2022–23 Highland Football League

The 2022–23 Highland Football League (known as the Breedon Highland League for sponsorship reasons) was the 120th season of the Highland Football League, and the 9th season as part of the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. Fraserburgh were the reigning champions, but were unable to defend their title.

Breedon Highland League
Season2022–23
Dates23 July 2022 – 22 April 2023
ChampionsBrechin City
Matches played306
Goals scored1,140 (3.73 per match)
Biggest home winBrechin City 10–0 Wick Academy
(25 March 2023)
Biggest away winStrathspey Thistle 0–11 Brora Rangers
(5 October 2022)
Highest scoringStrathspey Thistle 0–11 Brora Rangers
(5 October 2022)
Longest winning run8 matches:
3 teams
Longest unbeaten run23 matches:
Brechin City
Longest winless run14 matches:
Strathspey Thistle
Longest losing run7 matches:
3 teams
All statistics correct as of 22 April 2023.

The championship title was decided in the final round of fixtures with Buckie Thistle and Brechin City facing off against each other at Victoria Park.[1] Brechin City won 2–0 – inflicting Buckie Thistle's first home league defeat since August 2019[2] – to win the league by two points.[3]

Brechin City played the winners of the 2022–23 Lowland Football League (The Spartans) in the Pyramid play-off, losing on penalties after drawing 3–3 on aggregate.

Teams
Location of teams in 2022-23 Highland Football League

Banks O' Dee joined having become the first club to be promoted into the Highland League, replacing Fort William whose 37-year stay in the division came to an end.

From Highland League

Relegated to North Caledonian League

To Highland League

Promoted from North Superleague

Stadia and locations

All grounds are equipped with floodlights as required by league regulations.

Team Location Stadium Capacity Seats
Banks O' Dee Aberdeen Spain Park 876 100
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
Fraserburgh Fraserburgh Bellslea Park 3,000 480
Forres Mechanics Forres Mosset Park 2,700 502
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

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Brechin City (C) 34 28 5 1 101 16 +85 89 Qualification for the Pyramid play-off
2 Buckie Thistle 34 28 3 3 92 26 +66 87
3 Brora Rangers 34 26 2 6 116 32 +84 80
4 Formartine United 34 23 5 6 81 31 +50 74
5 Fraserburgh 34 21 8 5 91 31 +60 71
6 Inverurie Loco Works 34 14 8 12 63 57 +6 50
7 Nairn County 34 12 10 12 51 63 −12 46
8 Huntly 34 13 6 15 44 49 −5 45
9 Rothes 34 12 8 14 64 60 +4 44
10 Banks O' Dee[lower-alpha 1] 34 19 6 9 98 49 +49 39
11 Forres Mechanics 34 10 6 18 57 60 −3 36
12 Turriff United 34 11 3 20 56 76 −20 36
13 Clachnacuddin 34 10 4 20 44 76 −32 34
14 Lossiemouth 34 8 3 23 38 83 −45 27
15 Keith 34 7 6 21 38 87 −49 27
16 Wick Academy 34 7 5 22 34 100 −66 26
17 Deveronvale 34 6 6 22 48 90 −42 24
18 Strathspey Thistle 34 2 4 28 24 154 −130 10
Source: [5][6][7]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. Banks O' Dee deducted 24 points for fielding an ineligible player in 8 matches.[4]

