For Sparta! | Part 6 | Second Season Syndrome

The Spartans FC yet again proved their doubters wrong as they secured a mid-table finish in their first season in the cinch Championship. The challenge now was for King Leonidas and his young charges to start challenging the division’s bigger sides, while remaining a semi-professional club.

The transfer window again proved a struggle as very few players live up to Leonidas’ attribute requirements. They were forced to sell left back Aidan Lamont, who had one year on his contract, for a decent £100k to Motherwell, which was good considering they’d offered £2k for him in January. However, they did bring in a big burly striker in 6ft 3in Aaron Reid, who’ll provide competition for record goalscorer Blair Henderson.

2nd Season Syndrome at Spartans?

Spartans’ second campaign in the Championship began with them qualifying out of the pointless League Cup group for the first time. And Leonidas was pretty happy with a narrow 2-1 loss at Premiership side Motherwell.

The media still have Spartans as huge relegation favourites at 350/1 to win the title compared to Partick Thistle’s next longest odds of 33/1. Promoted tycoon-backed Airdrieonians are 10/11 favourites followed by relegated Queen’s Park (7/5). That said, the Spartans board only expect the team to make the relegation playoff (9th place).

Spartans began at home to Partick Thistle and it looked to be drifting to a 0-0 until striker Luis Berra won and converted a late penalty. Another good result followed as they went to Kilmarnock and Reid’s brace earned a 2-2 before Henderson and a superb goalkeeping display by Max Currie nicked a 1-0 win at Alloa.

They struggled to compete with the top sides, losing 4-2 and 3-0 at home to Queen’s Park and Livingston. But they again had Currie to thank as he made a ridiculous 12 saves to inspire a 1-0 win at Hamilton then Henderson’s penalty edged a 1-0 at home to Falkirk in Leonidas’ 200th match in charge. A run of 5 winless games saw Spartans slump down the table into 2nd bottom. However, the mid-table was increasingly tight as a big win over bottom side Alloa and a New Year’s Day 3-0 victory over Partick lifted them into 6th. And that left them just 2 points above the relegation playoff place.

Causing A Cup Shock

Spartans had exited in the Scottish Cup 4th round every season of Leonidas’ reign. But they eased past lower league opposition Hutchison Vale and Forres Mech to reach the 5th round. They then faced Premiership side Motherwell and pulled off a shock as quickfire strikes by striker Louis Berra, midfielder Michael Collins and centre back Bobby Munro earned a 3-2 victory. That teed up Spartans’ first-ever clash with one of the Old Firm as they took on Rangers in the quarter-final. And they got thumped 4-0, which wasn’t bad considering Rangers had Giacomo Raspadori, whose £80k per week is 25 times more than Spartans’ wage budget, and 35 players who earn more than the squad’s weekly wage.

Relegation Battle Heats Up

More important matters were back in the league, where Berra and Munro goals earned a crucial 2-1 win at Hamilton only to go and lose 4-1 at Arbroath to drop right back into trouble. And a 3-3 at 9th-place Partick left 6th to 9th places tied on points with 8 games remaining.

Game 1 – Kilmarnock (1st, home): Spartans’ run-in began with the toughest game remaining against the leaders. They unsurprisingly lost 2-0 while Arbroath were the only team to get a point then Hamilton won 1-0 at Arbroath in their game in hand.

Game 3 – Queen’s Park (5th, away): Another impressive performance saw Spartans be more clinical than ever, earning a 3-3 from 5 shots through Berra’s brace and left back Jamie Reid. While Arbroath, Hamilton and Partick all also drew again.

Game 4 – Hamilton (7th, home): That teed up a huge game against fellow relegation candidates Hamilton. And Spartans delivered with goals by Mark Gallagher and centre back Chris Inglis sealing a 2-1 victory. Arbroath drew and Partick lost to give Spartans a 4-point gap.

Game 5 – Livingston (4th, away): Spartans’ little flurry of points ended emphatically as they were hammered 4-1 at Livingston, whose striker scored a hat trick and earns 5 times more than Spartans’ top earner. Arbroath and Partick drew 1-1 and Hamilton drew 2-2 at home to Alloa, which left 6th to 9th split by just 3 points with 3 games remaining.

Game 6 – Arbroath (8th, home): Another big relegation clash followed but this time Spartans bottled it, succumbing to an awful 3-0 defeat after Berra got himself sent off. Partick lost to Falkirk to keep Spartans 3 points clear.

Game 7 – Falkirk (1st, away): A really tricky challenge followed in the penultimate game of the season as Spartans visited the leaders. They performed well only to lose 2-1, with Ruari Darge halving the deficit to give them a chance in the last 20 minutes as Falkirk secured the title. Luckily, Partick lost at Airdrieonians to keep Spartans 3 points clear going into the final day.

Game 8 – Airdrieonians (2nd, home): It didn’t get much easier as they faced promotion hopefuls Airdrieonians, who delivered with a 5-1 destruction after Darge got sent off for a shocking two-footer. That meant a Partick win would lift them above Spartans on goal difference… but they lost 3-0 at home to Kilmarnock.

So, by the skin of their teeth, Spartans survived in the cinch Championship. They got 37 points after 10 wins, 7 draws and 19 defeats, scoring 53 and conceding a league-high 73. Spartans also set a new league record for worst discipline as their 77 bookings and 5 red cards surpassed Raith’s 60 yellows and 6 reds. One bright spark was the form of Berra, whose 15 goals was the 3rd-best tally in the league.

A Season To Forget But Plenty Of Potential

Leonidas was very happy to put this campaign behind them but was pleased his young side just about managed to survive. There was certainly plenty of room for improvement, especially in defence, and Leonidas would have his work cut out to try and strengthen his squad.

The best player at Spartans has been Berra, who scored 22 with 6 assists and a 7.14 average rating in 40 games. Reid also impressed with 19 in 43 and Henderson scored 19 in 45 but tailed off at the end of the season. And wingers Graeme McGinley and Darge were the leading creative forces with 13 and 12 assists.

That said, there remains plenty of promise at Spartans. That was boosted by another stellar intake that delivered 5 players with 5-star potential, 4 with 4.5-star potential and 3 with 4-star potential. The pick of the bunch may be goalkeeper Alasdair Campbell along with strikers Scott Molloy, James Milne and Adam Garrad and winger Adam Holsgrove.

Could Leonidas’ young team improve in their 3rd season in the cinch Championship? Or would they be in for another season of struggle? Join us next Wednesday to find out!