2018–19 Highland Football League

Breedon Highland League
Season2018–19
Dates28 July 2018 – 27 April 2019
ChampionsCove Rangers
PromotedCove Rangers
Matches played306
Goals scored1,260 (4.12 per match)
Biggest home winFraserburgh 13–0 Fort William
(10 November 2018)
Formartine United 14–1 Fort William
(5 January 2019)
Biggest away winFort William 0–11 Brora Rangers
(27 February 2019)
Highest scoringFormartine United 14–1 Fort William
(5 January 2019)
Longest winning run16 matches:
Cove Rangers
Longest unbeaten run16 matches:
Cove Rangers
Longest winless run34 matches:
Fort William

The 2018–19 Highland Football League (known as the Breedon Highland League for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th season of the Highland Football League, and the fifth season as the fifth-tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 28 July 2018 and ended on 27 April 2019.

Cove Rangers were the defending champions and retained the title on 13 April 2019 with one match still to play, after a 1–0 win away to Forres Mechanics.

They faced the winners of the 2018–19 Lowland Football League (East Kilbride) in the Pyramid play-off, winning 5–1 on aggregate. Cove then defeated Berwick Rangers 7–0 on aggregate in the League Two play-off final to gain a place in Scottish League Two.

Teams

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Location of teams in 2018–19 Highland Football League

Fort William had given notice to withdraw from the league after years of struggling, but new investors came forward and the club opted to continue for at least another season. Champions Cove Rangers failed to gain promotion in the play-offs, so the league membership remained unchanged.

Stadia and locations

All grounds are equipped with floodlights as required by league regulations.

Team Location Stadium Capacity Seats
Brora Rangers Brora Dudgeon Park 4,000 200
Buckie Thistle Buckie Victoria Park 5,000 400
Clachnacuddin Inverness Grant Street Park 3,000 154
Cove Rangers Aberdeen Balmoral Stadium 2,602 370
Deveronvale Banff Princess Royal Park 2,600 360
Forres Mechanics Forres Mosset Park 2,700 502
Formartine United Pitmedden North Lodge Park 2,500 300
Fort William Fort William Claggan Park 4,000 400
Fraserburgh Fraserburgh Bellslea Park 3,000 480
Huntly Huntly Christie Park 2,200 270
Inverurie Loco Works Inverurie Harlaw Park 2,500 250
Keith Keith Kynoch Park 4,000 370
Lossiemouth Lossiemouth Grant Park 3,250 250
Nairn County Nairn Station Park 2,250 250
Rothes Rothes Mackessack Park 2,700 184
Strathspey Thistle Grantown-on-Spey Seafield Park 1,600 150
Turriff United Turriff The Haughs 2,135 135
Wick Academy Wick Harmsworth Park 2,412 102

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Cove Rangers (C, O, P) 34 30 3 1 100 12 +88 93 Qualification for the Pyramid play-off
2 Brora Rangers 34 27 4 3 99 12 +87 85
3 Fraserburgh 34 26 1 7 125 37 +88 79
4 Formartine United 34 22 6 6 97 37 +60 72
5 Inverurie Loco Works 34 20 6 8 96 48 +48 66
6 Forres Mechanics 34 21 3 10 79 40 +39 66
7 Wick Academy 34 15 7 12 69 54 +15 52
8 Buckie Thistle 34 14 7 13 72 54 +18 49
9 Huntly 34 14 7 13 57 65 −8 49
10 Rothes[a] 34 13 8 13 73 57 +16 44
11 Nairn County 34 13 3 18 61 67 −6 42
12 Deveronvale 34 13 2 19 55 65 −10 41
13 Keith 34 10 7 17 62 68 −6 37
14 Strathspey Thistle 34 10 3 21 47 90 −43 33
15 Turriff United 34 9 5 20 74 91 −17 32
16 Clachnacuddin 34 6 6 22 44 79 −35 24
17 Lossiemouth 34 2 2 30 29 139 −110 8
18 Fort William[b] 34 0 2 32 21 245 −224 −7
Source: Highland Football League BBC Sport Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ Rothes were deducted three points and fined £50 for fielding an ineligible player.[1]
  2. ^ Fort William were deducted nine points and fined £150 for fielding an ineligible player on three occasions.[2]