Results
Home \ Away BAN BRE BRO BUC CLA DEV FOU FOM FRA HUN INV KEI LOS NAI RTH STR TUR WIC
Banks O' Dee — 1–4 4–3 1–3 2–1 2–0 2–3 2–0 1–1 5–2 3–4 8–0 7–0 1–1 2–0 9–1 2–0 6–0
Brechin City 4–4 — 0–0 1–0 5–0 7–1 3–1 2–1 5–0 2–2 5–1 5–0 3–0 3–0 1–0 6–0 4–0 10–0
Brora Rangers 3–0 0–3 — 0–2 4–2 5–0 2–1 4–1 0–1 1–0 5–2 6–1 1–0 2–1 3–0 2–0 2–1 6–1
Buckie Thistle 2–2 0–2 4–2 — 5–0 3–2 1–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 2–1 3–0 1–1 8–0 7–1 2–1
Clachnacuddin 3–1 1–2 0–4 1–4 — 3–1 1–3 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–3 2–1 2–1 0–2 4–1 0–2 1–4 1–3
Deveronvale 1–4 1–3 0–6 1–2 3–3 — 0–3 2–1 2–3 1–3 0–3 4–3 2–0 2–3 0–1 7–0 2–0 3–3
Formartine United 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–2 4–0 2–1 — 2–0 0–1 2–0 2–1 6–0 5–0 3–1 2–1 6–1 2–1 6–0
Forres Mechanics 1–2 0–1 0–8 2–3 0–0 4–1 1–1 — 1–1 3–0 1–1 1–2 1–0 3–4 4–3 8–1 1–2 4–2
Fraserburgh 0–3 0–0 2–2 1–0 5–0 3–0 2–2 3–0 — 3–0 1–2 4–0 3–0 2–2 2–0 3–1 2–3 3–0
Huntly 0–2 0–1 1–3 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 1–4 — 1–1 1–0 2–1 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 5–2
Inverurie Loco Works 1–1 0–1 2–4 0–4 2–4 4–0 1–1 0–1 0–4 0–0 — 2–0 3–2 2–1 1–1 4–0 3–1 4–0
Keith 2–3 0–2 0–4 1–5 2–1 1–1 1–0 2–6 2–2 1–1 2–3 — 0–2 1–1 2–3 6–1 2–1 2–0
Lossiemouth 1–2 0–3 0–3 0–6 0–2 2–3 1–3 0–0 0–7 1–4 1–0 2–0 — 5–1 2–4 4–2 2–2 2–1
Nairn County 3–0 0–0 0–4 1–3 1–0 2–2 1–1 0–5 0–4 2–0 2–2 2–2 2–0 — 2–2 4–2 2–1 3–0
Rothes 2–0 0–1 0–4 2–4 3–2 1–1 2–2 2–1 0–3 0–2 0–5 3–0 3–1 2–0 — 9–0 6–1 2–2
Strathspey Thistle 0–7 0–5 0–11 0–2 2–2 2–2 0–2 0–4 0–9 1–4 2–2 0–1 1–3 1–1 0–7 — 1–6 1–2
Turriff United 1–1 1–4 0–4 0–1 4–1 5–1 2–4 2–0 1–4 2–1 3–2 1–1 1–2 1–3 3–1 5–0 — 0–3
Wick Academy 0–8 0–3 1–7 0–1 1–0 2–1 0–3 1–1 0–6 0–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–2 2–0 —
Source: [8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Highland League play-off

Subject to the tier 6 champion clubs meeting the required licensing criteria for promotion, a play-off was scheduled to take place between the winners of the 2022–23 Midlands Football League (Carnoustie Panmure), 2022–23 North Caledonian Football League (Loch Ness) and the 2022–23 North Region Junior Football League (Culter), with the winners then playing the team finishing bottom of the Highland League (Strathspey Thistle).[9][10] However, none of the tier 6 champions had the required SFA licence and as such there was no promotion to, or relegation from, the Highland League.[11]

References
  1. Smith, Ewan (19 April 2023). "Brechin verdict: Key moments and player ratings as Angus side secure Highland League title showdown with Buckie Thistle". The Courier. DC Thomson. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  2. Clark, Jonathan (22 April 2023). "Buckie Thistle 0 Brechin City 2: Last-gasp goals deny Jags the Highland League title". The Northern Scot. Highland News and Media Ltd. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  3. Atkinson, Mark (22 April 2023). "Brechin City seal Highland League title in dramatic style as Stirling Albion clinch League Two crown". The Scotsman. National World. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  4. Cryle, Ryan (26 October 2022). "Banks o' Dee hammered with 24-POINT penalty as player registration issue sees them drop to bottom of Breedon Highland League". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen Journals. Retrieved 26 October 2022. The administrative error – which saw two unregistered Dee players involved in nine infringements across eight Highland League matches – means the Aberdeen side are now rock-bottom of the division on -1 points in their first Highland League campaign. League rules state clubs receive a mandatory three-point deduction for every match in which an ineligible player is involved.
  5. "Highland League Table". BBC. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  6. "Highland Football League, Scotland - League Table". Highland Football League. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  7. "Summary - Football League". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  8. "Highland League Results". Highland Football League. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  9. Chalk, Paul. "George Manson takes over top Highland League role at AGM". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  10. Fraser, Alasdair. "Relegation dawns for Highland League clubs as tier six north set for next season". Inverness Courier. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  11. Clark, Will (2023-05-07). "Why a team could still face relegation from the Highland League this season?". Inverness Courier. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
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