Ferranti Thistle (1943–1974) The club began life as Ferranti Amateurs 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 During this period the club won the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup in 1963. 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. 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 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–) Rise to prominence 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.
Administration and SPL relegation 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. at
Almondvale Stadium in 2007.
First Division and second administration A poor showing in the
2006–07 First Division saw John Robertson removed as Livingston manager on 15 April 2007. His successor was announced on 22 May 2007 as former
Hibernian assistant coach
Mark Proctor. Proctor appointed
Curtis Fleming as his assistant on 26 June 2007, but both were sacked in June 2008 after a disappointing season in which the club finished seventh. Livingston were taken over that summer by Italian majority shareholders
Angelo Massone, Tommaso Bruno, Alessandro Di Mattia and Tommaso Angelini after Pearse Flynn sold his shares in June 2008. and he was made manager of the First Division side on 11 June 2008. He and assistant
Valter Berlini were then fired on 1 December 2008 after just five months in charge.
Paul Hegarty was linked with the job on 3 December 2008, and formally appointed two days later. Hegarty was subsequently suspended as manager on 26 April 2009 and his contract allowed to expire. John Murphy was appointed head coach on 30 June 2009, the same day the club faced a deadline to pay debt to
West Lothian Council who owned
Almondvale Stadium. After that was not met, legal proceedings were carried out against the club to come to an arrangement over the debt within fourteen days or potentially face again going into administration. Livingston were placed into administration on 24 July 2009 by the
Court of Session in Edinburgh, and faced relegation to the Third Division, a points deduction or being removed from the
Scottish Football League entirely. On 27 July 2009, it was revealed that the club were likely to go into liquidation after owner Angelo Massone said he would refuse a £25,000 offer for the club from their administrator. On 28 July 2009, Massone yet again refused the offer and the administrator subsequently started the liquidation process. on 5 August 2009 the Scottish Football League took the unprecedented move to demote Livingston to the Third Division. A breach of rules on insolvency was the main reason behind the decision. The administrator of the club, Donald McGruther, admitted his concern after the decision, saying that "In my view, this represents the death knell of Livingston Football Club". Gordon McDougall, a member of the Livingston 5 Consortium stated that "We've got to consider all the options that are open to us – it makes it very, very difficult". However, despite the decision and the likely financial impacts, the consortium continued with their bid to take over the club. An appeal was lodged and as a result the club refused to play their opening Division Three fixture against
East Stirlingshire on 8 August 2009. Because of this, the club were threatened with a points deduction, but in the event they were given a £3,000 fine for their actions. This was later overturned on appeal, meaning that the club ultimately escaped any punishment for their boycott of the match. On 7 September 2009 a further appeal to the SFA was dismissed, and the club finally accepted their Third Division fate.
Title wins and First Division return On 15 August 2009, Livingston opened their Third Division campaign against
Montrose at home and ran out comfortable 2–0 winners. On 17 April 2010, Livingston won the
Scottish Third Division title after drawing 0–0 at home to
Berwick Rangers. Goalkeeper
Roddy McKenzie saved a last minute penalty to ensure the title was on its way to
Almondvale. The Lions ended the season on 78 points, 15 points ahead of second placed
Forfar Athletic. The following season, on 9 April 2011, Livingston secured the Second Division title to earn a second consecutive promotion with a 3–0 victory over
Stenhousemuir at
Ochilview Park. On 9 February 2012, Bollan was sacked as manager after two and a half years in charge. Nine days later on 14 February 2012,
John Hughes and
John Collins were appointed as manager and director of football respectively. However, on 13 November 2012, it was announced that Hughes had left the club to take charge of
Hartlepool United.
Gareth Evans became manager after being promoted from his position as assistant manager but he was sacked on 28 February 2013 due to ‘concerns over his stewardship’. Collins subsequently resigned from his position as director of football. On 25 March 2013,
Richie Burke was appointed as manager with
Mark Burchill as assistant manager. Livingston ended season 2012–13 with a 4th-place finish in the First Division, their highest league finish since they were relegated from the SPL in 2006. On 12 September 2013, Burke resigned from his post as manager and was subsequently replaced by
John McGlynn. When McGlynn took over Livingston were bottom of the
Scottish Championship with only 1 point. Improved performances under his leadership took the club into contention for the promotion play-offs. As a result, he was awarded an extended contract in January 2014. Livingston eventually finished in 6th place in 2013–14. However the club struggled the following season and were in severe danger of relegation. McGlynn left Livingston by mutual consent in December 2014, following a 1–0 home defeat by
Falkirk, which left the club bottom of the league, four points behind second bottom
Cowdenbeath.
Mark Burchill replaced McGlynn as manager. Off the field problems also once again plagued the club during this season. The club were deducted 5 points by the
SPFL for failing to pay tax on bonuses paid during the 2010–11 season. Former club director Ged Nixon tried to get the courts to freeze the clubs bank accounts as he claimed the club owed him £300,000. This sparked fears that Livingston would go into administration for a third time. Nixon lost his court case in April 2015, saving the club from this fate. Livingston won the
2014–15 Scottish Challenge Cup, defeating
Alloa 4–0 in the final at
McDiarmid Park. With two games of the season remaining Livingston were still adrift at the bottom of the league, three points behind relegation rivals
Alloa and four behind Cowdenbeath. A 4–0 win away at
Raith Rovers moved the club into 9th place on goal difference going into the final game of the season. Livingston won their final game of the season 1–0 at home to
Queen of the South to pull off the great escape and finish in 8th place, avoiding both automatic relegation and the relegation play-off. Livingston struggled against relegation again in season 2015–16. Burchill was sacked in December 2015 following a 1–1 draw with
Dumbarton as Livingston sat second bottom of the league. David Hopkin replaced him as manager. However, there was to be no great escape this season. Livingston finished in 9th place in the Championship, which meant they had to contest the
Championship play-off to avoid relegation to
Scottish League One. They faced
Stranraer in the play-off semi-final. Livingston lost the first leg 5–2 away at Stranraer, giving themselves a very difficult task for the second leg.
League One and consecutive promotions Despite relegation, Livingston decided to stay as a full-time football club, and David Hopkin was retained as manager for the 2016–17 season, as Livingston aimed to bounce back to the Championship. Livingston went on to win the league comfortably and secured the title in April 2017 following a 2–1 win at home to Alloa Athletic. Livingston finished 19 points clear at the top of the league. Livingston continued this impressive form into the Championship in 2017–18 and sat in the play-off places in joint 3rd in the league after 20 games. The club also reached the quarter-finals of the
Scottish League Cup, where they were unlucky to go down 3–2 at
Hibernian. It was the first time they reached this stage of the League Cup since 2005–06. On 21 April 2018 Livingston secured second place in the Championship after a 3–0 win over already relegated Brechin City. Qualifying for the Premiership play-off final, they faced Partick Thistle, who escaped automatic relegation in their final game. Despite this, Livingston won 3–1 on aggregate, 2–1 at home and 1–0 away, earning the final place in the Scottish Premiership and their first season of top-flight football since 2006, relegating Partick Thistle to the Championship in the process, ending Thistle's five-year stint in the Premiership.
Return to the Top Flight Livingston retained their status as a top flight club in season 2018–19 with a 9th-place finish. This was bettered the following season with the club sitting in 5th before the season was curtailed as a result of
COVID-19. The points per game ruling confirmed this placing as Livi's first top 6 finish since 2001–02. In 2020–21, the feat was repeated with a sixth-place finish. The season was also notable for the club reaching the Scottish League Cup final for the first time since 2004. ==Colours and badge==