2018–19 Lowland Football League

The 2018–19 Scottish Lowland Football League (known as the Geosonic Lowland League for sponsorship reasons) was the 6th season of the Lowland Football League, the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 28 July 2018 and ended on 20 April 2019. The Spartans were the defending champions.

Lowland League
Season2018–19
Dates27 July 2018 – 20 April 2019
ChampionsEast Kilbride
RelegatedWhitehill Welfare
Matches played210
Goals scored714 (3.4 per match)
Top goalscorerCraig Malcolm (East Kilbride)
(25 goals)
Biggest home winThe Spartans 6–0 Vale of Leithen
(7 December 2018)
Gala Fairydean Rovers 6–0 Vale of Leithen
(29 December 2018)
Biggest away winWhitehill Welfare 0–6 Kelty Hearts
(31 July 2018)
Gretna 2008 0–6 Civil Service Strollers
(8 December 2018)
Vale of Leithen 0–6 Edinburgh University
(13 April 2019)
Highest scoringVale of Leithen 5–4 Edusport Academy
(5 January 2019)
Longest winning run14 matches:
East Kilbride
Longest unbeaten run19 matches:
BSC Glasgow
Longest winless run20 matches:
Whitehill Welfare
Longest losing run6 matches:
Whitehill Welfare

East of Scotland League champions Kelty Hearts joined the league after becoming the first club to gain promotion via the Lowland League play-off, thanks to their win against South of Scotland League winners Threave Rovers at the end of the previous season.

Selkirk resigned at the end of August after fulfilling three league games, reducing the number of clubs to 15. Their league defeats to East Kilbride (10–0), Civil Service Strollers (0–5) and Gretna 2008 (0–8) were expunged.[1]

East Kilbride won their second league title on 26 March 2019 thanks to a 2–1 win over The Spartans at K-Park, with three matches still to play. They faced the winners of the 2018–19 Highland Football League (Cove Rangers) in the Pyramid play-off, losing 5-1 on aggregate.

Teams
Location of teams in 2018–19 Scottish Lowland Football League

The following teams have changed division since the 2017–18 season.

To Lowland League

Promoted from East of Scotland League

From Lowland League

Relegated to East of Scotland League

Stadia and locations
Team Location Stadium Capacity Seats Floodlit
BSC Glasgow Alloa Recreation Park[2] 3,100 919 Yes
Civil Service Strollers Edinburgh Christie Gillies Park 1,569 100 No
Cumbernauld Colts Cumbernauld Broadwood Stadium 7,936 7,936 Yes
Dalbeattie Star Dalbeattie Islecroft Stadium 4,000 250 Yes
East Kilbride East Kilbride K Park 660 400 Yes
East Stirlingshire Falkirk Falkirk Stadium[3] 7,937 7,937 Yes
Edinburgh University Edinburgh New Peffermill Stadium 1,100 100 Yes
Edusport Academy Annan Galabank[4] 2,504 500 Yes
Gala Fairydean Rovers Galashiels 3G Arena, Netherdale 5,500 495 Yes
Gretna 2008 Gretna Raydale Park 3,000 1,318 Yes
Kelty Hearts Kelty New Central Park 3,000 350 Yes
Selkirk Selkirk Yarrow Park 1,000 100 No
The Spartans Edinburgh Ainslie Park 3,000 504 Yes
Stirling University Stirling Forthbank Stadium[5] 3,808 2,508 Yes
Vale of Leithen Innerleithen Victoria Park 1,500 0 No
Whitehill Welfare Rosewell Ferguson Park 4,000 150 No

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 East Kilbride (C) 28 23 3 2 66 12 +54 72 Qualification for the Pyramid play-off
2 BSC Glasgow 28 18 7 3 67 29 +38 61
3 Kelty Hearts 28 16 6 6 61 32 +29 54
4 The Spartans 28 14 9 5 63 31 +32 51
5 Civil Service Strollers 28 15 4 9 51 38 +13 49
6 East Stirlingshire 28 11 6 11 57 47 +10 39
7 Cumbernauld Colts 28 11 6 11 40 47 −7 39
8 Gala Fairydean Rovers 28 10 4 14 43 48 −5 34
9 Edusport Academy 28 9 6 13 43 52 −9 33
10 Stirling University 28 7 10 11 43 50 −7 31
11 Edinburgh University 28 7 9 12 38 54 −16 30
12 Gretna 2008 28 9 2 17 42 67 −25 29
13 Vale of Leithen 28 8 5 15 43 74 −31 29
14 Dalbeattie Star 28 5 7 16 33 63 −30 22
15 Whitehill Welfare (R) 28 2 6 20 24 70 −46 12 Relegation to East of Scotland League
16 Selkirk[lower-alpha 1] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Club resigned, record expunged
Source: SLFL BBC Sport Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. After failing to fulfil three fixtures, Selkirk resigned from the league on 28 August 2018 due to insurmountable difficulties.[6] Selkirk's record was expunged following a meeting of the Lowland League board on 3 September 2018.[7]

