North Caledonian Football League

Last updated
North Caledonian Football Association
Founded1896
Country Scotland
Number of teams9
Current champions Orkney (1st title)
(2017–18)
Most championships Clachnacuddin reserves
Website http://www.northcaleyfa.co.uk
Soccerball current event.svg 2018–19 North Caledonian Football League

The North Caledonian Football Association is a football association operating throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and is a Recognised Body of the SFA and as such has its senior football competitions officially registered with the Scottish Football Association.

Highlands and Islands Area of Scotland

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are broadly the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

Scottish Football Association governing body of association football in Scotland

The Scottish Football Association, is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations. It was formed in 1873, making it the second oldest national football association in the world. It is not to be confused with the "Scottish Football Union", which is the name that the SRU was known by until the 1920s.

Contents

Membership

As well as holding membership of the North Caledonian FA, member clubs are also governed by the constitution of the Scottish Football Association, and as such disciplinary and registration matters are handed by the Scottish Football Association. This is a unique situation in that member clubs are not required to be full members of the Scottish Football Association, despite their players holding senior SFA registrations (professional and amateur).

Golspie Sutherland are the only North Caledonian FA member club to hold full membership of the Scottish Football Association and since season 2007–08 they have obtained direct entry to the Scottish Cup. Previously, they were required to enter the Scottish Qualifying Cup (North).

Golspie Sutherland F.C.

Golspie Sutherland Football Club are a Scottish football club from Golspie, Sutherland, that competes in the North Caledonian Football League. They are full members of the Scottish Football Association, and therefore automatically qualify for entry to the Scottish Cup.

2007–08 in Scottish football

The 2007–08 season was the 111th season of competitive football in Scotland.

Scottish Cup competition for mens association football clubs in Scotland

The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs in Scotland. The competition was first held in 1873–74. Entry is open to all 89 clubs with full membership of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), along with up to eight other clubs who are associate members. The competition is called the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons.

Since 2013, membership has been extended beyond the Highlands to senior clubs in the Islands, with Orkney, Shetland and Lewis & Harris all entering teams.

Scottish Highlands Place

The Highlands is a historic region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.

Orkney F.C.

Orkney Football Club are a senior football team from the Orkney Islands in Scotland, who compete in the North Caledonian Football League.

Shetland football team mens association football team representing Shetland

The Shetland Football Team represents the islands of Shetland, Scotland, in association football. It is not a member of FIFA or UEFA and is therefore not eligible to enter the World Cup or the European Championships. The team regularly competes in the Island Games, which it won in 2005, and has a strong rivalry with the representative team of Orkney. This representative team should not be confused with Shetland FC, which was formed as a separate entity to compete during the mainland's winter season cup competitions - despite being separate entities, the teams share management staff and squad of players.

Member teams have previously included reserve teams of Highland Football League clubs alongside teams from throughout the Highlands and Islands region. [1] .

Highland Football League

The Scottish Highland Football League is a part time, senior professional football league in the north of Scotland. The league, which is the fifth level within Scottish football, is a full member of the Scottish Football Association. It currently consists of 18 teams from the Scottish Highlands as well as the lowlands of Moray and Aberdeenshire.

Member clubs

Thurso's home ground, Sir George's Park Sir George's Park, Thurso.jpeg
Thurso's home ground, Sir George's Park
TeamLocationHome groundRef.
Alness United Alness Highland Football Academy, Dingwall [2]
Bunillidh Thistle Helmsdale Couper Park [3]
Golspie Sutherland Golspie King George V Park [4]
Halkirk United Halkirk Morrison Park [5]
Invergordon Invergordon Recreation Grounds [6]
Inverness Athletic Inverness Inverness Royal Academy 4G [7]
Orkney Kirkwall The Pickaquoy Centre [8]
St Duthus Tain Grant Park [9]
Thurso Thurso Sir George's Park [10]

Cup competitions only

TeamLocationHome groundRef.
Lewis & Harris Lewis & Harris Jubilee Park, Dingwall
Nairn County U20s Nairn Station Park, Nairn
Shetland Shetland Sir George's Park, Thurso

Evolution of the league

The association was founded in 1896 as the "North of Scotland 2nd XI League" to accommodate "2nd XI" teams from the Highland Football League which upon its formation mostly consisted of teams from the Inverness area. By the turn of the century, the association had welcomed new member teams from throughout Inverness-shire and Ross-shire who were not affiliated to the Highland League who were instead playing as junior football teams, such as Muir of Ord, Beauly, Dingwall Victoria (later known as Ross County) and Tore United.

