Most footballers spend their off seasons going on holiday to Dubai, playing golf and spending time with their family. But life as a The Spartans player under the tutelage of King Leonidas was very much a different kettle of fish. Leonidas allowed his squad a couple of days off to relax and enjoy their success but, at 6am on 20 May 2025, he drove to each player’s house, dragged them out of bed and away to a “boot camp” deep in the Scottish Highlands.
The players were put through their paces in full-on Spartan training sessions that Leonidas assured them would develop the key attributes he was looking for. Most notably, he wanted to transform his players’ mental capabilities, ensure they fought for each other to the very last kick and instil a shall-not-lose ethos throughout his squad. And the impromptu training camp seemed to have the desired affect as his young squad seemed more bonded than ever as they assembled for 2025/26 pre-season.
Despite what chairperson Corey Woolfolk was telling him, things were also looking promising off the field. Spartans’ bank balance had increased by over £500k over the last 12 months to start the season at £877k. And, while they still couldn’t afford to go professional, there was optimism that it was going in the right direction despite losing star defender Andrew Stuart, who returned on loan, to Dundee for £18.75k.
Leonidas largely stuck with the players that came so close to promotion and moved a few youngsters up into the first team. But he did make two free transfer signings in former Rangers right back Jack Harkness, who has 7 of Leonidas’ preferred Spartan attributes over 10 including 17 determination, and goalkeeper Mason Munn, who has high determination, bravery and aggression.
Avoiding Second Season Syndrome?
The bookies still don’t fancy Spartans, predicting them to prop up the table with title odds of 200/1. However, they didn’t know how hard their manager had worked them in the off-season, but they soon found out. Leonidas promptly gave an interview to BBC Scotland lambasting the bookies and local media for questioning the ability of his squad and vowing to prove them wrong.
Spartans began delivering on his vow by welcoming moneybags Airdrieonians. All-time record goalscorer Blair Henderson’s brace earned an impressive 2-2. Leonidas celebrated the late equaliser by presenting his middle finger to the media box then burning a flyer of a well-known bookmaker on the touchline.
That level of passion was infectious to his impressionable young squad. They drew 4 of the first 6 games, including a 1-1 at relegated Dunfermline, before comprehensive 3-0 and 4-0 victories over Montrose and newly promoted Peterhead. Henderson bagged back-to-back braces to defeat Edinburgh City and Alloa before they came down to earth with a 3-0 loss at Airdrieonians. But an exciting moment saw homegrown striker Stevie McGowan end his 20-game goal drought with a hat-trick in a 4-1 win at Queen of the South. And heading into 2026, Spartans were 4th, trailing the pretty dominant Airdrieonians by 8 points.
Maintaining Another Playoff Push
Spartans began 20256 with a typically spirited performance as Henderson’s goal earned a second draw of the campaign against Airdreonians. They then entertained bottom of the league Queen of the South and got a great start as James Craigen whipped in his first goal of the season from a 25-yard free kick then sent his midfield partner Mark Gallagher off on a mazy solo goal. Henderson headed home his 20th of the season after the break before McGowan fired in a 4th.
That big win gave Spartans confidence to go 7 games undefeated and close to within just 2 points of Airdrieonians. They kept the heat on with a big 2-1 victory over city rivals Edinburgh City led by the ever-improving McGowan’s double, which saw Leonidas win his 2nd League 1 manager of the month award.
A potentially pivotal week saw Spartans entertain 3rd-place Alloa and striker Ben Lamont came off the bench to nick a 1-1 in injury time while Airdrieonians lost 2-0 at Dunfermline. A week later, they visited Airdrieonians, who’d won 3 of their last 11, and Leonidas’ boys showed their spirit by defending for their lives after centre-back Chris Inglis headed home his first senior goal.
That sent Spartans top for the first time this season with 7 games remaining and, crucially, they’d already played the other top three sides for the final time. Next up were the bottom two and Spartans stayed top led by Henderson scoring a hat trick in a 4-2 win at QotS then a brace in a 4-1 thumping of Kelty Hearts. But a 1-1 at 6th-place Greenock Morton saw just 2 points separate the top 3 with 4 games remaining.
Game 1 – Dunfermline (4th, home): The toughest remaining game proved a big challenge as the visitors took the lead on half an hour. But Leonidas fired the boys up at half time and Ruari Darge’s curled effort earned them a point. Unsurprisingly, Airdrieonians and Alloa both won.
