Lowland Football League

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Lowland League
200px
Country Scotland
Confederation UEFA
Founded 2013
Number of teams 15
Level on pyramid 5
Promotion to Scottish League Two
Relegation to East of Scotland Football League
South of Scotland Football League
Domestic cup(s) Scottish Cup
SFA South Regional Challenge Cup
League cup(s) Lowland League Cup
Current champions Edinburgh City
Most championships Edinburgh City (2 titles)
Website slfl.co.uk
Current season

The Scottish Lowland Football League (commonly known as the Lowland League) is a football league operating in southern and central Scotland. 15 teams currently compete in the league with teams drawn from the Scottish Lowlands area of Scotland. Since 2015 it has been known as the Ferrari Packaging Lowland League for sponsorship reasons.

Starting with the 2014–15 season, promotion to the Scottish Professional Football League is via an annual play-off with the champions of the Highland Football League, the winners playing-off with the bottom club in League Two.[1] Additionally, the bottom placed club will face relegation to the 2015–16 East of Scotland Football League or South of Scotland Football League depending on their geographical location. Consequently, it now stands at a new Level 5 on the Scottish football pyramid, on a par with the Highland League and above the Lowlands-based regional leagues.

As a creation of the Scottish Football Association, the Lowland League is a full member of the same organisation.

History

The Lowland League was founded by a unanimous vote of members of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) on 11 June 2013,[1] who had for some time intended on instituting a football pyramid including promotion and relegation from Scottish football's senior divisions down to its junior and amateur levels.[2] The league would be composed of teams drawn from the South of Scotland, East of Scotland and junior leagues, who met on 17 June 2013 to elect between them the founder-members of the new league.[3]

While most clubs were invited to submit bids to join, Preston Athletic, Spartans and Threave Rovers were offered automatic entry as they were already fully licensed by the SFA.[3] While 27 clubs had registered their interest, the Lowland League received 17 applications to join.[4] 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, Spartans, Stirling University, Threave Rovers, Vale of Leithen & Whitehill Welfare.[5]

Two clubs, Edinburgh University and BSC Glasgow, were admitted to the league for the 2014–15 season.[6] They were joined the following season by Cumbernauld Colts.[7]

Member clubs

Location of teams in 2016–17 Scottish Lowland Football League
Team Location Stadium Capacity Seats Floodlit
BSC Glasgow Glasgow Lochburn Park 1,800 205 Yes
Cumbernauld Colts Cumbernauld Broadwood Stadium 7,936 7,936 Yes
Dalbeattie Star Dalbeattie Islecroft Stadium 4,000 250 No
East Kilbride East Kilbride K Park 660 400 Yes
East Stirlingshire Falkirk Ochilview Park 3,746 626 Yes
Edinburgh University Edinburgh New Peffermill Stadium 1,100 100 Yes
Gala Fairydean Rovers Galashiels 3G Arena, Netherdale 5,500 495 Yes
Gretna 2008 Gretna Raydale Park 3,000 1,318 Yes
Preston Athletic Prestonpans Pennypit Park 4,000 313 Yes
Selkirk Selkirk Yarrow Park 1,000 100 to be
Spartans Edinburgh Ainslie Park 3,000 504 Yes
Stirling University Stirling Forthbank Stadium 3,808 2,508 Yes
Threave Rovers Castle Douglas Meadow Park 1,671 200 Yes
Vale of Leithen Innerleithen Victoria Park 1,500 0 No
Whitehill Welfare Rosewell Ferguson Park 4,000 150 No

Champions

Season Winner Runner-up
2013–14 Spartans Stirling University
2014–15 Edinburgh City East Kilbride
2015–16 Edinburgh City* Spartans
* Team promoted to Scottish League Two.

Lowland League Cup

Season Winner Score Runners–up
2013–14 Stirling University 5–2 Preston Athletic *
2014–15 East Kilbride 3–1[8] Gretna 2008
2015–16 East Kilbride 0-0 Pens 4-2 Gretna 2008 *

Sponsorship

On 24 September 2013, the Scottish Sun newspaper was revealed to be the first sponsor of the league.[9] Since 2015, the league has been sponsored by Ferrari Packaging on a two-year agreement.[10]

References

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External links

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  8. ↑ http://gretnafc2008.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/gretna-fc-2008-1-east-kilbride-3.html?spref=tw
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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