Results

Home \ Away BRO BUC CLA COV DEV FOR FOM FRT FRA HUN INV KEI LOS NAI ROT STR TUR WIC
Brora Rangers 3–0 2–1 1–1 4–1 1–2 4–0 9–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 6–1 3–0 1–0 5–1 5–0 2–0
Buckie Thistle 0–4 2–0 0–3 2–0 3–1 4–1 4–0 1–4 1–1 0–2 1–2 0–0 2–1 3–2 5–0 2–1 5–2
Clachnacuddin 0–1 1–0 2–4 0–3 0–4 0–4 5–0 2–3 1–3 0–0 2–5 1–0 3–2 1–4 2–1 2–4 1–3
Cove Rangers 0–0 2–0 2–1 5–0 2–0 2–0 11–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 4–0 3–0 6–2 7–1 3–0 5–0
Deveronvale 0–1 0–3 2–1 0–1 1–4 0–5 6–0 1–5 0–0 1–2 2–2 7–0 0–1 0–1 0–4 3–2 3–2
Formartine United 0–0 2–0 5–0 0–0 3–0 1–2 14–1 2–0 4–0 4–2 3–0 2–0 4–1 3–3 5–1 4–1 1–2
Forres Mechanics 0–2 7–2 1–0 0–1 2–1 0–1 5–0 1–2 4–0 2–1 2–1 4–1 4–1 0–0 0–0 2–1 4–0
Fort William 0–11 1–11 3–3 0–6 0–8 2–8 1–6 0–7 1–6 1–7 1–4 3–4 2–6 0–5 1–1 0–10 1–5
Fraserburgh 2–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 4–1 2–1 3–4 13–0 7–1 2–4 3–1 10–0 7–1 2–0 5–1 2–0 2–3
Huntly 0–1 3–1 1–1 0–4 2–0 0–0 0–1 6–0 2–2 0–4 2–1 1–0 0–5 4–4 2–1 2–3 1–0
Inverurie Loco Works 2–0 0–0 2–2 2–3 2–0 2–4 2–1 10–0 0–5 6–3 4–1 7–0 2–2 1–0 3–2 7–0 1–1
Keith 0–4 0–0 3–0 0–1 1–2 2–3 0–3 11–0 0–3 1–2 1–4 4–4 2–1 2–1 0–2 2–2 2–2
Lossiemouth 1–5 0–8 1–5 0–5 2–4 2–4 1–5 5–0 0–7 0–4 2–5 2–4 0–5 0–4 2–4 1–3 0–3
Nairn County 0–4 2–2 3–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 3–0 4–0 1–2 5–1 0–3 1–2 1–0 1–1 3–0 5–2 1–4
Rothes 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–4 0–2 3–3 5–1 11–1 1–2 0–1 1–2 2–0 1–0 6–1 3–4 3–2 2–1
Strathspey Thistle 0–4 1–5 3–2 2–3 2–1 1–1 0–4 5–1 1–3 0–4 0–3 0–4 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 4–2
Turriff United 0–5 3–3 2–1 0–1 2–3 2–3 2–4 12–1 0–9 0–3 2–2 2–2 4–0 2–3 3–3 4–0 0–2
Wick Academy 0–0 2–0 2–2 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–0 6–0 2–1 2–2 6–2 2–2 8–0 2–0 1–3 2–1 2–1
Source: highlandfootballleague.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

  1. ^ "Player Eligibility - Rothes FC". Highland Football League. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Player Eligibility - Fort William FC". Highland Football League. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.