Lowland Football League


The Scottish Lowland Football League is a football league operating in central and southern Scotland. 17 teams currently compete in the league with teams drawn from the Lowlands area of Scotland.
The Lowland League is the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid, on a par with the Highland League and above the three Lowlands-based regional leagues at tier six. As a creation of the Scottish Football Association, the Lowland League is a full member of the same organisation.

Format

Teams play each other twice in the league, receiving three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned Lowland League champions. If points are equal, goal difference, and then goals scored determines the champion. If this still does not result in a winner, the tied teams must take part in a championship play-off match at a neutral venue to determine the final placings.

Promotion and relegation

Since 2014–15, promotion to the Scottish Professional Football League is via an annual play-off, beginning with the Lowland League champions facing the champions of the Highland Football League over two legs. There is no away goals rule so if scores are equal on aggregate after full-time in the second leg, the game will go to extra time, and then penalties if required. The winners will then face a play-off against the bottom club in League Two with the same rules applying. If the League Two clubs loses the play-off final, they are relegated to the Lowland League if they are south of 56.4513N latitude.
Promotion to the Lowland League is via a three match round robin play-off between the winners of the East of Scotland Football League, South of Scotland Football League, and West of Scotland Football League, subject to their respective champions meeting league membership criteria. If two clubs meet the criteria they will face each other home and away, if only one club meets the criteria they will be promoted without a play-off, however if no club meets the criteria there will be no promotion to the Lowland League.
Based on the number of clubs remaining after the results of promotion to and from the league are known, the bottom and possibly second-bottom placed clubs will be relegated to the East of Scotland Football League, South of Scotland Football League, or West of Scotland Football League depending on their geographical location.

Scottish Cup

All Lowland League clubs are full members of the Scottish Football Association and qualify automatically for the first round of the Scottish Cup. The league champions and the runner-up receive a bye into the cup's second round.
The furthest a Lowland League team has reached in the Scottish Cup is the fifth round ; Spartans in 2014–15, East Kilbride in 2015-16 and BSC Glasgow in 2019-20.

History

The Lowland Football League was intended on helping institute a football pyramid including promotion and relegation from Scottish football's national divisions down to its junior and amateur levels by the Scottish Football Association.

Formation

The Lowland League was founded by a unanimous vote of members of the Scottish Football Association on 11 June 2013, The league would be composed of teams drawn from the East of Scotland, South of Scotland, and junior leagues, who met on 17 June 2013 to elect between them the founder-members of the new league.
While most clubs were invited to submit bids to join, Preston Athletic, The Spartans and Threave Rovers were offered automatic entry as they were already fully licensed by the SFA. While 27 clubs had registered their interest, the Lowland League received 17 applications to join. After the meeting on 17 June, it was announced there would be 12 teams in the league, and that they would be: Dalbeattie Star, East Kilbride, Edinburgh City, Gala Fairydean Rovers, Gretna 2008, Preston Athletic, Selkirk, The Spartans, Threave Rovers, University of Stirling, Vale of Leithen, and Whitehill Welfare.

Expansion

Subsequent seasons saw the number of participating clubs increase. Two clubs, Edinburgh University and BSC Glasgow, were admitted to the league for the 2014-15 season. They were joined the following season by Cumbernauld Colts. Civil Service Strollers and Hawick Royal Albert joined in June 2016, making it a 16-team league.

Pyramid

The end of the 2015–16 season was the first time that founding members would leave the league; Edinburgh City became the first club to be promoted to the SPFL, while Threave Rovers declined the opportunity to re-apply to the league after finishing bottom and rejoined the South of Scotland Football League. The same season also saw East Stirlingshire become the first club relegated into the league from Scottish League Two.
Another founding member would leave the league at the end of the 2016-17 season as Preston Athletic were relegated to the East of Scotland League. They were replaced by Edusport Academy who became the first club to gain promotion from the South of Scotland League.
In 2017–18 the first promotion play-off took place between the champions of the East of Scotland and South of Scotland leagues, with former SJFA East Region club Kelty Hearts winning 10–0 on aggregate over Threave Rovers to gain promotion.

Decline of Selkirk

During the 2018–19 season Selkirk resigned their membership in the league owing to insurmountable difficulties. It was agreed by the Lowland League board that all fixtures played by and to be played by Selkirk in 2018–19 would be expunged from the record along with any other data involving Selkirk for that season. The Lowland League moved forward with 15 clubs, however Whitehill Welfare, who finished bottom in the season's competition, were still relegated to the East of Scotland League. East of Scotland champions Bonnyrigg Rose were promoted to the league after gaining their SFA membership. Berwick Rangers became the second club to be relegated into the league from the SPFL, having lost the League Two play-off against Cove Rangers.

