Changes at Livi: Bartley named manager, Martindale named Sporting Director

David Martindale steps down as Livingston manager

We can today announce that men's first-team manager David Martindale has taken on a new position as Sporting Director of the club and will move on from his role as the men's first-team manager, being replaced immediately by Marvin Bartley.

🔗 https://t.co/F3M1I1g8Cs pic.twitter.com/FoEZh0JSKR

— Livingston Football Club (@LiviFCOfficial) February 1, 2026

David Martindale's six year stint as Livingston manager has finally come to a shock end, earlier this afternoon.

Martindale, who was appointed in November 2020, managed over 250 games for Livingston in his six years in charge and guided the club to the Betfred Cup final in February 2021 along with promotion back to the top flight in the 2024/25 Premiership playoffs.

However this season has been a struggle for Livingston having been knocked out of both the Premier Sports Cup and the Scottish Cup in the early stages of the competition and the club currently on a 24 game winless run in the Scottish Premiership, where they find themselves bottom of the table on 11 points and six adrift of Kilmarnock who are in 11th place.

Saturday's defeat to an in-form Motherwell has officially sparked the end of Martindale's tenure as manager. Although the club have confirmed that Martindale has taken on a new position at the football club as Sporting Director and takes his new position with immediate effect.

Martindale's successor has already been named as first-team coach Marvin Bartley takes up the managerial hotseat and will aim to guide the club out of relegation trouble.

Bartley's last managerial job was in Scottish League One with Queen of the South, where he won 23 of his 61 games in charge of the club, between January 2023 to May 2024. After departing the Dumfries' side, Bartley became a regular pundit for the likes of BBC Scotland and Premier Sports for their Scottish football coverage but in the summer re-joined Livingston as first-team coach, after a previous playing and coaching spell at the club between 2019 to 2023.

His first game in charge of the club will be against Falkirk in midweek with a trip to Celtic Park on the 11th of February as Livingston look for a way to survive in the Scottish Premiership relegation battle.