2023–24 Lowland Football League

Lowland League
Season2023–24
Dates21 July 2023 – 27 April 2024
ChampionsEast Kilbride
RelegatedEdinburgh University
Matches played306
Goals scored1,055 (3.45 per match)
Biggest home winHeart of Midlothian B 12–0 Edinburgh University
(5 January 2024)
Biggest away winEdinburgh University 0–9 East Kilbride
(2 September 2023)
Highest scoringHeart of Midlothian B 12–0 Edinburgh University
(5 January 2024)
Longest winning run8 matches:
Heart of Midlothian B
Longest unbeaten run15 matches:
East Kilbride
Longest winless run17 matches:
Gretna 2008
Longest losing run11 matches:
Edinburgh University
All statistics correct as of 27 April 2024.

The 2023–24 Scottish Lowland Football League was the 11th season of the Lowland Football League, part of the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The Spartans were the reigning champions but were unable to defend their title following their promotion to Scottish League Two.

East Kilbride won a record-equalling third Lowland League title, following a 4–2 victory by Heart of Midlothian B – who cannot win the Lowland League as a guest club[1] – over Bo'ness United on 12 April 2024, which left Bo'ness United nine points behind East Kilbride with two games remaining.

With their scheduled matchup with 2023–24 Highland Football League champion Buckie Thistle being cancelled due to the latter not holding the relevant licence, East Kilbride faced League Two bottom-placed team Stranraer in the final. They lost 3–5 on aggregate after conceding two goals in the last five minutes of extra time in the second leg at Stair Park.[2]

Teams

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class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in 2023–24 Scottish Lowland Football League

Albion Rovers became the fourth club to join the league via relegation from the SPFL, having lost the previous season's League Two play-off against The Spartans. East of Scotland League champions Linlithgow Rose were promoted to the league, replacing founding league member Dalbeattie Star who were relegated to the South of Scotland League.

Rangers B withdrew prior to the start of the season.[3]

From Lowland League

[edit]

Promoted to League Two

Relegated to South of Scotland League

Withdrew

To Lowland League

[edit]

Relegated from League Two

Promoted from East of Scotland League

Stadia and locations

[edit]
Team Location Stadium Surface Capacity Seats
Albion Rovers Coatbridge Cliftonhill Grass 1,238 489
Berwick Rangers Berwick-upon-Tweed Shielfield Park Grass 4,099 1,366
Bo'ness United Bo'ness Newtown Park Artificial 2,000 0
Broomhill Dumbarton Dumbarton Football Stadium[a] Grass 2,020 2,020
Caledonian Braves Motherwell Alliance Park Artificial 800 102
Celtic B Airdrie Excelsior Stadium[b] Artificial 10,101 10,101
Civil Service Strollers Edinburgh Christie Gillies Park Grass 1,596 96
Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath Central Park Grass 4,309 1,622
Cumbernauld Colts Cumbernauld Broadwood Stadium Artificial 8,086 8,086
East Kilbride East Kilbride K-Park Artificial 700 400
East Stirlingshire Falkirk Falkirk Stadium[c] Artificial 7,937 7,937
Edinburgh University Edinburgh New Peffermill Stadium Grass 1,100 100
Gala Fairydean Rovers Galashiels 3G Arena, Netherdale Artificial 2,000 500
Gretna 2008 Gretna Raydale Park Artificial 1,030 138
Heart of Midlothian B Edinburgh Ainslie Park[d] Artificial 3,700 854
Linlithgow Rose Linlithgow Prestonfield Grass 1,730 301
Tranent Tranent Foresters Park Grass 1,200 44
University of Stirling Stirling Forthbank Stadium[e] Grass 3,808 2,508
Notes
  1. ^ Broomhill are ground-sharing with Dumbarton.
  2. ^ Celtic B are ground-sharing with Airdrieonians.
  3. ^ East Stirlingshire are ground-sharing with Falkirk.
  4. ^ Heart of Midlothian B are ground-sharing with The Spartans.
  5. ^ University of Stirling are ground-sharing with Stirling Albion.

All grounds are equipped with floodlights.

League table

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 East Kilbride (C) 34 26 3 5 96 43 +53 81 Qualification for the Pyramid play-off
2 Heart of Midlothian B 34 21 6 7 92 43 +49 69 Ineligible for promotion or relegation
3 Bo'ness United 34 21 4 9 72 50 +22 67
4 Cumbernauld Colts 34 19 8 7 70 43 +27 65
5 Tranent 34 18 6 10 69 42 +27 60
6 Celtic B 34 18 5 11 80 47 +33 59 Ineligible for promotion or relegation
7 Civil Service Strollers 34 17 5 12 51 48 +3 56
8 Linlithgow Rose 34 14 8 12 63 43 +20 50
9 Albion Rovers 34 12 10 12 43 36 +7 46
10 Cowdenbeath 34 12 10 12 55 56 −1 46
11 University of Stirling 34 13 7 14 50 53 −3 46
12 Caledonian Braves 34 12 9 13 47 43 +4 45
13 Berwick Rangers 34 12 6 16 42 48 −6 42
14 East Stirlingshire 34 12 4 18 58 68 −10 40
15 Broomhill 34 11 6 17 56 59 −3 39
16 Gala Fairydean Rovers 34 9 5 20 45 87 −42 32
17 Gretna 2008 34 3 3 28 26 114 −88 12
18 Edinburgh University (R) 34 2 3 29 40 132 −92 9 Relegation to the East of Scotland League
Source: SLFL BBC Sport Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