Game 2 – Montrose (6th, away): Leonidas didn’t hold back in midweek, reminding his underperforming players that they had to improve. And that had the desired effect as Craigen put them in front before Darge and Henderson’s second half strikes secured a 3-1 win. Airdrieonians drew 1-1 at home to Kelty Hearts and Alloa lost 4-1 at Dunfermline, sending Spartans back to the top on goal difference – which was now just 3 difference between them and Airdrieonians.
Game 3 – Peterhead (8th, home): Leonidas stood in front of his expectant players ahead of struggling Peterhead and, to make himself an even more threatening presence, jumped on top of the table in the middle of the dressing room. He launched into a rallying cry that concluded: “This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny, and usher in a future brighter than anything we can imagine.” And his pumped up players issued a rally call of “HA-OOOH!” And that had the desired effect as they ravaged Peterhead 5-0 led by Henderson and McGowan braces before 16-year-old striker Darragh Brittain scored his first senior goal. Airdrieonians’ shaky form continued with a 1-0 loss at Edinburgh City and Alloa drew 2-2 with Montrose.
Edinburgh City (5th, away): Going into the final day, barring an absolute catastrophe, Spartans would win the title at the home of their rivals. This time, Leonidas’ speech wasn’t quite as an intense, simply uttering “Go forth men, and make HISTORY,” again gaining the retort of “HA-OOOH!” But they weren’t quite as fired up as they played out a tame 0-0 in the first 45 minutes, as did Airdrieonians who then fell behind on 57 minutes. Leonidas threw on some youngsters, including Kelby Crabbe who crossed for Henderson to score the only goal on 80 minutes.
Spartans FC won cinch League 1!!
Airdireonians lost on the final day so Spartans won the title by 5 points from Alloa. They finished on 72 points from 36 games, with 30 wins, a league-high 12 draws and just 4 defeats, scoring 70 and conceding a league-low 30. Henderson was the best player in League 1, scoring 29 goals with 10 player of the match awards and a 7.57 average rating. But homegrown winger Graeme McGinley wasn’t far behind, getting a league-high 13 assists and a 3rd-best 7.37 average rating. While Max Currie topped the clean sheets with 16.
Celebrating Spartans’ Success
It won’t come as any surprise to anyone that King Leonidas led a jubilant celebration of Spartans FC epic success to win League 1. He donated his April wages – around £2,500 – to a kitty for his players, staff and fans to go on a wild bar crawl around Edinburgh, which lasted well into the Sunday and Monday following their victory at rivals Edinburgh FC.
Despite being very much unfancied by the media and bookies, this was very much a deserved promotion. Only Alloa (74) scored more than Spartans’ 70 goals and had more than their 13.36 shots per match, and only the bottom two had fewer than their 4 penalties. But their success was very much built on a solid defence, with Spartans (30) conceding 5 fewer than any other side and only allowing 6 goals from set pieces. They also made more fouls (487) and won possession (3,893) more than any other side, and only Montrose won more tackles (761). And all of this was done on an annual salary of just £160k compared to Dunfermline’s £923k and Airdrieonians’ £645k.
Henderson led Spartans’ goalscoring charts with 33 in 42 followed by McGowan and McGinley (12), Gallagher (7) and Darge (6). Craigen led the assists with 16 followed by McGinley (13), Darge (12), Henderson (7) and Gallagher (6).
Spartans FC were in a great place heading into the second tier of Scottish football for the 2026/27 campaign, which sounded almost ludicrous to Leonidas as he enjoyed an expensive bottle of whiskey while discussing the terms of his new 3-year contract with Woolfolk. They now had over £1m in the bank and Spartans FC were headed for the cinch Championship!
In addition to that, they also had another strong youth intake including 4 players with 5-star potential and 4 more with at least 4-star potential. The class of 2026 was led by attacking midfielder Graham Harvey, winger Crabbe, 6ft 5in centre-back Bobby Munro, goalkeeper Michael Tolley, midfielder Willis Main and striker Regan Stirling.
Could Leonidas strengthen his squad for a shot at the Championship? And would Spartans FC now go professional with the step up to tier 2? Join us next Wednesday to find out!
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