Inverness-shire Historic county in Scotland

The Shire of Inverness is a historic county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in population, with 67,733 people or 1.34% of the national population.

Ross-shire Historic county in Scotland

Ross-shire is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland, Cromartyshire, Inverness-shire and an exclave of Nairnshire. It includes most of Ross as well as Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Dingwall is the traditional county town. The area of Ross-shire was based on that of the historic province of Ross, but with the exclusion of the many exclaves that formed Cromartyshire.

Ross County F.C. Scottish professional association football club based in Ross-shire

Ross County Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Dingwall, Highland. They play all of their home matches at Victoria Park in Dingwall. The club currently play in the Scottish Championship, after being relegated from the Scottish Premiership in the 2017–18 season. Prior to the 1994–95 season they played in the Highland Football League, a competition they won three times. They have also won the Scottish First Division, Scottish Championship, Second Division, Third Division and Challenge Cup three times. In 2010, they reached the Scottish Cup Final, and in 2016 they won the Scottish League Cup. Nicknamed The Staggies, County's colours are dark blue, red and white.

From 1948 the league was known essentially as the North of Scotland "2nd XI" League or "Highland Reserve League", having dropped its junior tag and instead becoming recognised as a senior football league. By the 1970s, the Highland League reserve teams which had frequently entered teams gradually dropped out with most finding that it was not financially viable to run "2nd XI" or reserve teams each year.

In a bid to shake the stigma of the "2nd XI" tag (and the inference of being "second best") the remaining football clubs in the league took the decision to rename the league and at the 1984 annual general meeting of the North of Scotland 2nd XI Football Association in Bonar Bridge, member clubs voted unanimously to change the name of the association to the North Caledonian Football Association and the name of the league competition to the North Caledonian Football League.

Although now a senior league in its own right, the North Caledonian Football League is often characterised by the number of clubs who have used it as a 'stepping-stone' to the professional ranks of Scottish football. Among those to have 'graduated' from the league are Rothes, Wick Academy and Fort William who left to join the Highland Football League as well as the reserve teams of the Scottish Football League clubs Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County.

Highland UK location map.svg
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Location of teams in 2017–18 North Caledonian Football League
Orkney Islands UK location map.svg
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Location of teams in 2017–18 North Caledonian Football League

Recent history

The 2008–09 season saw the league reduced to ten teams following the withdrawal of Dornoch City and Inverness City joining the Junior leagues. Late applicants Tain Thistle took the league membership up to ten teams for the start of the season.

Fort William entered a reserve side in the league for season 2009–10 as the first Highland Football League "reserve" side to compete since 1999. Helmsdale based Bunillidh Thistle withdrew whilst Alness United took a year out, and former members Dingwall Thistle returned to complete a ten-team league.

Season 2010–11 saw Alness return after a one-year absence whilst Tain Thistle withdrew after two seasons.

Clachnacuddin again entered a reserve side for season 2011–12, whilst Fort William Reserves dropped out due to problems with pitch availability. [11] Before the season started, both Bonar Bridge and Invergordon withdrew, leaving just eight teams in the league. The following season 2012–13, Invergordon returned while Balintore and Dingwall Thistle both withdrew from the league.

Invergordon again withdrew from competition for the 2013–14 season, however, the void was filled by a new team from Dornoch in Sutherland United. That same season, a newly formed Shetland team [12] and Lewis & Harris both registered for competition in the North Caledonian Cup.

The following season, 2014–15, Shetland and Lewis & Harris also competed in the Jock Mackay Cup, while a new team, Orkney, [13] was accepted as a member of the league – the first Islands team to do so.

Invergordon returned following a two-year period of abeyance, however, along with Muir of Ord Rovers, Sutherland United withdrew from the competition after just their second season, taking the amount of competing teams down to six for season 2015–16.

However, a total of eight teams registered for league competition in 2016–17, with St Duthus returning to represent Tain [14] and a new team Inverness Athletic was also accepted. [15]

Bunillidh Thistle are the most recent club to join the league - having been accepted at the North Caledonian League's AGM in June 2017. This marks a return to the competition for the Sutherland club, having last been involved in 2009 and increase to nine teams. For the 2018-19 season, all member clubs retained their membership status.

