2021–22_Highland_Football_League
2021–22 Highland Football League
Football league season
The 2021–22 Highland Football League (known as the Breedon Highland League for sponsorship reasons) was the 119th season of the Highland Football League, and the 8th season as part of the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. Brora Rangers were the reigning champions.
| Season | 2021–22 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 24 July 2021 – 23 April 2022 |
| Champions | Fraserburgh |
| Relegated | Fort William |
| Matches played | 306 |
| Goals scored | 1,223 (4 per match) |
| Biggest home win | Fraserburgh 12–0 Fort William (11 December 2021) |
| Biggest away win | Fort William 0–8 Brora Rangers (21 August 2021) Forres Mechanics 0–8 Brora Rangers (9 March 2022) |
| Highest scoring | Fort William 3–10 Inverurie Loco Works (11 September 2021) |
| Longest winning run | 23 matches: Buckie Thistle |
| Longest unbeaten run | 25 matches: Buckie Thistle |
| Longest winless run | 31 matches: Fort William |
| Longest losing run | 10 matches: Fort William & Turriff United |
← 2020–21 2022–23 → | |
The title was decided during the final round of fixtures with Fraserburgh taking their first league title in twenty seasons thanks to a 5–0 victory over Forres Mechanics. They won the title by three points ahead of Buckie Thistle, who recorded a run of 23 consecutive victories during the campaign, a Highland League record.[1]
Fraserburgh played the winners of the 2021–22 Lowland Football League (Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic) in the Pyramid play-off, losing 3–2 on aggregate.
To Highland League
Relegated from League Two
Stadia and locations
All grounds are equipped with floodlights as required by league regulations.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brechin City | Brechin | Glebe Park | 4,083 | 1,519 |
| Brora Rangers | Brora | Dudgeon Park | 4,000 | 200 |
| Buckie Thistle | Buckie | Victoria Park | 5,000 | 400 |
| Clachnacuddin | Inverness | Grant Street Park | 2,074 | 154 |
| Deveronvale | Banff | Princess Royal Park | 2,600 | 360 |
| Formartine United | Pitmedden | North Lodge Park | 2,500 | 300 |
| Forres Mechanics | Forres | Mosset Park | 2,700 | 502 |
| Fort William | Fort William | Claggan Park[lower-alpha 1] | 4,000 | 400 |
| Fraserburgh | Fraserburgh | Bellslea Park | 3,000 | 480 |
| Huntly | Huntly | Christie Park | 2,200 | 270 |
| Inverurie Loco Works | Inverurie | Harlaw Park | 2,500 | 250 |
| Keith | Keith | Kynoch Park | 4,000 | 370 |
| Lossiemouth | Lossiemouth | Grant Park | 2,050 | 250 |
| Nairn County | Nairn | Station Park | 2,250 | 250 |
| Rothes | Rothes | Mackessack Park | 2,700 | 184 |
| 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 | 102 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fraserburgh (C) | 34 | 30 | 2 | 2 | 135 | 24 | +111 | 92 | Qualification for the Pyramid play-off |
| 2 | Buckie Thistle | 34 | 29 | 2 | 3 | 127 | 21 | +106 | 89 | |
| 3 | Brechin City | 34 | 28 | 1 | 5 | 102 | 27 | +75 | 85 | |
| 4 | Brora Rangers | 34 | 25 | 2 | 7 | 117 | 36 | +81 | 77 | |
| 5 | Rothes | 34 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 75 | 31 | +44 | 69 | |
| 6 | Formartine United | 34 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 80 | 46 | +34 | 69 | |
| 7 | Inverurie Loco Works | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 77 | 47 | +30 | 63 | |
| 8 | Nairn County | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 61 | 70 | −9 | 39 | |
| 9 | Wick Academy | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 55 | 85 | −30 | 39 | |
| 10 | Huntly | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 53 | 67 | −14 | 37 | |
| 11 | Clachnacuddin | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 51 | 80 | −29 | 37 | |
| 12 | Forres Mechanics | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 45 | 80 | −35 | 34 | |
| 13 | Keith | 34 | 10 | 4 | 20 | 36 | 88 | −52 | 34 | |
| 14 | Deveronvale | 34 | 9 | 5 | 20 | 55 | 94 | −39 | 32 | |
| 15 | Lossiemouth | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 32 | 83 | −51 | 30 | |
| 16 | Strathspey Thistle | 34 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 47 | 114 | −67 | 20 | |
| 17 | Turriff United | 34 | 4 | 6 | 24 | 41 | 96 | −55 | 18 | |
| 18 | Fort William (R) | 34 | 1 | 4 | 29 | 34 | 134 | −100 | 7 | Qualification for the Highland League play-off |
| Home \ Away | BRE | BRO | BUC | CLA | DEV | FOU | FOM | FOW[lower-alpha 1] | FRA | HUN | INV | KEI | LOS | NAI | ROT | STR | TUR | WIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brechin City | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 3–5 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 7–3 | 3–1 | 5–1 | |
| Brora Rangers | 0–2 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 7–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 8–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | |
| Buckie Thistle | 1–0 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 9–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 10–0 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | |
| Clachnacuddin | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 1–2 | 2–5 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | |
| Deveronvale | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 10–0 | 0–6 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 4–5 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 0–6 | 3–4 | |
| Formartine United | 1–0 | 4–4 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 5–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 3–2 | |
| Forres Mechanics | 0–1 | 0–8 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–7 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–7 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Fort William[lower-alpha 1] | 1–5 | 0–8 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 3–10 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | |
| Fraserburgh | 1–0 | 6–2 | 1–3 | 7–0 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 12–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 7–0 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 7–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | |
| Huntly | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–4 | |
| Inverurie Loco Works | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–5 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 5–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | |
| Keith | 0–6 | 1–7 | 0–6 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | |
| Lossiemouth | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | |
| Nairn County | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 5–3 | 2–2 | |
| Rothes | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 3–1[lower-alpha 2] | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 1–1 | |
| Strathspey Thistle | 1–3 | 1–5 | 0–6 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 7–3 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 3–3 | |
| Turriff United | 0–5 | 1–7 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–6 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 2–3 | |
| Wick Academy | 1–3 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
- Fort William played all of their league games during the 2021–22 season away from Claggan Park, due to an unplayable pitch.[2]
- Match played at Grant Park, Lossiemouth.[6]
Play-offs for the final place in the 2022–23 Highland League were planned however no matches took place. As the winners of the 2021–22 Midlands Football League (Carnoustie Panmure) and the 2021–22 North Caledonian Football League (Invergordon) were ineligible for promotion, 2021–22 North Superleague winners Banks O' Dee were put forward to play-off with Fort William, who finished bottom of the Highland Football League.[8] The day before the scheduled first leg, Fort William withdrew due to player eligibility rules. As a result, Banks O' Dee were promoted and Fort William were relegated.[9]
First leg
Second leg
| Fort William | w/o | Banks O' Dee |
|---|---|---|
- Hendry, Alan (12 April 2022). "Wick Academy aiming to 'upset the odds' against record-breaking Buckie Thistle". North of Scotland Newspapers. Scottish Provincial Press. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
- Law, Callum (25 July 2021). "Fort William to play all games away from home with Claggan Park unplayable". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen Journals. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- "Highland League Table". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- "Highland Football League, Scotland - League Table". Highland Football League. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- "Summary - Football League". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- Goodwin, Sophie (13 April 2022). "Highland League: Rothes v Inverurie Locos to be played at Lossiemouth's Grant Park". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen Journals. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
- "Highland Football League, Scotland - Fixtures and Results". Highland Football League. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- Law, Callum (6 April 2022). "Fort William vow to keep fighting ahead of Rothes clash". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen Journals. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
Finishing 18th would see them take on Junior side Banks o' Dee in the relegation play-off at the end of the campaign.
- Law, Callum (22 April 2022). "Player eligibility led to Fort William's play-off withdrawal". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen Journals. Retrieved 22 April 2022.