What went wrong for relegated Livingston?
- Published
While the drama continues at the top of the Scottish Premiership, last place comes as no surprise since Livingston have long been detached.
A wretched campaign has included a 31-game winless streak - an unwanted top-flight record - and now their relegation has been confirmed.
Despite battling to a 2-2 draw with Aberdeen on Friday, Kilmarnock's 3-0 home win over Dundee United on Saturday sealed the West Lothian side's fate.
Under Marvin Bartley, Livingston have at least gone down swinging, showing commendable appetite for a fight against the odds.
However, after chairman Calvin Ford vowed to take the club "back to where they belong" when he became majority shareholder in May 2025, they are going straight back to where they came from.
Ford upbeat despite wretched campaign
Watch Friday's goals as Livingston draw 2-2 with Aberdeen
Ford had an upbeat message for the Livingston support, despite acknowledging things on the pitch have "not gone the way we hoped".
With the axe of relegation hanging over them on Friday night, he said on BBC Sportsound: "What we're building behind the scenes, and the future of the club, I'm more excited than I was a year ago about what we can do here.
"Fortune favours the bold in most sports and we will continue to be aggressive and bold, regardless of what happened.
"What happens next is what's most important. I'm not giving up on anything yet, but we should be judged on the long term."
But with relegation confirmed with three rounds of fixtures remaining, Livingston fans will be wondering what went wrong in the short term.
Fine margins play part in fall
When Livingston were relegated in the 2023-24 Premiership season, they finished 10 points adrift of 11th. They are currently 10 points away from second-bottom Kilmarnock.
Throughout the Premiership era, Dundee's points tally of 21 in 2018-19 campaign is the lowest on record for a 38-game season. Livingston are currently on 20.
Dundee's win total of five that season is also a record low for the Premiership - joint with Livingston in 2023-24.
Unless the West Lothian side win their final three matches, they will set another unwanted record.
Livingston were briefly riding high on 9 August, with a 3-1 win over Falkirk taking them to four points from their opening two games.
They then failed to win another match in any competition until 25 April and dropped to the foot of the table after a 4-0 defeat away to Hibernian in mid-October. They have remained there ever since.
In the six games between that league victory on the second weekend of the season and the drubbing at Easter Road, Livingston lost three to stoppage-time goals.
That painful theme has continued, with three more defeats coming in the same fashion.
There have been 14 draws along the way and of their 19 defeats, half have been by a margin of just one goal.
Were Livi too loyal to Martindale?
David Martindale (left) and Calvin Ford (right) were spotted sharing a joke during Friday's draw with Aberdeen
A 6-2 loss at Aberdeen in January was Livingston's worst performance by a distance.
Eight days later, David Martindale took on a new role as sporting director, with Bartley replacing him as manager.
The former assistant has a record of one win, six draws and four defeats, picking up more points than St Mirren over that time, so should the switch have been made earlier?
Martindale had been at the helm for close to six years and has been at the club since 2014. As manager he was seen fixing broken goalposts, painting lines on the Astroturf and clearing snow off the pitch.
But were Livingston too loyal to a great servant? Or was Martindale too loyal to the players that secured an immediate return to the top flight?
Nine of the 15 who featured in the second leg of the promotion play-off win over Ross County last year were involved on the opening day of the Premiership season.
Summer recruitment was also questionable. With Stevie May and Macaulay Tait returning, the only new face to start more than 20 league games has been Mo Sylla.
Aidan Denholm, Cammy Kerr, Adam Montgomery and Shane Blaney suffered long-term injuries, while Jannik Wanner, Joshua Brenet and Junior Robinson came and went without leaving much of a trace.
Forwards Alex Tamm and Joshua Zimmerman arrived in January and have barely been seen.
Scoring has not been a big problem, though. Livingston have more goals than Aberdeen, St Mirren and Dundee.
Despite the best efforts of ever-present goalkeeper Jerome Prior, arguably the club's best performer, it has been a different story at the other end, shipping a league high of 68 goals.
What now for 'good leader' Bartley?
A question for the chairman now is whether he feels Bartley is the man to lead Livingston out of the Championship.
Ford says the former midfielder has "done a good job" and "steadied the ship" after being promoted from assistant to manager.
However, the American businessman insists he has not had any talks with Bartley regarding his future.
"We've not had those conversations [about the future] yet so I can't comment on that," Ford said.
"But I'm grateful for what he's done. He did not come into an easy situation, but he's a good leader and he's a good human being.
"I want him to focus on what's going on right now."
