2025–26 Ayr United F.C. season

Ayr United
2025–26 season
ChairmanDavid Smith
ManagerScott Brown
StadiumSomerset Park
Scottish League CupSecond round

The 2025–26 season is Ayr United's eighth consecutive season in the Scottish Championship after being promoted from League One in the 2017–18 season. Ayr are also competing in the Scottish Cup, League Cup, and Challenge Cup.

Results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Pre-season

25 June 2025 Friendly East Stirlingshire 0–3 Ayr United Stenhousemuir
19:45 Murphy
Walker
Bryden 		Stadium: Ochilview Park
27 June 2025 Friendly Ayr United 1–1 Wales The New Saints East Kilbride
19:45 Walker 49' Clarke 78' Stadium: K-Park Training Academy
1 July 2025 Friendly The Spartans 3–2 Ayr United Edinburgh
19:45 Craigen 23', 59'
Russell 26'		 Report Murphy 7', 30' Stadium: Ainslie Park
4 July 2025 Ayrshire Derby Kilmarnock 1–0 Ayr United Kilmarnock
19:30 Kiltie 46' Stadium: Rugby Park
Attendance: 5,416
Note: Testimonial match for Rory McKenzie.

Scottish Championship

1 August 2025 1 Arbroath 1–1 Ayr United Arbroath
19:45 Todorov 89' Report Murphy 5' Stadium: Gayfield Park
Attendance: 1,578
Referee: Chris Graham
9 August 2024 2 Ayr United 0–1 Raith Rovers Ayr
15:00 Report Easton 1' Stadium: Somerset Park
Attendance: 2,570
Referee: Kevin Clancy
23 August 2025 3 Greenock Morton v Ayr United Greenock
15:00 Stadium: Cappielow
30 August 2024 4 Ayr United v Queen's Park Ayr
15:00 Stadium: Somerset Park

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 2025–26 Scottish League Cup

Group stage

Main article: 2025–26 Scottish League Cup group stage § Group D
15 July 2025 1 Annan Athletic 1–6 Ayr United Annan
19:45 Smith 70' Report Walker 16'
Oakley 41', 46', 47'
Thomas 60'
McRoberts 75'		 Stadium: Galabank
Attendance: 527
Referee: Daniel Graves
19 July 2025 2 Ayr United 4–0 Arbroath Ayr
15:00 Main 19', 49'
Bonnar 74'
Oakley 82'		 Report Stadium: Somerset Park
Attendance: 1,534
Referee: Greg Soutar
22 July 2025 3 Ayr United 3–0 Forfar Athletic Ayr
19:45 Thomas 3'
Oakley 32'
Main 34'		 Report Stadium: Somerset Park
Attendance: 1,721
Referee: Lloyd Wilson
27 July 2025 4 St Mirren 2–1 Ayr United Paisley
15:00 Phillips 16', 38' Report Holt 65' Stadium: St Mirren Park
Attendance: 4,174
Referee: Euan Anderson

Knockout phase

16 August 2025 Second round Partick Thistle 2–0 Ayr United Glasgow
15:00 O'Reilly 41'
Chalmers 45+4'		 Report Stadium: Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 3,124
Referee: Ryan Lee

Squad statistics

Appearances

As of 16 August 2025[1]
No. Pos Nat Player Total Championship League Cup Challenge Cup Scottish Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Scotland SCO David Mitchell 7 0 2+0 0 5+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
2 DF Scotland SCO Nick McAllister 7 0 2+0 0 4+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
3 DF Scotland SCO Liam Dick 7 0 2+0 0 4+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
4 DF Scotland SCO Shaun Want 6 0 0+1 0 5+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
5 DF Scotland SCO Kevin Holt 3 1 0+0 0 3+0 1 0+0 0 0+0 0
6 MF Scotland SCO Stuart Bannigan 1 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
7 FW Scotland SCO Anton Dowds 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
8 MF England ENG Ben Dempsey 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
9 FW England ENG George Oakley 7 4 2+0 0 3+2 4 0+0 0 0+0 0
10 FW England ENG Curtis Main 7 3 1+1 0 3+2 3 0+0 0 0+0 0
11 MF Scotland SCO Dom Thomas 7 2 1+1 0 4+1 2 0+0 0 0+0 0
14 MF Scotland SCO Kyle Ure 4 0 1+1 0 1+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
15 FW Scotland SCO Jamie Murphy 4 1 1+0 1 3+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
16 FW Scotland SCO Jake Hastie 5 0 0+2 0 0+3 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
17 MF Scotland SCO Jude Bonnar 6 1 2+0 0 2+2 1 0+0 0 0+0 0
21 MF England ENG Ethan Walker 6 1 1+1 0 4+0 1 0+0 0 0+0 0
22 FW Scotland SCO Mark McKenzie 7 0 2+0 0 5+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
23 MF Romania ROU Marco Rus 7 0 1+1 0 3+2 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
24 MF Scotland SCO Scott Tomlinson 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
32 MF Scotland SCO Dylan Watret 4 0 2+0 0 1+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
33 DF Scotland SCO Scott McMann 6 0 2+0 0 3+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
38 GK Scotland SCO Liam Russell 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
Players who left the club during the 2025–26 season
18 MF Scotland SCO Jamie Hislop 2 0 0+0 0 0+2 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
19 GK Scotland SCO Ollie Ecrepont 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
25 MF Scotland SCO Kenzie Mitchell 1 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
28 MF Scotland SCO David Craig 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
29 FW Scotland SCO Lucas McRoberts 2 1 0+0 0 0+2 1 0+0 0 0+0 0

