Scottish Highland League
previously
called the Highland League
including
the North Highland League North
of Scotland Emergency League, North of Scotland League, Central Highland League
and
the Highland League Cup
Page created: 24 August 2020
Updated: 1 May 2024
League tables 1893-date
and League results since
1893
In 2007, the Highland League decided to change
its name to the Scottish Highland League, possibly in anticipation of the
formation of a Scottish pyramid structure. Formed on 4 August 1893 at the
Workmen's Club in Inverness it is currently the second oldest, and strongest,
after the Scottish League, having outlasted the numerous leagues that had been
set up during the 1890s and early 1900s. The main reason for this is probably
the lack of other Senior clubs in the area (until 1994, the nearest Scottish
League side was Aberdeen), and the general weakness of the region's junior
clubs. However it has been stung in recent years after
five of its strongest clubs left for the Scottish League.
In 1893 the eight original members were Cameron
Highlanders, Clachnacuddin, Forres
Mechanics, Caledonian, Inverness Citadel, Inverness Thistle, Inverness Union
and Ross County. The last named club resigned in
November 1893 and the rest completed their matches with Inverness Thistle being
crowned as the first ever Highland League champions.
There were a high number of changes to the
league's line-up in the early years. Cameron left after the first season,
although they competed again in 1897-98, 1903-04 and 1919-20. Forres were
absent in 1895-96 and 1900-01, and because they couldn't fulfil any fixtures
after April 1897, their record for the 1896-97 season was deleted from the
final table. Elgin City missed season 1896-97 but returned, after a merger as
Elgin City United, in 1898. The 'United' part was dropped after 1900. The town
had two clubs in 1900-01 when Elgin Caledonian also took part. Inverness was
also well represented during the 1890s. As well as Caledonian, Clach and Thistle, Celtic, Union and Citadel all competed,
the last named continuing until they lost their ground in 1935. They were also
League champions on one occasion.
Other clubs to join up were Buckie Thistle in
1909 and the 93rd Highlanders in 1912. Aberdeen also entered their reserve side
from 1912 to 1914. Nairn County were also elected to the league in 1914, but
couldn't compete until 1919 after the league closed down because of the War.
Fraserburgh were elected in 1922, and although
they left four years later, they rejoined in 1929. Keith joined in 1924 with
Aberdeen 'A', who subsequently went on to win their second title before leaving
again. Huntly (1928) and Ross County (1929) were among the other sides to join
in the 1920s. Ross had been formed from Dingwall Victoria United who had
previously competed in the North Caledonian League. They had replaced Black
Watch, one of a number of military sides to compete, the others being Cameron
Highlanders (1919-20), Seaforth Highlanders (1919-20), RAF (1939-40, 1947-48),
HGTB (1948-49), HLI (1949-50), KOSB (1931-1934) and 30th TB (1946-47).
The league continued to expand and the 1930s saw
the arrival of Peterhead, Deveronvale and Rothes. Unfortunately 1935 saw the demise of Inverness Citadel. When
the Second World War broke out in September 1939, the league programme had
barely begun when all football was suspended. The league closed down for the
duration but fourteen teams entered two competitions, the Central Highland League and the North Highland League. Subsequent war-time leagues were the North of
Scotland League in 1940-41 and 1945-46.
1946 saw the Highland League restart, and
the introduction of the Highland League
Cup, also known as the Morganti Cup. Initially the competition was played
in a knock-out format until a group system was introduced in 1951. This
continued until 1966 when the earlier system was reintroduced. Apart from the
coming and going of the military teams, only one club was to join in the next
forty years, and that was Brora Rangers in 1963.
In 1983, the league was the first in Scotland to
introduce the new points system, awarding a win three points instead of two.
Two years later Fort William were elected and they were joined in 1994 by Wick
Academy. The latter had been brought in to even the league up to sixteen clubs
after Ross County, Caledonian and Inverness Thistle all left for the Scottish
League, the two Inverness sides had merged as Caledonian Thistle. The expansion
of the Scottish Premier League in 2000 meant that there were two places
available in the Scottish League and these were filled by Elgin City and
Peterhead. Although this left the league with an even number of clubs, Junior club
Inverurie Loco Works were allowed to turn Senior and join as a fifteenth club.
Strathspey Thistle Formartine United and Turriff
United all joined from the juniors in 2009.
As members of the North Of
Scotland FA, the league clubs dominate the North Of Scotland Cup, with the only
other entrants being Golspie Sutherland of the North
Caledonian League, the only club in that body to hold full Scottish FA
membership. Clubs also compete for the two principal County trophies, the
Inverness and the Aberdeenshire Cups.