Recent history

At the start of the 2019–20 season Edusport Academy rebranded the club as the Caledonian Braves following a vote online by members of the Our Football Club.com project. The 2019–20 league season was suspended on 13 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A month later, the competition was ended with immediate effect with Kelty Hearts being declared champions on a points per game average based on the current standings. Vale of Leithen who were bottom of the league were also spared relegation.
On 14 April 2020, the Lowland League announced it had approved 67 applications to join the new West of Scotland Football League, which included all 63 clubs from the Scottish Junior Football Association's West Region, and four others. Bonnyton Thistle already a member of the South of Scotland League decided to move due to being based in Kilmarnock. The West of Scotland League will act as a feeder league on the same tier as the East of Scotland Football League and South of Scotland Football League.
The league will consist of 17 teams for the 2020-21 season with.East of Scotland champions Bo'ness United being promoted after gaining their SFA membership in June 2020.

Member clubs

TeamLocationStadiumCapacitySeats
Berwick RangersBerwick-upon-TweedShielfield Park4,0991,366
Bo'ness United Bo'nessNewtown Park2,5000
Bonnyrigg Rose AthleticBonnyriggNew Dundas Park2,2000
BSC GlasgowAlloaRecreation Park3,100919
Caledonian BravesMotherwellAlliance Park500100
Civil Service StrollersEdinburghChristie Gillies Park1,569100
Cumbernauld ColtsCumbernauldBroadwood Stadium8,0868,086
Dalbeattie StarDalbeattieIslecroft Stadium1,320100
East KilbrideEast KilbrideK Park660400
East StirlingshireFalkirkFalkirk Stadium7,9377,937
Edinburgh UniversityEdinburghEast Peffermill Stadium1,100100
Gala Fairydean RoversGalashiels3G Arena, Netherdale2,000500
Gretna 2008GretnaRaydale Park1,030138
Kelty HeartsKeltyNew Central Park2,660353
The SpartansEdinburghAinslie Park3,612534
University of StirlingStirlingForthbank Stadium3,8082,508
Vale of LeithenInnerleithenVictoria Park1,5000

;Notes
All grounds are equipped with floodlights except Victoria Park

Former members in the SPFL

The Lowlands Development League operates for the Under 20s youth teams of clubs in the Lowland, East of Scotland, South of Scotland and West of Scotland Leagues, along with other invited clubs. Originally named the Lowland and East of Scotland Under 20 Development League when it began in 2014, this replaced an earlier Under 19 league run by the East of Scotland League. Matches are normally played on Friday nights.
The Under 20s league expanded to 31 teams for the 2019–20 season, split into two conferences, having already increased in size from 13 to 23 teams thanks to the addition of new clubs to the East of Scotland League in 2018–19. At the end of the season there will be a play-off match between the winners of each conference at a neutral venue to determine the league champions.
Edinburgh City were declared champions of Conference A and University of Stirling champions of Conference B after the 2019-20 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the 2020-21 season, there is a newly formed West Conference due to the introduction of the West of Scotland League within the Scottish football pyramid. The East Conference will consist of 30 teams and the West Conference will consist of 38. There will be two conferences in the East with a 16-14 split and three conferences in the West with a split of 14-12-12.

East Conference A

These clubs also take part in knockout cup competitions, and prior to it becoming a competition for Under 18 teams in 2018 many also competed in the annual SFA Scottish Youth Cup.

Seasons

Records

;Biggest home win: Kelty Hearts 11-0 Vale of Leithen, 14 December 2019
;Biggest away win: Hawick Royal Albert 0–10 Selkirk, 2 August 2017
;Most goals in a game: The Spartans 11–2 Selkirk, 7 December 2013
;Most points in a season: 75; East Kilbride, 2016-17
;Fewest points in a season: 5; Selkirk, 2013-14
;Longest unbeaten run in a season: 21; Kelty Hearts, 2019–20
;Most wins in a season: 24; Edinburgh City, 2015-16 and East Kilbride, 2016-17
;Fewest wins in a season: 1; Hawick Royal Albert, 2017-18
;Most draws in a season: 10; University of Stirling, 2018-19
;Most defeats in a season: 26; Hawick Royal Albert, 2017-18
;Fewest defeats in a season:1; Edinburgh City, 2014-15 and Kelty Hearts, 2019-20
;Most goals scored in a season: 107; East Stirlingshire, 2016-17
;Fewest goals scored in a season: 11; Hawick Royal Albert, 2017-18
;Most goals conceded in a season: 108; Hawick Royal Albert, 2017-18
;Fewest goals conceded in a season: 12; East Kilbride, 2018-19
;Highest attendance: 1,510; Kelty Hearts 3–2 Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, 29 February 2020
;Notes

Lowland League Cup

This 16 team straight knock-out tournament takes place over four weekends at the end of the league season. The league champion has the right to withdraw from the competition to concentrate on the Scottish League Two play-offs.

Sponsorship

On 24 September 2013, the Scottish Sun newspaper announced it was sponsoring the league. The league was then sponsored by Ferrari Packaging on a two-year agreement, which was extended to cover the 2017–18 season. In August 2018, GeoSonic, the Alloa-based sonic drilling contractor, concluded a one-year deal to become the new title sponsor of the Scottish Lowland Football League for the 2018-19 season.

Media coverage

The league has its own podcast known as The Lowland League Catchup. As well as weekly previews to games, and reviews known as the Roundup.
On 19 September 2018, the SLFL agreed a comprehensive media partnership with RockSport Radio but this has since ended.