[edit]
Home \ Away ALB BER BNS BRO CAL CEL CSS COW CUM EKB EAS EDU GFR GRE HEA LIN TRA STI
Albion Rovers 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 0–1 1–0 0–2 3–1 1–2 3–0 1–0 1–2 3–0 1–3 0–1
Berwick Rangers 2–1 1–2 4–0 0–2 2–1 1–0 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–2 2–0 3–3 3–0 2–2 1–2 2–2 2–2
Bo'ness United 0–1 5–1 3–0 2–1 1–0 3–2 4–2 0–3 3–4 4–2 3–1 3–0 2–0 3–3 0–0 0–2 3–2
Broomhill 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–2 4–2 0–1 2–2 1–6 3–1 4–0 2–3 4–1 1–2 2–0 1–3 0–4
Caledonian Braves 1–1 1–0 1–2 3–1 4–2 0–1 3–2 1–2 1–2 0–1 4–2 2–1 4–0 2–1 0–1 2–2 0–0
Celtic B 2–1 1–0 3–1 2–0 5–1 7–0 2–2 3–0 0–2 1–2 4–0 5–0 7–0 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–0
Civil Service Strollers 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–3 1–1 3–1 1–1 3–1 2–1 0–0 3–1 7–0 1–0 2–3 2–1 1–2 0–2
Cowdenbeath 0–0 1–4 0–2 0–0 2–2 3–3 2–2 0–2 2–1 1–2 7–1 2–2 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–2 2–2
Cumbernauld Colts 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 0–0 4–2 1–2 1–1 4–1 2–1 6–0 1–2 1–1 1–5 3–3
East Kilbride 1–3 1–0 0–2 2–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 4–2 2–0 2–1 7–4 4–2 4–1 2–4 2–1 3–2 4–2
East Stirlingshire 3–2 1–2 3–4 3–4 1–1 6–4 0–2 2–3 0–3 0–2 3–1 0–1 3–2 1–1 2–1 1–2 2–3
Edinburgh University 2–2 1–3 2–4 1–1 1–3 1–3 3–4 0–2 2–3 0–9 0–3 0–5 3–2 0–4 1–5 1–6 1–4
Gala Fairydean Rovers 0–0 2–0 1–5 2–7 0–3 3–4 1–2 1–2 1–4 1–6 2–0 2–1 4–1 1–1 1–6 0–2 2–0
Gretna 2008 0–4 0–1 1–2 1–0 0–1 3–3 2–1 2–3 1–4 0–7 1–4 2–1 0–0 0–3 2–9 1–3 1–1
Heart of Midlothian B 2–1 6–0 4–2 3–2 1–1 2–1 3–0[a] 1–2 1–3 4–2 5–3 12–0 3–1 7–0 2–2 3–0 0–1
Linlithgow Rose 0–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 0–1 2–4 2–2 2–0 2–2 5–0 5–0 0–1 1–0 3–1
Tranent 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–2 0–3 3–4 6–2 2–1 8–0 0–1 2–1 2–1
University of Stirling 2–2 0–2 3–1 1–4 1–0 0–2 0–2 2–1 0–3 1–1 1–0 3–2 0–1 3–1 2–1 1–2 1–2
Source: [5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ The match was abandoned after 77 minutes due to a medical emergency, with the score at the time standing as the final result.[4]

Lowland League play-off

[edit]

A three match round robin play-off was scheduled to take place between the winners of the 2023–24 East of Scotland Football League, the 2023–24 South of Scotland Football League, and the 2023–24 West of Scotland Football League, subject to all three clubs meeting the required licensing criteria for promotion.[6] However, as West of Scotland Football League winners Beith Juniors did not hold a licence, the play-off was then contested by the remaining two league winners – Broxburn Athletic (East of Scotland Football League) and Dalbeattie Star (South of Scotland Football League) – over a home-and-away basis.

First leg

[edit]
18 May 2024 Dalbeattie Star 1–4 Broxburn Athletic Dalbeattie
15:00 C. Watson 40' Report[7]
  • Page 6'
  • Brass 31', 61'
  • Locke 65'
 Stadium: Islecroft Stadium
Attendance: 300
Referee: Andy Gamble

Second leg

[edit]
24 May 2024 Broxburn Athletic 8–1
(12–2 agg.)		 Dalbeattie Star Broxburn
19:45
  • Brass 11', 26', 68'
  • Douglas 16'
  • Jones 20', 45'
  • Munro 72'
  • Bremner 84'
  • Rogerson 6'
 Stadium: Albyn Park
Attendance: 932[8]
Referee: Jordan Curran

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Scottish Lowland Football League Constitution and Rules Version 20" (PDF). Lowland Football League. 8 June 2022. p. 19. Retrieved 12 April 2024. Specifically, a Guest Club shall not be the Champion Club.
  2. ^ McGilvray, Andy (18 May 2024). "Stranraer 3, East Kilbride 1 (agg 5-3): Blues break Kilby hearts". Daily Record. Reach plc. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  3. ^ "CLUB STATEMENT: SCOTTISH LOWLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE". Rangers.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Update: Hearts B vs Civil Service Strollers". Heart of Midlothian F.C. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Lowland League Results". Lowland Football League. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  6. ^ "LOWER PYRAMID PLAY - OFF COMPETITION RULES" (PDF). Lowland Football League. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Dalbeattie Star v Broxburn Ath". Broxburn Athletic F.C. 18 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  8. ^ @broxburnathfc (25 May 2024). "932 last night!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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