Winners |
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Highland League 1893-94 Inverness Thistle 1894-95 Clachnacuddin 1895-96 Caledonian 1896-97 Clachnacuddin 1897-98 Clachnacuddin 1898-99 Caledonian 1899-00 Caledonian 1900-01 Clachnacuddin 1901-02 Caledonian 1902-03 Clachnacuddin 1903-04 Clachnacuddin 1904-05 Clachnacuddin 1905-06 Clachnacuddin 1906-07 Inverness Thistle 1907-08 Clachnacuddin 1908-09 Inverness Citadel 1909-10 Inverness Thistle 1910-11 Caledonian 1911-12 Clachnacuddin 1912-13 Aberdeen 'A' 1913-14 Caledonian 1914-15 unfinished 1915-1919 no
competition 1919-20 Buckie Thistle 1920-21 Clachnacuddin 1921-22 Clachnacuddin 1922-23 Clachnacuddin 1923-24 Clachnacuddin 1924-25 Aberdeen 'A' 1925-26 Caledonian 1926-27 Buckie Thistle 1927-28 Buckie Thistle 1928-29 Inverness Thistle 1929-30 Huntly 1930-31 Caledonian 1931-32 Elgin City 1932-33 Fraserburgh 1933-34 Buckie Thistle 1934-35 Elgin City 1935-36 Inverness Thistle 1936-37 Buckie Thistle |
1937-38 Fraserburgh 1938-39 Clachnacuddin 1939-40 unfinished 1940-1946 no
competition 1946-47 Peterhead 1947-48 Clachnacuddin 1948-49 Peterhead 1949-50 Peterhead 1950-51 Caledonian 1951-52 Caledonian 1952-53 Elgin City 1953-54 Buckie Thistle 1954-55 unfinished 1955-56 Elgin City 1956-57 Buckie Thistle 1957-58 Buckie Thistle 1958-59 Rothes 1959-60 Elgin City 1960-61 Elgin City 1961-62 Keith 1962-63 Elgin City 1963-64 Caledonian 1964-65 Elgin City 1965-66 Elgin City 1966-67 Ross County 1967-68 Elgin City 1968-69 Elgin City 1969-70 Elgin City 1970-71 Caledonian 1971-72 Inverness Thistle 1972-73 Inverness Thistle 1973-74 Elgin City 1974-75 Clachnacuddin 1975-76 Nairn County 1976-77 Caledonian 1977-78 Caledonian 1978-79 Keith 1979-80 Keith 1980-81 Keith 1981-82 Caledonian 1982-83 Caledonian |
1983-84 Caledonian 1984-85 Keith 1985-86 Forres Mechanics 1986-87 Inverness Thistle 1987-88 Caledonian 1988-89 Peterhead 1989-90 Elgin City 1990-91 Ross County 1991-92 Ross County 1992-93 withheld 1993-94 Huntly 1994-95 Huntly 1995-96 Huntly 1996-97 Huntly 1997-98 Huntly 1998-99 Peterhead 1999-00 Keith 2000-01 Cove Rangers 2001-02 Fraserburgh 2002-03 Deveronvale 2003-04 Clachnacuddin 2004-05 Huntly 2005-06 Deveronvale 2006-07 Keith 2007-08 Cove Rangers 2008-09 Cove Rangers 2009-10 Brora Rangers 2010-11 Buckie Thistle 2011-12 Forres Mechanics 2012-13 Cove Rangers 2013-14 Brora Rangers 2014-15 Brora Rangers 2015-16 Cove Rangers 2016-17 Buckie Thistle 2017-18 Cove Rangers 2018-19 Cove Rangers 2019-20 Brora Rangers 2020-21 Brora Rangers 2021-22 Fraserburgh 2022-23 Brechin City 2023-24 Buckie Thistle |
Highland League Cup 1946-47 Forres Mechanics 1947-48 Clachnacuddin 1948-49 Huntly 1949-50 Ross County 1950-51 Clachnacuddin 1951-52 Huntly 1952-53 Caledonian 1953-54 Buckie Thistle 1954-55 Forres Mechanics 1955-56 Buckie Thistle 1956-57 Buckie Thistle 1957-58 Buckie Thistle 1958-59 Fraserburgh 1959-60 Elgin City 1960-61 Buckie Thistle 1961-62 Lossiemouth 1962-63 Peterhead 1963-64 Nairn County 1964-65 Keith 1965-66 Peterhead 1966-67 Elgin City 1967-68 Peterhead 1968-69 Ross County 1969-70 Caledonian 1970-71 Inverness Thistle 1971-72 Caledonian |
1972-73 Inverness Thistle 1973-74 Keith 1974-75 Keith 1975-76 Keith 1976-77 Caledonian 1977-78 Caledonian 1978-79 Ross County 1979-80 Buckie Thistle 1980-81 Peterhead 1981-82 Clachnacuddin 1982-83 Elgin City 1983-84 Keith 1984-85 Forres Mechanics 1985-86 Keith 1986-87 Caledonian 1987-88 Inverness Thistle 1988-89 Keith 1989-90 Peterhead 1990-91 Elgin City 1991-92 Ross County 1992-93 Huntly 1993-94 Huntly 1994-95 Cove Rangers 1995-96 Huntly 1996-97 Lossiemouth 1997-98 Elgin City |
1998-99 Forres Mechanics 1999-00 Cove Rangers 2000-01 Forres Mechanics 2001-02 Forres Mechanics 2002-03 Keith 2003-04 Clachnacuddin 2004-05 Cove Rangers 2005-06 Fraserburgh 2006-07 Keith 2007-08 Inverurie Loco Works 2008-09 Inverurie Loco Works 2009-10 Forres Mechanics 2010-11 Nairn County 2011-12 Buckie Thistle 2012-13 Keith 2013-14 Clachnacuddin 2014-15 Cove Rangers 2015-16 Brora Rangers 2016-17 Cove Rangers 2017-18 Formartine United 2018-19 Cove Rangers 2019-20 Rothes 2020-21 no
competition 2021-22
Brora Rangers 2022-23
Banks o' Dee 2023-24
Brora Rangers |
War-time
Competitions
North Highland League 1939-40 Inverness Thistle North of Scotland Emergency League 1940-41 Elgin City North of Scotland League 1945-46 30th Training Battalion |
Central Highland League 1939-40 First
series Rothes 1939-40
Second series unfinished |
|