2014–15 Lowland Football League

Lowland League
Season2014–15
ChampionsEdinburgh City
Matches played182
Goals scored665 (3.65 per match)
Top goalscorerAaron Somerville (Whitehill Welfare)
(23 goals)
Biggest home winSelkirk 7-0 Gala FR
(6 September 2014)
East Kilbride 7-0 Preston Athletic
(10 January 2015)
Stirling University 7-0 Threave Rovers
(11 January 2015)
Biggest away winSelkirk 1–9 Gretna 2008
(20 December 2014)
Longest unbeaten run20 matches:
Edinburgh City

The 2014–15 Lowland League was the second season of the Lowland Football League, the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 2 August 2014 and ended on 13 May 2015. The Spartans were the defending champions. The league expanded to 14 teams with Edinburgh University and BSC Glasgow joining.[1]

This was the first season in which promotion to Scottish League Two was introduced, with the champions taking part in the pyramid play-off against the Highland League champions and the winner then playing the bottom side in League Two.[2][3]

Edinburgh City won their first league title on 20 March 2015 after nearest rivals Whitehill Welfare lost at East Kilbride. As a result, they faced the winners of the 2014–15 Highland Football League (Brora Rangers) in the semi-finals of the League Two play-offs, losing on penalties after drawing 2-2 on aggregate and therefore remained in the Lowland League.

Teams

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Location of teams in 2014–15 Scottish Lowland Football League

The following teams changed division prior to the 2014–15 season.

To Lowland League

Transferred from East of Scotland League Premier Division

Stadia and Locations

Team Location Home ground Capacity Ref.
BSC Glasgow Glasgow Lochburn Park 3,500
Dalbeattie Star Dalbeattie Islecroft Stadium 3,500 [4]
East Kilbride East Kilbride K Park Training Academy 400 [5]
Edinburgh City Edinburgh Meadowbank Stadium 16,500 [6]
Edinburgh University Edinburgh New East Peffermill TBC
Gala Fairydean Rovers Galashiels Netherdale 4,000 [7]
Gretna 2008 Gretna Raydale Park 2,200 [8]
Preston Athletic Prestonpans Pennypit Park 4,000 [9]
Selkirk Selkirk Yarrow Park 1,162 [10]
The Spartans Edinburgh Ainslie Park 3,000 [11]
Stirling University Stirling Forthbank Stadium 3,808 [12]
Threave Rovers Castle Douglas Meadow Park 1,500 [13]
Vale of Leithen Innerleithen Victoria Park 1,500 [14]
Whitehill Welfare Rosewell Ferguson Park 2,614 [15]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Edinburgh City (C) 26 22 3 1 65 14 +51 69 Qualification to League Two play-off semi-finals
2 East Kilbride 26 15 5 6 63 25 +38 50
3 Gretna 2008 26 13 6 7 62 32 +30 45
4 Dalbeattie Star 26 11 9 6 51 39 +12 42
5 The Spartans 26 11 9 6 45 34 +11 42
6 Stirling University 26 12 6 8 46 38 +8 42
7 Whitehill Welfare 26 11 7 8 57 38 +19 40
8 Gala Fairydean Rovers 26 9 7 10 48 54 −6 34
9 Vale of Leithen 26 9 6 11 39 53 −14 33
10 BSC Glasgow 26 7 9 10 39 52 −13 30
11 Edinburgh University 26 8 4 14 40 52 −12 28
12 Selkirk 26 6 5 15 53 74 −21 23
13 Preston Athletic 26 3 5 18 31 75 −44 14
14 Threave Rovers 26 2 5 19 21 80 −59 11
Source: SLFL Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away BSC DBS EKB EDC EDU GFR G08 PRA SEL SPA SLU THR VOL WHW
BSC Glasgow 4–4 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 3–1 3–2 1–4 2–3 5–0 0–1 1–1
Dalbeattie Star 5–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 0–1 2–2 6–0 4–4 0–2 3–1 0–0 2–2 2–2
East Kilbride 4–0 1–3 0–1 3–1 3–0 2–3 7–0 6–0 1–1 4–0 5–1 3–0 1–0
Edinburgh City 3–0 2–0 3–2 1–0 1–0 0–0 7–1 3–0 2–0 3–1 4–0 3–1 0–0
Edinburgh University 0–2 2–4 0–3 0–1 2–3 0–3 2–0 3–1 2–2 1–1 3–1 3–1 3–1
Gala Fairydean Rovers 2–2 5–1 1–1 3–6 4–0 0–4 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–2 5–1 2–2 3–3
Gretna 2008 6–0 2–0 0–1 0–2 2–0 3–1 6–0 2–2 2–0 1–1 2–3 4–1 0–4
Preston Athletic 0–0 1–2 2–4 1–5 1–5 0–1 0–2 2–4 1–2 0–2 6–0 1–3 2–4
Selkirk 2–3 0–2 1–2 1–5 4–5 7–0 1–9 2–2 1–1 2–1 3–0 3–5 2–3
The Spartans 0–3 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 3–0 2–1 0–2 5–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 1–3
Stirling University 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–1 3–1 3–1 0–3 2–2 7–0 1–3 2–1
Threave Rovers 1–1 1–3 0–4 0–3 2–3 2–3 1–2 2–2 3–0 0–4 0–2 1–1 1–3
Vale of Leithen 3–1 2–0 1–1 0–3 3–2 1–4 3–2 0–2 1–4 1–1 0–3 0–0 0–3
Whitehill Welfare 4–1 1–2 3–1 0–2 3–0 2–3 1–1 2–2 6–2 2–2 1–2 6–0 2–4
Source: BBC Sport
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Lowland League play-off

It was proposed that the winners of the 2014–15 East of Scotland Football League and 2014–15 South of Scotland Football League would play each another for a place in the Lowland League. However, this is subject to strict licensing and entry criteria which determined possible acceptance. As the play-off was not contested, Threave Rovers stayed in the division despite having finished bottom.

References

  1. ^ "Lowland League announces new members for next season". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 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.
  4. ^ Dalbeattie Star, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  5. ^ East Kilbride, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  6. ^ Edinburgh City Archived 2013-08-14 at the Wayback Machine, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  7. ^ Gala Fairydean Rovers, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  8. ^ Gretna 2008, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  9. ^ Preston Athletic, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  10. ^ Selkirk Archived 21 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  11. ^ Spartans, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  12. ^ Stirling University, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  13. ^ Threave Rovers, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  14. ^ Vale of Leithen, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  15. ^ Whitehill Welfare, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 10 August 2013.