North Caledonian Football League

The North Caledonian Football Association is a football association operating throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and is a recognised body of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and as such has its senior football competitions officially registered with the SFA.

History

The formation of the Inverness Junior Football Association on 31 January 1888 saw the introduction of the Inverness Junior Cup. After the final in 1888 the association was renamed the North of Scotland Junior Football Association and the competition the North of Scotland Junior Cup.

The Association's league competition was later introduced in 1896 as the "North of Scotland Junior League" with the initial aim of providing a league format for its junior members and predominantly the "2nd XI" teams from senior Highland Football League clubs. Upon its formation these teams mostly came from the Inverness area. By 1906 though, the Association had welcomed several new member teams from outside the Inverness-shire area, specifically Nairn Thistle and Dingwall Victoria United (later known as Ross County) broadening the coverage of the league across the North. Other clubs from across the Highland counties followed suit, with Muir of Ord and Tore United among those to join.

In 1935 the league dropped its junior status, possibly due to the Scottish Junior Football Association's objections to Senior clubs involvement, and became known as the North of Scotland "2nd XI" League (it was also known colloquially as either the Highland Reserve League or Highland Alliance, the latter a nod to the southern reserve league the Scottish Football Alliance). It was recognised as a senior football league with teams eligible to apply for Scottish FA membership. By the late 1960s/early 1970s, the Highland League reserve teams which had dominated the league gradually dropped out of contention, with most finding that it was not financially viable to run "2nd XI" or reserve teams at a senior level. At the same time, the league began to see an influx of senior football teams joining from the surrounding counties of Easter Ross, Caithness and Sutherland.

By the 1980s, the league had representation from teams all across the North, including as far as Fort William. In a bid to shake off the "2nd XI" tag (and the inference of being "second best" to the Highland League) the member clubs in the league took the decision to rename the league at the 1984 annual general meeting of the North of Scotland 2nd XI Football Association in Bonar Bridge, where teams voted unanimously to change the name of the association to the North Caledonian Football Association and the name of the league competition to the North Caledonian Football League.

In 2020, it was announced that the North Caledonian League is working with the Highland League and North Region Junior FA to form a sixth tier of the Scottish football league system for the far north of the country, with a view to feeding eligible clubs via promotion into the Highland League. It was also announced, along with 4 teams being added to the ranks (2 of which are returning sides) that the league would be temporarily split into two divisions.

In April 2021, it was announced that subject to SFA approval, the North Caledonian League would be joined at Tier 6 by the North Super League and a rebranded Midlands League (the remaining Junior East Region clubs that play in Tayside) to form a fully-integrated tier below the Highland League from 2021-22. The leagues at that level entered the Scottish pyramid later in July.

In June 2022, it was announced that the winner of the league, no matter whether they were SFA Licensed or not, would qualify directly to the Scottish Cup Preliminary Round, starting with Invergordon, who won the 2021-22 season. However, it was also confirmed that if an already SFA Licensed team ( Golspie Sutherland and Fort William) or a reserve team (Clachnacuddin and Nairn County) were to win the league, the Scottish Cup spot would not pass down to the highest ranked team that would otherwise be eligible.

Membership

As well as holding membership of the North Caledonian FA, member clubs are also governed by the constitution of the Scottish Football Association, and as such disciplinary and registration matters are handled by the Scottish Football Association. This is a unique situation in that member clubs are not required to be full members of the Scottish Football Association, despite their players holding senior SFA registrations (professional and amateur).

Golspie Sutherland are the only North Caledonian FA member club to hold full membership of the Scottish Football Association and since season 2007–08 they have obtained direct entry to the Scottish Cup

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