Results
Home \ Away BSC CSS CUM DBS EKB EST EDU EDA GFR G08 KEL SEL SPA SLU VOL WHW
BSC Glasgow 1–1 2–2 4–1 0–3 2–0 5–0 2–2 1–0 3–0 2–3 3–2 6–1 4–0 5–0
Civil Service Strollers 1–2 1–0 1–0 3–1 3–4 5–0 1–0 2–2 2–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–0 3–1
Cumbernauld Colts 1–2 3–0 3–0 0–3 3–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–4 3–2 0–2 1–0 2–1 2–0
Dalbeattie Star 2–1 3–4 0–1 1–3 2–2 2–3 1–2 4–2 2–1 2–1 2–2 0–0 1–1 1–1
East Kilbride 1–2 2–1 0–0 3–0 2–0 3–0 2–0 3–0 5–0 4–0 2–1 2–0 5–1 3–1
East Stirlingshire 1–1 3–4 3–1 2–0 0–2 1–2 1–2 0–3 2–0 3–3 1–1 2–2 2–3 4–0
Edinburgh University 2–2 1–3 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–2 0–1 3–2 1–3 1–1 1–5 4–3 0–1
Edusport Academy 2–2 2–0 2–3 4–0 0–1 1–3 2–2 1–2 1–5 0–1 0–5 2–4 2–0 4–1
Gala Fairydean Rovers 1–3 0–2 1–2 3–2 0–2 2–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 3–1 3–1 6–0 3–1
Gretna 2008 0–0 0–6 1–3 5–2 0–2 1–2 0–3 2–1 2–4 1–3 0–4 1–1 4–1 2–1
Kelty Hearts 0–3 4–0 1–0 2–2 0–3 2–0 2–2 5–0 2–0 4–0 1–1 2–2 0–0 6–1
Selkirk
The Spartans 0–1 1–1 6–2 4–0 0–0 4–3 3–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 2–2 6–0 1–0
Stirling University 2–3 2–0 1–1 2–2 1–4 0–6 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–2 0–1 4–2 2–2 2–0
Vale of Leithen 0–3 1–4 5–0 3–0 0–1 0–3 0–6 5–4 4–2 6–1 0–4 1–4 1–0 2–2
Whitehill Welfare 1–2 1–2 2–2 3–0 0–3 0–3 2–2 0–1 1–1 2–4 0–6 1–1 0–3 2–3
Updated to match(es) played on 20 April 2019. Source: SLFL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Lowland League play-off

A play-off was due to take place between the winners of the 2018–19 East of Scotland Football League and the 2018–19 South of Scotland Football League. However South of Scotland League champions Stranraer reserves were ineligible for promotion due to being a reserve team.

Initially, the winners of the East of Scotland League (Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic) did not meet the required licensing criteria for promotion at the end of the season. However they were eventually awarded their SFA licence on 14 June 2019[8] and were confirmed as promoted to the 2019–20 Lowland Football League on the same day.[9]

References
  1. "Selkirk's Resignation: What Happens Next?". Scottish Lowland Football League. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  2. BSC Glasgow are ground-sharing at Alloa Athletic's Recreation Park due to the lack of a suitable venue in Glasgow.
  3. East Stirlingshire are ground-sharing with Falkirk at the Falkirk Stadium for the duration of the 2018–19 season.
  4. Edusport Academy are ground-sharing with Annan Athletic.
  5. Stirling University are ground-sharing with Stirling Albion.
  6. "Selkirk FC Resign from Scottish Lowland League". Scottish Lowland Football League. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  7. "Selkirk's Resignation: What Happens Next?". Scottish Lowland Football League. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  8. "CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT - Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic granted SFA membership - News - Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic - Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic FC". www.bonnyriggrosefc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  9. "Statement - Promotion and Relegation". Scottish Lowland League. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
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