The 2018–19 East of Scotland Football League (known as the Central Taxis East of Scotland League for sponsorship reasons) was the 90th season of the East of Scotland Football League, and the 5th season as the sixth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 11 August 2018 and ended on 18 May 2019. Kelty Hearts were the reigning champions but could not defend their title after being promoted to the Lowland Football League.
The league saw an increase from 13 to 39 teams and was split into three parallel conferences, each containing 13 teams. The additional teams consisted of 24 clubs who applied to switch from the SJFA East Region, one from the SJFA West Region, one new team and Hawick Royal Albert who were relegated from the Lowland League.
The winners of each conference took part in a round-robin competition at the end of the season, with Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic being crowned league champions on 4 May 2019 after winning both their championship play-off matches. They later clinched promotion to the Lowland League after gaining their SFA licence on 14 June 2019.[2][3]
The top five clubs in each conference, and best 6th-placed, formed the new 16-team Premier Division for the 2019–20 season.[4]
Teams
The following teams changed division after the 2017–18 season.
Source: East of Scotland Football League Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated Notes:
^Coldstream deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player.
Updated to match(es) played on 27 April 2019. Source: East of Scotland Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Source: East of Scotland Football League Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated Notes:
^Eyemouth United deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player.
Updated to match(es) played on 27 April 2019. Source: East of Scotland Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Source: East of Scotland Football League Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Updated to match(es) played on 18 May 2019. Source: East of Scotland Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Championship play-off
At the end of the season, the three conference winners took part in a three match round-robin competition to determine the league champion, and subject to meeting the required licensing criteria, promotion to the Lowland League.[45][46]Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic were crowned champions after winning both of their matches, and later gained promotion having eventually received their SFA licence on 14 June 2019.[2][3]
Source: East of Scotland Football League Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Result of head-to-head match; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away goals scored in head-to-head match(es); 7) Conference record: (1. Bonnyrigg, 2. Broxburn, 3. Penicuik)[46] (C) Champion; (P) Promoted