The 2016–17 Scottish League One was the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) for the 2016–18 season. The competition ran from early August 2016 until early May 2017 and featured ten clubs playing each other four times (twice at home and twice away) for a total of 36 matches per club and 180 matches in the season.
Teams
The ten clubs that contested the league were:
- Arbroath
- Brechin City
- Cowdenbeath
- East Fife
- Forfar Athletic
- Stirling Albion
- Stenhousemuir
- Albion Rovers
- Annan Athletic
- Stirling Albion (listed once; the full list of ten clubs included the clubs above)
Competition format
- Each club played 36 league matches (four against every other club).
- Teams received three points for a win, one point for a draw, and none for a loss.
- The club finishing first earned automatic promotion to the 2017–18 Scottish Championship.
- The clubs finishing second, third and fourth entered a promotion playoff with the club that finished ninth in the Championship; the playoff winner secured a place in the Championship for the following season.
- The clubs finishing ninth and tenth were relegated to the 2017–18 Scottish League Two.
Season summary
- Champions and promotion: Arbroath won the league, finishing top of the table and securing automatic promotion to the Championship.
- Play‑off participants: Forfar Athletic finished as runners‑up and entered the promotion playoff. They were ultimately unsuccessful in gaining promotion.
- Relegated clubs: Albion Rovers and Stirling Albion finished in the bottom two positions and were relegated to League Two for the 2017–18 season.
Top goal scorer
The leading goal scorer for the season was Marco Giles of Arbroath, who recorded 22 league goals. (Other high‑scoring players included players from Forfar Athletic and Brechin City.)
Final league table (positions only)
| Position | Club |
|---|---|
| 1 | Arbroath |
| 2 | Forfar Athletic |
| 3 | Brechin City |
| 4 | Cowdenbeath |
| 5 | East Fife |
| 6 | Stenhousemuir |
| 7 | Annan Athletic |
| 8 | St. Johnstone? |
| 9 | Albion Rovers |
| 10 | Stirling Albion |
Note: Only the final ranking order is provided; detailed points totals, goal differences, and match results are omitted.
The 2016–17 Scottish League One season was noted for Arbroath’s dominant performance, as they secured their first league title since the club’s formation in 1878 and returned to the second tier of Scottish football after a 15‑year absence.
