Founded | 2019 |
---|---|
Country | Scotland |
Number of teams | 8 |
Domestic cup(s) | Scottish Women's Cup |
League cup(s) | Highlands and Islands League Cup |
Current champions | Buckie |
Most championships | Clachnacuddin (1 title), Inverness CT Dev. (1 title), Buckie (1 title) |
Website | Scottish Women's Football |
The Highlands and Islands League is an amateur women's association football league in Scotland, run by Scottish Women's Football (SWF). Founded in 2019, the league sits outside the current Scottish Women's Football League pyramid. [1] It comprises eight teams: one based in Caithness, one in Moray, one in Ross-shire, one in Nairnshire, one in Orkney, two in Sutherland, and one in Inverness-shire.
In September 2018, a proposal to create a women's Highlands and Islands League for 2019 was ratified by Scottish Women's Football (SWF). [2] On 25 February 2019, SWF officially announced the creation of the new league. [1] The inaugural season ran from March to October, with each team playing 12 games, and was won by Clachnacuddin. [3] The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [4]
The following eight teams are competing in the Highlands and Islands League during the 2023 season: [3]
Team | Home ground | Location | First season | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brora Rangers | Dudgeon Park | Brora, Sutherland | 2019 | [5] |
Buckie | Gordon Park | Portgordon, Moray | 2019 | [6] |
Caithness | Sir Georges Park | Thurso, Caithness | 2019 | [7] |
Clachnacuddin | Grant Street Park | Inverness, Inverness-shire | 2019 | [8] |
Nairn St Ninian | Nairn Showfield | Nairn, Nairnshire | 2019 | [9] |
Ross & Cromarty | Ferry Brae Park | North Kessock, Ross-shire | 2023 | [10] |
Orkney | Kirkwall Grammar School | Kirkwall, Orkney | 2020 | [11] |
Sutherland | Couper Park | Helmsdale, Sutherland | 2020 | [12] |
Team | Home ground | Location | First season | Last season | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Development | Millburn Academy | Inverness, Inverness-shire | 2019 | 2022 | [13] |
Lewis and Harris | Ullapool High School | Ullapool, Ross and Cromarty | 2019 | 2019 | [14] |
Kirkwall City | The Pickaquoy Centre | Kirkwall, Orkney | 2019 | 2021 | [15] |
Season | Champions | Runners-up | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
2019 | Clachnacuddin | Inverness Caledonian Thistle Development | |
2020 | Season abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic | [16] [4] | |
2021 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle Development | Clachnacuddin | [17] |
2022 | Buckie | Clachnacuddin | [18] |
The Cup competition began in the 2019 season, along with the foundation of the Highlands and Islands League. Lewis and Harris won the first edition. [19]
Season | Winners | Runners-up | Result | Venue | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Lewis and Harris | Clachnacuddin | 7–0 | Caledonian Stadium, Inverness | [19] |
2021 | Sutherland | Clachnacuddin | 3–2 | Station Park, Nairn | [20] |
2022 | Buckie | Sutherland | 2–2 a.e.t. (3–1 pen) | Station Park, Nairn | [21] |
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It shares borders with the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Moray and Perth and Kinross. Their councils, and those of Angus and Stirling, also have areas of the Scottish Highlands within their administrative boundaries.
The Scottish Highland Football League is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Scottish Professional Football League.
Dornoch is a town, seaside resort, parish and former royal burgh in the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east.
The shires of Scotland, or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes, from the 17th century they started to be used for local administration purposes as well. The areas used for judicial functions (sheriffdoms) came to diverge from the shires, which ceased to be used for local government purposes after 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
The North Caledonian Football Association is a senior football association operating throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and is a recognised body of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and as such has its senior football competitions officially registered with the SFA.
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood), in use between 1999 and 2011. It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it was one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides.
Ross, Skye and Inverness West was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It was one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The Northern Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for Northern Scotland, covering the Highland council area along with the Western Isles, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands, which make up most of the Highlands and Islands area. It was the police force covering the largest geographical area in the United Kingdom, equivalent to the size of Belgium, but was one of the smallest in terms of officers, with about 715 officers. The Constabulary was one of those amalgamated to form Police Scotland in 2013.
The Crofters' Party was the parliamentary arm of the Highland Land League. It managed to elect five MPs in the 1885 general election and a sixth the following year.
The Highland Amateur Cup is an annual football cup competition run by the Highland Executive branch of the Scottish Amateur Football Association. It also covers various offshore islands.
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Highland Rugby Football Club is a rugby union amateur club from the city of Inverness that compete in the Scottish National League Division One. They have a number of teams taken from different age groups including micros and minis, S1 and S2, Under-15, Under-16, Under-18 and senior first and second teams. They play their rugby at Canal park in Inverness.
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering the northern part of the Highland council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The 2012–13 Scottish Cup was the 128th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament began on 4 August 2012 and ended on 26 May 2013. It was sponsored by bookmaker William Hill in the second season of a three-year partnership and is known as the William Hill Scottish Cup. The winner of the competition qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League. The holders Hearts were knocked out by their Edinburgh rivals Hibernian in the fourth round, in a repeat of the previous season's final.
A sheriffdom is a judicial district of Scotland. Originally identical to the Shires of Scotland, from the eighteenth century many counties were grouped to form "sheriffdoms".
The 2019 SWF Scottish Cup, known as the 2019 SSE Scottish Women's Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national cup competition in Scottish women's football.
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