Highland Football League

The Highland Football League (HFL) is a league of football clubs operating not just in the Scottish highlands, as the name may suggest, but also in the north-east lowlands (Moray and Aberdeenshire). It is one of the three 'senior' non-leagues (that is a league that is not the Scottish Football League (SFL), Scottish Premier League or one of the Scottish Junior Football Association's leagues) in Scotland. The HFL is a full member of the Scottish Football Association.

 History 
 Formation 
The HFL was formed on 4 August 1893, at the Inverness Workman's Club. The original league consisted of seven teams: Inverness Thistle, Caledonian, Clachnacuddin, Forres Mechanics, Inverness Union, Inverness Citadel and Cameron Highlanders. Ross County were an eighth original member, but resigned membership in November 1893. Of the original teams, two are still playing in the league today (Clachnacuddin and Forres Mechanics), and two merged to become current Scottish Premier League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

 Recent History 
Many of the member clubs have performed well when competing against SFL clubs in the Scottish Cup. However, from the 1990s onwards, the HFL has been a victim of its own success, with various teams defecting to other leagues. Furthermore it has also had to contend with overexposure of large teams in the area, such as Aberdeen and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, as well as the Old Firm to the South, and to an extent English football. However, the lack of Premier League, and to a lesser extent First Division, teams in the area, has worked in its favour, with some football fans being less willing to travel long distances to games in southern Scotland.

The league has been somewhat weakened in recent years by the departure of many former members who have subsequently joined the SFL. This happened in 1994 when Caledonian, Inverness Thistle and Ross County left. Until then the HFL had operated with 18 clubs; this was reduced by the departure of the three mentioned clubs, but Wick Academy from the North Caledonian Football League were elected, to create a league of 16 clubs. This was the state of affairs till 2000 when Elgin City and Peterhead were elected into the SFL. In 2002 Inverurie Loco Works were elected into the HFL to give it a membership of 15 clubs, with which it continues to operate.

In 2008, North Region Junior League sides Formartine United and Turriff United both submitted bids to join the Highland League, following in the footsteps of past Junior League side Inverurie Locos. If both teams were to join, the Highland League would have a total of 17 teams. An even team league is preferred, so only one club's application was likely to be successful. Whichever team is successful in their application was planned to join in the 2009–10 season. However Banks O' Dee and Strathspey Thistle also applied, giving the potential for an 18 team Highland league in 2009-10 if three of these four clubs were elected.
On February 25 2009, Formartine United, Turriff United and Strathspey Thistle were accepted into the league for the following season, with Banks O' Dee being the unsuccessful club.

Results from the HFL and the Highland League Cup have featured on the Press Association vidiprinter since the start of the 1997–98 season.

The Highland League is the subject of a song of the same name by the popular music ensemble I, Ludicrous.

Member clubs
Current clubs
 Team Location Stadium Capacity Seats  Aberdeen Spain Park 876 122 Brechin City   4,083 1,519   Dudgeon Park 2,000 250    3,000 400  Inverness Grant Street Park 2,074 154    2,651 360   North Lodge Park 1,800 300  Forres  2,700 502  Fraserburgh  1,865 480  Huntly, Scotland  2,200 270  Inverurie Harlaw Park 2,500 250    2,362 370   Grant Park 2,050 250  Nairn Station Park 2,250 250   Mackessack Park 1,731 167   Seafield Park 1,600 150  Turriff The Haughs 2,135 135  Wick  2,412 300

 Former Members 
 Team Last season in the Highland League Cove Rangers  Elgin City  Inverness Caledonian ThistleInverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. were formed by the merger of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle  Peterhead  Ross County 

