Scottish League One: Is third tier Scotland's most exciting division?

Paul Hartley's newly-promoted Cove Rangers have took League One by storm, sitting top of the league with four wins from four

You can keep the Premier League, you can save making a case for the Bundesliga. Don't even start on the MLS.

While the blockbuster leagues mentioned above may have the glitz, glamour and the guile, they will struggle to mirror the intense excitement and competition being generated in Scotland's League One this season. No, honestly...

Both Partick Thistle and Falkirk started the season as favourites for the the third-tier crown, but a faultless start from newcomers Cove Rangers has thrown another hat into the ring in a truncated season with seven teams tipped to be in the mix.

Here, BBC Scotland examines why the Scottish third tier may just be the league to watch this campaign.

'The standard is as high as it's been'

Following the outcome of last season's curtailed campaigns, Scotland's League One saw the addition of another full-time club as Partick Thistle suffered relegation from the Championship despite playing top-flight football just two years prior.

The Scottish third tier also includes Falkirk for a second consecutive season. The full-time outfit failed to make the return to the Championship at the first time of asking, as the former Premiership side finished the 2019-20 season just a point behind champions Raith Rovers at the time5 of last term's curtailment.

Stranraer dropped out of the division and were replaced by back-to-back promotion winners Cove Rangers. And while the league's newly-promoted side remain a part-time club for now, Denholm believes the quality both Cove and Thistle possess has only enhanced the standard in the division.

"The standard is as high as it's been since I started playing in League One," says BBC Scotland columnist and East Fife player Danny Denholm, who is playing in his seventh season in Scotland's third tier.

"Thistle have come down and they'll be hungry to go straight back up, and Falkirk have been here a year already, so right away the standard is higher. And you're also losing a team in Stranraer who aren't on Cove's level, they just aren't, but the teams in the middle have strengthened as well.

"East Fife have signed players like Danny Swanson, who has played full-time football the majority of his career, and clubs like Montrose have signed some excellent players. It's always been a hard league to get out of, but this year it's only going to be tougher, so you want a good start."

Denholm feels signings like Montrose's loan capture of Hearts midfielder Harry Cochrane (left) has raised the bar in Scotland's third tier

'Cove have caught me by surprise'

With Scotland's lower leagues truncated to 27-game campaigns this season, Denholm believes a "good start" is more important than ever for any team with ambitions of winning the title, and that is certainly what Cove have delivered in their first season in League One.

Four wins from four, including an opening-day victory against Denholm's East Fife, has the Aberdeen-based club sitting four points clear at the summit.

"They really impressed me," said Denholm.

"They've got good players and an experienced manager, but I didn't think they could win the league with three full-time teams in the division. But they've put everybody away so far.

"They have an attractive style of football which is quite alien to the lower leagues. They properly pass it out from the back and take chances. They've got momentum as well now, which is a huge factor, but it's still early doors."

Seven-horse race?

One of the beauties of lower league football is the unpredictability it poses, given the fact you are guaranteed a different title winner every season.

"Even when you look at the results so far, it's so tight," says Denholm. "There isn't much at all from second to bottom. It's that short a season and there are so many teams with quality that can pick up a run of wins.

"If you pick up three or four wins in a row it breeds momentum, but it can work the other way if you pick up a run of defeats. You've got to look at Thistle and Falkirk as the favourites, but I certainly wouldn't write off a host of part-time teams.

"It's the one that stands out as being the harder to predict from the four leagues. One from seven of the clubs in the division could fancy their chances."