# 2023–24 Highland Football League

The 2023–24 Highland Football League (known as the Breedon Highland League for sponsorship reasons) was the 121st season of the Highland Football League, and the 10th season as part of the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. Brechin City were the reigning champions, and were one of three teams that could have won the title in the final round of games, along with Buckie Thistle and Fraserburgh.
Buckie Thistle's 1–0 win – a sixth consecutive win to finish the season – over Keith gave them their 12th Highland League title on goal difference from Brechin City, with Fraserburgh three points behind in third, having won their last ten games. However, Buckie Thistle were not eligible for the pyramid play-off as they did not hold a bronze-level club licence.

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

All grounds are equipped with floodlights as required by league regulations.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Seats |
| Banks o' Dee | Aberdeen | Spain Park | 876 | 122 |
| Brechin City | Brechin | Glebe Park | 4,083 | 1,519 |
| Brora Rangers | Brora | Dudgeon Park | 2,000 | 250 |
| Buckie Thistle | Buckie | Victoria Park | 3,000 | 400 |
| Clachnacuddin | Inverness | Grant Street Park | 2,074 | 154 |
| Deveronvale | Banff | Princess Royal Park | 2,651 | 360 |
| Formartine United | Pitmedden | North Lodge Park | 1,800 | 300 |
| Forres Mechanics | Forres | Mosset Park | 2,700 | 502 |
| Fraserburgh | Fraserburgh | Bellslea Park | 1,865 | 480 |
| Huntly | Huntly | Christie Park | 2,200 | 270 |
| Inverurie Loco Works | Inverurie | Harlaw Park | 2,500 | 250 |
| Keith | Keith | Kynoch Park | 2,362 | 370 |
| Lossiemouth | Lossiemouth | Grant Park | 2,050 | 250 |
| Nairn County | Nairn | Station Park | 2,250 | 250 |
| Rothes | Rothes | Mackessack Park | 1,731 | 167 |
| Strathspey Thistle | Grantown-on-Spey | Seafield Park | 1,600 | 150 |
| Turriff United | Turriff | The Haughs | 2,135 | 135 |
| Wick Academy | Wick | Harmsworth Park | 2,412 | 300 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Buckie Thistle (C) | 34 | 26 | 3 | 5 | 98 | 34 | +64 | 81 | Ineligible for the Pyramid play-off |
| 2 | Brechin City | 34 | 26 | 3 | 5 | 90 | 28 | +62 | 81 | |
| 3 | Fraserburgh | 34 | 25 | 3 | 6 | 102 | 37 | +65 | 78 | |
| 4 | Banks o' Dee | 34 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 87 | 33 | +54 | 72 | |
| 5 | Formartine United | 34 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 87 | 43 | +44 | 72 | |
| 6 | Brora Rangers | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 64 | 46 | +18 | 59 | |
| 7 | Huntly | 34 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 81 | 61 | +20 | 54 | |
| 8 | Nairn County | 34 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 59 | 58 | +1 | 53 | |
| 9 | Turriff United | 34 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 75 | 63 | +12 | 48 | |
| 10 | Inverurie Loco Works | 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 52 | 58 | −6 | 44 | |
| 11 | Rothes | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 47 | 71 | −24 | 37 | |
| 12 | Wick Academy | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 49 | 70 | −21 | 36 | |
| 13 | Keith | 34 | 9 | 6 | 19 | 35 | 61 | −26 | 33 | |
| 14 | Forres Mechanics | 34 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 37 | 64 | −27 | 30 | |
| 15 | Lossiemouth | 34 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 36 | 66 | −30 | 29 | |
| 16 | Deveronvale | 34 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 43 | 91 | −48 | 25 | |
| 17 | Clachnacuddin | 34 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 47 | 89 | −42 | 23 | |
| 18 | Strathspey Thistle | 34 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 35 | 151 | −116 | 10 | |

## Results

| Home \ Away | BAN | BRE | BRO | BUC | CLA | DEV | FOU | FOM | FRA | HUN | INV | KEI | LOS | NAI | RTH | STR | TUR | WIC |
| Banks o' Dee | | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 |
| Brechin City | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 2–3 | 6–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 6–1 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 5–1 | 3–1 |
| Brora Rangers | 1–2 | 1–2 | | 1–5 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 |
| Buckie Thistle | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 2–3 | 6–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 6–1 | 4–0 | 5–2 |
| Clachnacuddin | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | | 2–2 | 0–5 | 1–4 | 2–6 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–4 | 1–5 | 8–0 |
| Deveronvale | 3–3 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Formartine United | 1–4 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 6–2 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 6–1 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 3–1 |
| Forres Mechanics | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–8 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Fraserburgh | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 6–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 11–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Huntly | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 8–0 | 5–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 7–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 |
| Inverurie Loco Works | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–7 | 2–3 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 1–4 | 3–1 |
| Keith | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| Lossiemouth | 1–6 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 1–4 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Nairn County | 3–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 5–1 | | 0–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Rothes | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | | 8–2 | 1–3 | 3–0 |
| Strathspey Thistle | 0–6 | 1–6 | 1–10 | 0–7 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 2–4 | | 1–8 | 1–6 |
| Turriff United | 0–4 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 7–1 | | 3–1 |
| Wick Academy | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–5 | |
* ↑ Match played at King George V Park, Golspie.
* ↑ Match played at King George V Park, Golspie, due to an unplayable pitch at Dudgeon Park.
* ↑ Match played at King George V Park, Golspie, due to an unplayable pitch at Dudgeon Park.
* ↑ Match played at King George V Park, Golspie.
* ↑ Match played at King George V Park, Golspie.
* ↑ Match played at King George V Park, Golspie.
* ↑ Match played at Grant Park, Lossiemouth, due to an unplayable pitch at Victoria Park.
* ↑ Match played at Grant Park, Lossiemouth.
* ↑ Match played at Princess Royal Park, Banff.

## Highland League play-off

Subject to the tier 6 champion clubs meeting the required licensing criteria for promotion, a play-off was scheduled to take place between the winners of the 2023–24 Midlands Football League, 2023–24 North Caledonian Football League and the 2023–24 North Region Junior Football League, with the winners then playing Strathspey Thistle, who finished bottom of the Highland League. However, none of the tier 6 champions had the required SFA licence and as such there was no promotion to, or relegation from, the Highland League.