2014–15 Highland Football League

Press & Journal Highland League
Season2014–15
ChampionsBrora Rangers
Matches played306
Goals scored1,285 (4.2 per match)
Biggest home winBrora Rangers 8–0 Turriff United
Biggest away winRothes 0–9 Nairn County
Highest scoringFormartine United 6–5 Buckie Thistle
Lossiemouth 5–6 Fraserburgh
Strathspey Thistle 2–9 Wick Academy
Longest winning run13 – Brora Rangers
Longest unbeaten run34 (full season) – Brora Rangers
Longest winless run20 – Strathspey Thistle
Longest losing run10 – Keith
10 – Strathspey Thistle

The 2014–15 Highland Football League kicked off on 2 August 2014. Due to the introduction of end-of-season promotion playoffs, all matches affecting the title or involving the champions had to be completed on or before 18 April 2015, though other matches could still take place after this date.[1] The last match of the season was played on 9 May 2015.

Defending champions Brora Rangers secured their second consecutive league title on 28 March 2015 with a 2–1 win over closest rivals Turriff United F.C. at The Haughs and went on to finish the season without losing a match, the first club to do so since Caledonian in 1982–83. They also achieved new Highland League records for both the most goals scored (134) and fewest conceded (13), having kept a clean sheet in 23 of their 34 matches.

Starting in this season, the league champions playoff with the Lowland Football League champions (or other eligible team from outside the SPFL to be nominated by the Scottish FA), with the winner then playing the team finishing 10th and bottom in Scottish League Two in a promotion and relegation playoff to determine the entrants for the 2015–16 League Two season.[2][3] In the playoffs, Brora Rangers narrowly beat Lowland League champions Edinburgh City but lost the final playoff against League Two club Montrose, and will therefore remain in an unchanged Highland League roster for the 2015–16 season.

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Location of teams in 2014–15 Highland Football League

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Brora Rangers (C) 34 30 4 0 134 13 +121 94 Qualification to League Two play-off semi-finals
2 Turriff United 34 27 2 5 90 40 +50 83
3 Cove Rangers 34 22 7 5 103 40 +63 73
4 Wick Academy 34 23 3 8 94 43 +51 72
5 Fraserburgh 34 19 8 7 91 48 +43 65
6 Formartine United 34 19 7 8 85 59 +26 64
7 Inverurie Loco Works 34 20 3 11 93 51 +42 63
8 Nairn County 34 18 3 13 88 43 +45 57
9 Forres Mechanics 34 18 3 13 71 59 +12 57
10 Buckie Thistle 34 15 5 14 71 66 +5 50
11 Clachnacuddin 34 14 3 17 63 74 −11 45
12 Deveronvale 34 9 9 16 53 82 −29 36
13 Fort William 34 8 3 23 52 98 −46 27
14 Keith 34 7 3 24 42 97 −55 24
15 Lossiemouth 34 7 2 25 50 105 −55 23
16 Huntly 34 5 5 24 37 100 −63 20
17 Strathspey Thistle 34 3 5 26 36 125 −89 14
18 Rothes 34 2 5 27 32 142 −110 11
Source: Highland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away BROR BUCK CLAC COVE DEVE FORM FORR FORT FRAS HUNT LOCO KEITH LOSS NAIRN ROTH STRA TURR WICK
Brora Rangers 5–1 2–0 1–1 7–0 1–1 3–0 6–0 1–1 6–0 1–0 2–0 7–0 3–0 6–0 4–0 8–0 2–1
Buckie Thistle 1–4 4–1 1–5 1–1 2–3 2–0 1–2 2–2 2–0 0–2 4–0 2–4 2–0 1–0 2–2 0–3 1–3
Clachnacuddin 0–5 1–6 1–1 1–1 0–3 1–0 1–2 1–2 3–2 1–0 4–2 5–1 0–2 3–0 2–0 2–0 0–2
Cove Rangers 1–1 3–1 6–0 3–0 2–3 3–1 4–0 2–2 4–1 3–2 3–0 6–0 3–2 2–0 4–0 3–4 1–3
Deveronvale 0–5 0–4 3–3 0–6 2–2 0–2 2–0 1–0 0–0 0–2 5–3 4–1 1–7 3–1 6–3 1–2 0–1
Formartine United 0–5 6–5 4–2 3–0 2–2 0–2 3–1 1–1 2–3 2–3 7–1 4–2 4–3 4–1 4–2 1–2 0–2
Forres Mechanics 0–4 5–0 5–2 2–2 2–1 1–1 4–1 1–1 6–0 2–1 3–4 3–2 0–3 6–2 2–1 0–2 1–3
Fort William 2–6 1–2 2–3 1–4 4–3 1–2 0–3 2–3 3–3 0–6 2–0 4–3 1–3 4–4 1–2 1–5 3–2
Fraserburgh 2–3 2–2 4–2 1–3 6–1 3–0 1–2 3–0 4–2 1–3 4–1 1–0 2–1 7–0 5–4 2–1 2–2
Huntly 0–8 1–0 1–2 1–4 2–3 0–6 1–2 0–4 0–4 2–3 1–1 2–5 1–3 5–2 2–0 0–1 0–2
Inverurie Loco Works 0–5 1–2 2–0 4–5 2–4 2–3 4–1 3–0 0–0 2–0 3–0 3–1 1–1 3–2 3–2 1–3 2–3
Keith 0–3 2–5 2–3 0–4 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–0 0–4 3–2 1–3 1–0 1–3 5–1 2–3 2–7 2–3
Lossiemouth 1–5 1–2 1–4 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 2–1 5–6 0–2 0–7 1–3 2–1 2–0 2–1 1–5 0–2
Nairn County 0–3 1–2 3–1 1–1 4–0 0–1 1–2 4–0 1–2 5–0 2–3 6–1 5–2 7–1 3–0 4–0 0–0
Rothes 0–2 1–3 0–6 0–5 1–1 2–2 5–2 0–4 0–8 2–2 0–7 0–2 3–2 0–9 1–1 1–4 0–7
Strathspey Thistle 0–7 0–6 1–6 1–6 0–5 1–5 0–3 3–3 0–3 1–1 0–8 0–0 2–5 1–2 3–1 0–4 2–9
Turriff United 1–2 2–2 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 4–2 1–0 3–0 1–1 3–1 3–0 2–0 7–0 5–0 2–1
Wick Academy 0–1 2–0 3–2 1–1 3–2 1–2 4–3 3–0 3–2 4–0 3–6 4–0 4–0 0–1 7–1 3–0 3–4
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: highlandfootballleague.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion play-off

Main article: 2014–15 Scottish League Two § League Two Play-offs

As champions, Brora Rangers played off against the winners of the Lowland Football League, Edinburgh City over two legs. Brora won on penalties and went on to play off against the bottom-placed club in Scottish League Two, Montrose. Montrose won 3–2 on aggregate, therefore Brora Rangers remain in the Highland League for the 2015–16 season.

References

  1. ^ "Scottish Highland Football League Fixtures for 2014-15". Scottish Highland Football League. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  2. ^ "The Rules of the SPFL" (PDF). Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  3. ^ "The pyramid system and how it affects the SHFL". Scottish Highland Football League. Retrieved 15 June 2014.