divisions (Third Division 1995–96, Second Division 1998–99 and First Division 2000–01) in their rise to the Scottish Premier League in 2001. Their most notable trophy win being the Scottish League Cup in 2004, where they triumphed in a 2–0 victory over Hibernian at Hampden Park just six weeks after entering administration. Their most recent honour was the Scottish Challenge Cup in season 2024–25.

In 2015 Livingston lifted the Scottish Challenge Cup recording a 4–0 victory over Alloa Athletic at McDiarmid Park.

Senior

Scottish League Cup: 2003–04

Runners-up: 2020–21

Scottish First Division (2nd tier): 2000–01

Scottish Second Division/League One (3rd tier): 1986–87¹, 1998–99, 2010–11, 2016–17

Scottish Third Division (4th tier): 1995–96, 2009–10

Scottish Challenge Cup: 2014–15, 2024–25

Runners-up: 2000–01

Scottish Qualifying Cup (South): 1973–74²

Reserve

Reserve League Cup: 1998–99, 2000–01

Reserve League West: 2000–01

SPFL Reserve League 2: 2018–19, 2019–20

Youth

SFL Under 19 Youth Division: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11

SFL Under 19 Youth League Cup: 2008–09

SFL Under 17 Division: 2011–12

SFL Under 17 Youth League Cup: 2010–11

¹ This includes honours won between 1974 and 1995, when the club were known as Meadowbank Thistle.

² This includes honours won between 1943 and 1974, when the club were known as Ferranti Thistle.

Club records

Record victory: 8–0 v Stranraer, 4 August 2012; 8–0 v Forfar Athletic, 21 July 2026

Record home victory: 7–1 v Clyde, 14 December 2009

Record defeat: 0–8 v Hamilton Academical, 14 December 1974

Record defeat as Livingston: 0–7 v Hibernian, 8 February 2006

Most consecutive wins (Livingston era): 9 – 2016–17

Most appearances (Meadowbank era): Walter Boyd, 523

Most consecutive appearances (Meadowbank era): Walter Boyd, 255

Most appearances (Livingston era): Scott Pittman (372)

Most goals in a season (player): 27 – Liam Buchanan (2016–17)

Most goals in a season (team): 80 – (2016–17)

Most points in a season: 82 – (2010–11)

Record home attendance: 10,112 v Rangers, 27 October 2001

Record transfer fee paid: £200,000 for Lyndon Dykes (Queen of the South, 2019)

Record transfer fee received: £2,000,000 for Lyndon Dykes (Queens Park Rangers, 2020)

European record

Livingston are undefeated at home in European competitions. They have qualified for a UEFA club competition on one occasion. The club finished third in the Scottish Premier League (behind Celtic and Rangers) in season 2001–02 and hence qualified for a place in the UEFA Cup for the following season. They entered at the qualifying round stage and were drawn against FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein. Livingston narrowly overcame their opponents after drawing 1–1 on aggregate, going through to the next round on the away goals rule. After drawing the home leg 0–0 Óscar Rubio scored the decisive away goal. In the following round they were drawn against Austrian side SK Sturm Graz. They were defeated 8–6 on aggregate, losing the first leg 5–2 in Austria at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium before winning the return leg 4–3 at Almondvale. Barry Wilson scored two goals against Sturm Graz, making him Livingston's highest goalscorer in European competitions to date.