David Martindale departs Livingston after 24-game winless run

Marvin Bartley has taken over as Livingston manager with David Martindale moving to a new role as sporting director at the Scottish Premiership bottom club.

Martindale moves upstairs after five years as manager, with the club winless in 24 games and six points adrift at the foot of the table.

The West Lothian’s sole league victory this season came in August and Martindale is now replaced by his assistant Bartley following Saturday’s 2-0 home loss to Motherwell.

Livingston’s run of 22 games without a league victory is only matched by one top-flight team this century – Hamilton in the 2010-11 season.

His exit comes less than 24 hours after Martindale told BBC Scotland he did not “fear for his job” and expressed his desire to stay.

Martindale, who initially joined Livingston as a volunteer in 2014, was the Premiership’s longest-serving manager, having taken permanent charge in December 2020 after a spell as caretaker boss.

He guided the club to a top-six finish in his first season and only narrowly missed out on the top half in the two campaigns that followed.

After suffering relegation in the 2023-24 season, Martindale brought Livingston straight back up through the play-offs last term and won their first cup in eight years with victory over Queen’s Park in the SPFL Trust Trophy final.

More to follow.