Previous champions

Club performance

As of end of season 2017–18
ClubWinners
Clachnacuddin reserves
14
Nelson FC
10
Golspie Sutherland
9
Inverness Thistle reserves
8
Caledonian reserves
5
Halkirk United
5
Invergordon
5
Inverness Citadel reserves
5
Wick Academy
5
Alness United
4
Dingwall Thistle
4
Thurso
4
Balintore
3
Brora Rangers reserves
2
Bunillidh Thistle
2
Dingwall Victoria United
2
Inverness Caledonian Thistle reserves
2
Inverness District Asylum FC
2
Muir of Ord
2
Nairn County reserves
2
Ross County reserves
2
Albert FC
1
Avoch Rovers
1
Buckie Thistle reserves
1
Catch-My-Pal FC
1
Elgin City reserves
1
Fearn Thistle
1
Fort William
1
Fortrose Union
1
Highland Light Infantry FC
1
Inverness Celtic
1
Orkney
1

Related Research Articles

Caledonian Football Club was a football club from the city of Inverness, Highland, Scotland. It played in the Highland Football League until 1994, when it merged with Inverness Thistle to form Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Far North Line railway line

The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line has many sections of single track, mostly north of Dingwall. In common with other railway lines in the Highlands and northern Lowlands, it is not electrified and all trains are diesel-powered.

2011–12 Scottish Cup

The 2011–12 Scottish Cup was the 127th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament began on 24 September 2011 and ended on 19 May 2012. It was sponsored by William Hill in the first season of a three-year partnership, known as the William Hill Scottish Cup. The winner of the competition qualified for the play-off round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. Heart of Midlothian won 5-1 against city rivals Hibernian at Hampden Park.

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The 2012–13 North of Scotland Cup began on 28 July 2012 and ended on 20 October 2012.

The 2011–12 North of Scotland Cup began on 23 July 2011 and ended on 11 September 2011.

The 2009–10 North of Scotland Cup was won by Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The 2010–11 North of Scotland Cup was won by Forres Mechanics.

The 2013–14 Scottish Cup was the 129th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament will begin on 14 September and end on 17 May 2014. It is sponsored by bookmaker William Hill in the third season of a five-year partnership after a two-year extension was agreed, and is known as the William Hill Scottish Cup. The winner of the competition qualifies for the second qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. This year will be the first time since the 1998 Scottish Cup Final that the final will be played at Celtic Park.

2013–14 North of Scotland Cup

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The North of Scotland Football Association is a local football association affiliated to the Scottish Football Association. Member clubs are drawn from across the Highlands and Moray and includes teams playing in the Scottish Professional Football League, the Highland League and the North Caledonian League.

The 2014–15 North Caledonian Football League was competed for by six clubs playing ten matches each. The championship was won by Golspie Sutherland. As the remaining senior league in Scottish football yet to have been integrated into the pyramid system, there was no possible promotion available for the victor.

The 2015–16 North Caledonian Football League will be competed for by six clubs playing ten matches each. Golspie Sutherland were the defending champions. Invergordon returned to the league following a two-year absence. Sutherland United withdrew from the league prior to the start of the season.

St Duthus F.C.

St. Duthus Football Club is a senior Scottish football club playing in the North Caledonian Football League based at Grant Park in the town of Tain in the Scottish Highlands.

The 2016–17 North Caledonian Football League will be competed for by eight clubs playing fourteen matches each. Halkirk United were the defending champions. St Duthus returned to the league following an eleven-year absence and Inverness Athletic, a new team, were also admitted.

The 2017–18 North Caledonian Football League was the 109th season of the North Caledonian Football League. The season began on 2 September 2017 and ended on 21 April 2018. Invergordon were the defending champions.

North Caledonian Cup

The North Caledonian Cup, originally known as the North of Scotland Reserve Cup is an annual senior association football cup for competition between football clubs across the Highlands & Islands of Scotland.

The 2018–19 North Caledonian Football League is the 110th season of the North Caledonian Football League. The season began on 1 September 2018. Orkney were the defending champions.

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2011-07-09.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
  2. ↑ Alness United, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Bunillidh Thistle, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  4. ↑ Golspie Sutherland, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Halkirk United, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Invergordon, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Inverness Athletic F.C." nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
  8. ↑ Orkney, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "St Duthus F.C." nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
  10. ↑ Thurso, nonleaguescotland.org.uk, Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  11. ↑ Clach back in North Caledonian League Highland News, Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  12. ↑ "Shetland Squad : Shetland Football". www.shetlandfootball.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
  13. ↑ "Ball rolling on Orkney FC - The Orcadian Online". The Orcadian Online. 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
  14. ↑ "St Duthus accepted into the North Caledonian FA | St Duthus Football Club - Tain, Highland, Scotland". www.stduthusfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
  15. ↑ "North Caledonian FA - Latest News". www.leaguewebsite.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
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