 Winners 
 Season Winner Runner-up 1893–94 Inverness Thistle Caledonian 1894–95 Clachnacuddin Inverness Thistle 1895–96 Caledonianwon after a play-off Inverness Thistle 1896–97 Clachnacuddin Caledonian 1897–98 Clachnacuddin Caledonian 1898–99 Caledonian Clachnacuddin 1899–1900 Caledonian Clachnacuddin 1900–01 Clachnacuddin Caledonian 1901–02 Caledonian  Inverness Thistle  1902–03 Clachnacuddin  Inverness Thistle  1903–04 Clachnacuddin  Inverness Citadel   1904–05 ClachnacuddinClachnacuddin were awarded the Championship after Black Watch refused to play-off due to the referee that the League appointed Black Watch 1905–06 Clachnacuddin Caledonian 1906–07 Inverness Thistle Caledonian 1907–08 Clachnacuddin  Highland Light Infantry 1908–09 Inverness Citadel Clachnacuddin 1909–10 Inverness Thistle Elgin City 1910–11 Caledonian Buckie Thistle 1911–12 Clachnacuddin Caledonian 1912–13 Aberdeen A Buckie Thistle 1913–14 Caledonian Aberdeen A 1914–15 unfinishedClachnacuddin had most points 1919–20 Buckie Thistle Clachnacuddin 1920–21 Clachnacuddin Inverness Thistle 1921–22 Clachnacuddin  Buckie Thistle  1922–23 Clachnacuddin  Elgin City 1923–24 Clachnacuddin   Buckie Thistle  1924–25 Aberdeen A Caledonian 1925–26 Caledonian  Inverness Thistle  1926–27 Buckie Thistle  Clachnacuddin  1927–28 Buckie Thistle  Clachnacuddin 1928–29 Inverness Thistle Elgin City 1929–30 Huntly Elgin City 1930–31 Caledonian  Buckie Thistle 1931–32 Elgin City Keith 1932–33 Fraserburgh Elgin City 1933–34 Buckie Thistle Forres Mechanics 1934–35 Elgin City Huntly 1935–36 Inverness Thistle Peterhead 1936–37 Buckie Thistle Peterhead 1937–38 Fraserburgh Clachnacuddin 1938–39 Clachnacuddin  Buckie Thistle 1939–40 unfinishedKeith had most points 1946–47 Peterhead Huntly 1947–48 Clachnacuddin Peterhead 1948–49 Peterhead Clachnacuddin 1949–50 Peterhead Caledonian 1950–51 Caledonian  Buckie Thistle  1951–52 Caledonian  Huntly  1952–53 Elgin City Buckie Thistle  1953–54 Buckie Thistle Elgin City 1954–55 unfinishedFraserburgh and Clachnacuddin were equal on points 1955–56 Elgin City Buckie Thistle  1956–57 Buckie Thistle Caledonian 1957–58 Buckie Thistle Elgin City 1958–59 Rothes Fraserburgh 1959–60 Elgin City Caledonian 1960–61 Elgin City Keith 1961–62 Keith Elgin City 1962–63 Elgin City Caledonian 1963–64 Caledonian Nairn County 1964–65 Elgin City Nairn County 1965–66 Elgin City Caledonian 1966–67 Ross County Elgin City 1967–68 Elgin City Ross County 1968–69 Elgin City Inverness Thistle 1969–70 Elgin City Caledonian 1970–71 Caledonian Inverness Thistle 1971–72 Inverness Thistle Elgin City 1972–73 Inverness Thistle Ross County 1973–74 Elgin City Inverness Thistle 1974–75 Clachnacuddin Keith 1975–76 Nairn County Fraserburgh 1976–77 Caledonian Peterhead 1977–78 Caledonian Peterhead 1978–79 Keith Caledonian 1979–80 Keith Brora Rangers 1980–81 Keith Fraserburgh 1981–82 Caledonian Peterhead 1982–83 Caledonian Elgin City 1983–84 Caledonian Keith 1984–85 Keith Caledonian 1985–86 Forres Mechanics Elgin City 1986–87 Inverness Thistle Caledonian 1987–88 Caledonian  Buckie Thistle 1988–89 Peterhead Cove Rangers 1989–90 Elgin City Caledonian  1990–91 Ross County Caledonian 1991–92 Ross County Caledonian 1992–93 withheldElgin City won the league, but were found to have dishonestly requested the bringing forward of their final match in order to avoid two players being unavailable through suspension 1993–94 Huntly Caledonian 1994–95 Huntly Cove Rangers 1995–96 Huntly Cove Rangers 1996–97 Huntly Keith 1997–98 Huntly Fraserburgh 1998–99 Peterhead Huntly 1999–2000 Keith Fraserburgh 2000–01 Cove Rangers Huntly 2001–02 Fraserburgh Deveronvale 2002–03 Deveronvale Keith 2003–04 Clachnacuddin Buckie Thistle 2004–05 Huntly Inverurie Loco Works 2005–06 Deveronvale Inverurie Loco Works 2006–07 Keith Inverurie Loco Works 2007–08 Cove Rangers Keith 2008–09 Cove Rangers Deveronvale 2009–10 Buckie Thistle Cove Rangers 2010–11 Buckie Thistle Deveronvale 2011–12 Forres Mechanics Cove Rangers 2012–13 Cove Rangers Formartine United 2013–14 Brora Rangers Inverurie Loco Works 2014–15 Brora Rangers Turriff United 2015–16 Cove Rangers Formartine United 2016–17 Buckie Thistle Cove Rangers 2017–18 Cove Rangers Formartine United 2018–19 Cove Rangers* Brora Rangers 2019–20 Brora Rangers Fraserburgh  Brora Rangers Fraserburgh  Fraserburgh Buckie Thistle  Brechin City Buckie Thistle  Buckie Thistle Brechin City  Brora Rangers Brechin City   
* Team promoted to Scottish League Two

Performance by club
Clubs that are no longer active are shown in italics. 
 Club Winners Last win Caledonian   Clachnacuddin   Elgin City   Buckie Thistle   Inverness Thistle   Keith   Cove Rangers   Huntly   Peterhead   Brora Rangers   Fraserburgh   Ross County   Deveronvale   Aberdeen A  1924–25 Forres Mechanics   Brechin City   Nairn County  1975–76 Inverness Citadel  1908–09 Rothes  1958–59

 Linked Competitions 
The HFL also administer several other competitions contested by some or all of the clubs. These competitions are:
 Highland League Cup
 North of Scotland Cup
 Inverness Cup
 Aberdeenshire Shield

 Notes 

 References 

 Other websites 
 Official Site
 League Champions and membership 
 Final Tables 1893–2007 
 Semi-official HFL news
 Highland league members 10 year records and general information 

Category:Football in Scotland