Team statistics

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
5 Greenock Morton 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2
6 Ross County 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1
7 Ayr United 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 1
8 Queen's Park 2 0 1 1 2 4 −2 1
9 Airdrieonians 2 0 1 1 2 4 −2 1 Qualification for the Championship play-offs
Updated to match(es) played on 9 August 2025. Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only for deciding promotion, play-off participation and relegation).[3]

League Cup table

Pos Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification STM AYR ARB FOR ANN
1 St Mirren 4 3 0 1 0 12 4 +8 10 Qualification for the second round — 2–1 — — 8–2
2 Ayr United 4 3 0 0 1 14 3 +11 9 — — 4–0 3–0 —
3 Arbroath 4 1 1 0 2 6 5 +1 5 p0–0 — — — 6–0
4 Forfar Athletic 4 1 1 0 2 3 6 −3 5 1–2 — 1–0 — —
5 Annan Athletic 4 0 0 1 3 4 21 −17 1 — 1–6 — 1–1p —
Source: [4]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.[5]

Transfers

Transfers in

Date Position Name From Fee Ref.
4 June 2025 GK David Mitchell Partick Thistle Free transfer [6]
16 June 2025 DF Liam Dick Raith Rovers [7]
Shaun Want Northern Ireland Larne [8]
18 June 2025 MF Stuart Bannigan Partick Thistle [9]
24 June 2025 Dom Thomas Republic of Ireland Derry City [10]
17 July 2025 DF Kevin Holt Undisclosed [11]

Transfers out

Date Position Name To Fee Ref.
20 May 2025 GK Robbie Mutch Cove Rangers Free transfer [12][13]
DF Zambia Frankie Musonda [12]
FW Max Guthrie Stenhousemuir [12][14]
9 June 2025 MF Connor McLennan Livingston [12][15]
17 June 2025 DF Patrick Reading Partick Thistle [16]
19 June 2025 New Zealand George Stanger Kilmarnock [12][17]
5 July 2025 FW Fraser Bryden Northern Ireland Crusaders [18]

Loans in

Date Position Name From End date Ref.
19 July 2025 MF Jude Bonnar Celtic Co-operation loan [19]
27 July 2025 Kyle Ure

Loans out

Date Position Name To End date Ref.
13 June 2025 MF Jamie Hislop East Stirlingshire Co-operation loan [20]
Kenzie Mitchell
FW Lucas McRoberts
16 June 2025 MF David Craig Glenafton Athletic 31 May 2025 [21]
26 June 2025 GK Ollie Ecrepont Dumbarton [22]
4 July 2025 MF Scott Tomlinson [23]

References

  1. ^ "Ayr United FC Player Appearances". soccerbase.com. Soccerbase. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  2. ^ "Championship Table". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  3. ^ "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). SPFL. pp. 38–39. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Summary - League Cup". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  5. ^ "Format". SPFL. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  6. ^ "David Mitchell joins the Honest Men". Ayr United FC. 4 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  7. ^ "Liam Dick joins the Honest Men". Ayr United FC. 16 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Shaun Want arrives at Somerset Park". Ayr United FC. 16 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  9. ^ "Stuart Bannigan is an Honest Man Again!". Ayr United FC. 4 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Dom Thomas Joins Ayr United". Ayr United FC. 24 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Kevin Holt Signs". Ayr United FC. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Squad Update". Ayr United FC. 20 May 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  13. ^ "Welcome To Cove – Robbie Mutch". Cove Rangers FC. 25 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  14. ^ "Warriors, there is no better game day feeling than adding players to our ranks". Stenhousemuir. 19 July 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Brandon departs Livingston as McLennan joins". BBC Sport. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  16. ^ "Partick Thistle sign Paddy Reading from Ayr United". Partick Thistle FC. 17 June 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  17. ^ "George Stanger will 'bring presence' to Kilmarnock defence". BBC Sport. 19 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  18. ^ "Fraser Bryden Signs". Crusaders FC. 5 July 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  19. ^ "Brown expects 'quality' from teenage Celtic duo". BBC Sport. 27 July 2025. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  20. ^ "Cooperation Agreement - Ayr United & East Stirlingshire". Ayr United FC. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  21. ^ "David Craig". Ayr United FC. 16 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  22. ^ "Four Loanees Arrive". Dumbarton FC. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  23. ^ "Scott Tomlinson". Ayr United FC. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
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