2014–15 East of Scotland Football League

The 2014–15 East of Scotland Football League (known for sponsorship reasons as the Central Taxis East of Scotland League) was the 86th season of the East of Scotland Football League, and the 1st season as the sixth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 9 August 2014 and ended on 16 May 2015. Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale were the defending champions.

The league was split into two separate divisions, the Premier Division and the First Division. This season saw the departure of Edinburgh University who left to join the Lowland Football League.

This was the first season in which the divisions were added to the Scottish league pyramid at levels six and seven. It was proposed that the winner of the Premier Division would compete in a play-off with the winner of the 2014–15 South of Scotland Football League (Wigtown & Bladnoch) for a place in the 2015–16 Lowland Football League, subject to relevant licensing and ground criteria. As both champions failed to match the valid licensing criteria, no play-off took place and Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale remained in the division for the following season.

This was the last season of the two-division setup until it returned for the 2019–20 season.

Premier Division

East of Scotland Football League Premier Division
Season2014–15
ChampionsLothian Thistle Hutchison Vale
RelegatedNone
Matches played108
Goals scored434 (4.02 per match)

The 2014–15 Premier Division saw a reduction in the number of clubs from ten to nine with fixtures being played over 24 rounds. The amendment to the number of member clubs was due to the departure of Edinburgh University to the Lowland Football League. As a result, Civil Service Strollers retained their place in the division despite finishing in the previous season's relegation places.

Following Easthouses Lily's move to junior football at the end of the season, no team was relegated and all Premier Division clubs joined their First Division counterparts to form one division for the 2015–16 season.

Teams

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Location of teams in 2014–15 East of Scotland Football League Premier Division
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Location of teams in 2014–15 East of Scotland Football League Premier Division within Edinburgh

The following teams changed division prior to the 2013–14 season.

To Premier Division

Promoted from First Division

From Premier Division

Transferred to Lowland Football League

Relegated to First Division

Team Location Home ground Capacity Ref.
Civil Service Strollers Edinburgh Telford College Sports Ground 1,000 [1]
Coldstream Coldstream Home Park 1,000 [2]
Craigroyston Edinburgh St Mark’s Park 2,000 [3]
Easthouses Lily Dalkeith Newbattle Complex 1,500 [4]
Leith Athletic Edinburgh Meadowbank 3G 500 [5]
Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Edinburgh Saughton Sports Complex 1,000 [6]
Spartans Reserves Edinburgh Ainslie Park 3,000 [7]
Stirling University Reserves Stirling Gannochy Sports Centre 1,000 [8]
Tynecastle Edinburgh Fernieside Recreation Ground 1,500 [9]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale (C) 24 16 4 4 70 36 +34 52 Ineligible for promotion to Lowland League
2 Easthouses Lily 24 16 4 4 65 42 +23 52 Resigned membership, joined SJFA East Region South Division
3 Leith Athletic 24 14 5 5 62 33 +29 47
4 Tynecastle 24 9 7 8 48 41 +7 34
5 Civil Service Strollers 24 9 6 9 45 42 +3 33
6 Spartans reserves 24 9 5 10 44 46 −2 32
7 Stirling University reserves 24 5 4 15 36 59 −23 19
8 Craigroyston 24 4 6 14 29 59 −30 18
9 Coldstream 24 2 7 15 35 76 −41 13
Source: East of Scotland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions


First Division

East of Scotland Football League First Division
Season2014–15
ChampionsPeebles Rovers
PromotedAll First Division clubs
Matches played112
Goals scored473 (4.22 per match)

The First Division also saw a reduction in member clubs from ten down to eight, with each team playing 28 fixtures. The reduction in numbers was caused by the reserve teams of Berwick Rangers and last season's winners Hibernian resigning from the league. After the season all First Division clubs joined their Premier Division counterparts to form one division for 2014–15.

Teams

The following teams changed division prior to the 2013–14 season.

To First Division

Relegated from Premier Division

From First Division

Promoted to Premier Division

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Location of teams in 2014–15 East of Scotland Football League Premier Division
Team Location Home ground Capacity Ref.
Burntisland Shipyard Burntisland Recreation Park 1,000 [10]
Duns Duns New Hawthorn Park 1,000 [11]
Eyemouth United Eyemouth Warner Park 2,000 [12]
Hawick Royal Albert Hawick Albert Park 1,000 [13]
Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh Riccarton Campus 1,800 [14]
Kelso Kelso Woodside Park 1,200 [15]
Ormiston Ormiston Recreation Park 2,000 [16]
Peebles Rovers Peebles Whitestone Park 2,250 [17]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Peebles Rovers (C) 28 22 4 2 85 29 +56 70 All clubs joined Premier Division
2 Heriot-Watt University 28 17 5 6 74 34 +40 56
3 Duns 28 17 4 7 84 54 +30 55
4 Ormiston 28 16 1 11 63 60 +3 49
5 Burntisland Shipyard 28 12 7 9 64 47 +17 43
6 Eyemouth United 28 7 0 21 46 90 −44 21
7 Kelso United 28 4 3 21 27 73 −46 15
8 Hawick Royal Albert 28 4 2 22 30 86 −56 14
Source: East of Scotland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions

References

  1. ^ Civil Service Strollers, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  2. ^ Coldstream, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  3. ^ Craigroyston, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  4. ^ Easthouses Lily, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  5. ^ Leith Athletic, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  6. ^ Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  7. ^ Spartans EoS, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  8. ^ Stirling University Reserves, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  9. ^ Tynecastle, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  10. ^ Burntisland Shipyard, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  11. ^ Duns Archived 2014-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  12. ^ Eyemouth United, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  13. ^ Hawick Royal Albert, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  14. ^ Heriot-Watt Uni, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  15. ^ Kelso United Archived 2014-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  16. ^ Ormiston, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  17. ^ Peebles Rovers, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 22 December 2014.