Cove Rangers Football Club is a senior Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

club currently playing in the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

. They are based in the Cove Bay area of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

and play their football at Balmoral Stadium, having left their former home at Allan Park in April 2015.

History

Cove were formed in 1922 and played in the local amateur leagues until 1985, when they became a junior team. However, the club applied and were accepted to the

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Scotti ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

, where they played until winning promotion to Scottish Football League division 2 in May 2019, after beating Berwick Rangers 7–0 on aggregate in the pyramid playoff. They have also racked up a formidable reputation in the lower rounds of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Highland League, Aberdeenshire Shield and

Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cup ...

. In the 2007–08 season, Cove reached round four of the Scottish Cup for the first time, beating Brora Rangers away 5–0,

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...

3–0 and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

1–0 on the way, before losing 4–2 to Ross County. However, the south

side claimed their second ever Highland League Championship with a 3–0 home win against Lossiemouth on 3 May 2008. Cove Rangers were one of the clubs who prepared an application for entry into the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

following Gretna relinquishing their league status on 3 June 2008. The other clubs were Annan Athletic, Preston Athletic and

Spartans Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...

. Annan Athletic were eventually awarded the place, due to their superior facilities. One of the club's most famous players is the young Scottish midfielder Paul Coutts who joined English League One club Peterborough United during the summer of 2008 for a nominal fee. Coutts won the club's ''Young Player of the Year'' award for the 2008–09 season and won eight caps for the Scotland under-21 squad, after being touted for a call up by his former manager Darren Ferguson. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

the club regained their Highland League crown. Due to the introduction of the 'pyramid system' in Scottish football, Cove elected to say goodbye to their Allan Park home due to the stadium not meeting

SPFL The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As w ...

minimum stadia requirements. This in turn meant the club played all of their games at an away ground with Inverurie Locos,

Formartine United Formartine United Football Club are a Scottish senior association football club from Pitmedden, Aberdeenshire currently playing in the Highland Football League. They joined the Highland League for the 2009–10 season, having been accepted in ...

and Banks O'Dee offering the use of their facilities so the club could compete. Cove went on to win the league and advance to the first play-off game against the winner of the

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...

, Edinburgh City. The tie was won by City 4–1 on aggregate who subsequently progressed to Scottish League Two after beating

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

in the second playoff tie.

Back to back promotions and rise to League One

In the 2018–19 season they were promoted to SPFL League Two for the first time in their history after defeating Berwick Rangers 7–0 on aggregate in the League Two play-off. In their first season in the

, they won League Two after the season was terminated early due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This resulted in back-to-back promotions for Cove, with the club gaining promotion to SPFL League One for the first time.

Promotion to the Championship

In their first League One campaign, Cove narrowly lost out on promotion by 4 points to eventual winners

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been m ...

, finishing 3rd in the League and losing 4–3 on aggregate to

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

in the Play-offs. In the following season, Cove won the League One title by 7 points, only losing 3 league games all season, securing promotion to the

for the first time in their history.

Stadium

From 1948 to 2015, Cove played at Allan Park, which was located in

Cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

. The ground had a capacity of 2300 spectators, with 200 on seats or benches. Its largest attendance was 2,100, in the league playoff in 2008–09 vs Deveronvale which they won 3–1 to lift the league title for the third year running. Allan Park was named after a local farmer, who sold the club the land on which they built the ground in 1948. On Friday, 30 July 2010, an article was placed in the local Aberdeen paper, the ''Evening Express'' that

Stewart Milne Stewart Milne CBE, DBA, DTech (born 23 July 1950) is a Scottish businessman and football club chairman, from Alford, Aberdeenshire. Milne founded the Aberdeen-based Stewart Milne Construction Group, a housebuilding contractor, in 1975. He starte ...

, the chairman of Aberdeen F.C., had bought Allan Park. This scheme was thrown into doubt, however, when Aberdeen City Council rejected an application by the two clubs to build a new ground for Cove Rangers that Aberdeen would also have used as a training ground. Nevertheless, on 18 April 2015, Cove Rangers played their final game at Allan Park following progress being made with Aberdeen City Council in terms of planning permission. In this game Cove marked their departure with a 4–0 victory over Fort William. Allan Park had been bought by housing developers for a figure believed to be around the £3m mark. The sale also included a social club, also owned by the football club, which closed its doors the following day. Cove then began construction of their revised new stadium. The new facility, known as ' Balmoral Stadium' is located next to a new secondary school, with the merging of

Kincorth Kincorth is a suburb located to the south of Aberdeen, Scotland. The name is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic "Ceann Coirthe", which probably refers to an old pillar or standing stone (''coirthe''). Kincorth is known as the garden estate of A ...

and Torry Academies into one larger school. In a clause made by Aberdeen City Council, this new school will have access to the new stadium's artificial pitch. In July 2018, Cove moved into the Balmoral Stadium, having played home games at Inverurie Loco Works' ground in the intervening period. The first match at the Balmoral Stadium took place on 16 July 2018, but had to be abandoned after a Cove player was seriously injured.

Honours

;

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was ...

*Winners: 2021–22 ; Scottish League Two *Winners: 2019–20 ;

*Winners (7): 2000–01, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19 ; Highland League Cup *Winners (6): 1994–95, 1999–00, 2004–05, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19 ; Aberdeenshire Cup *Winners (3) : 2001–02, 2010–11, 2018–19 ; Aberdeenshire Shield *Winners (4): 1990–91, 2000–01, 2008–09, 2017–18 ; Scottish Qualifying Cup (North) *Winners (2): 1990–91, 2000–01 ;

Aberdeenshire League The Aberdeenshire and District League, usually known as the Aberdeenshire League, is a football tournament for clubs in membership of the Aberdeenshire and District Football Association. The clubs are drawn from the historic counties of Aberde ...

*Winners (6): 2000–01, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15 ;Inter-League Trophy *Winners: 2001–02 ;North Junior League First Division *Winners: 1985–86

Current squad

''As of 19 January 2023''

On loan

Club officials

Technical staff

*Manager:

Paul Hartley Paul Hartley (born 19 October 1976) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Scottish Championship side Cove Rangers. As a player, Hartley won trophies with both Hearts and ...

*Assistant Manager: Gordon Young *Coach: Jimmy Boyle *Goalkeeping Coach:

Derek Soutar Derek Soutar (born 4 June 1981, in Dundee) is a Scottish professional football goalkeeper. Career Soutar began his career with Dundee and had loan spells with Brechin City and Alloa Athletic. He signed for Aberdeen in July 2006. Things look ...

*Fitness Coach: Tam Ritchie *Head of Youth Development: Gary Hake *Performance Analyst: Ryan Docherty *Physiotherapist: Aimee Clark *Kitman: Adrian Thomson

Management

*Honorary President: Alan McRae *Chairman: Keith Moorhouse *Vice Chairman/Finance Director: Graeme Reid *Director: Darren Anderson *Director: Grant Moorhouse *Commercial Manager: Angela Bruce *Head of Media & Communications: Richard Gordon *Club Secretary/Stadium Manager: Duncan Little *Director of Football: John Sheran The club's honorary president Alan McRae served as SFA president from 2015 to 2019.

References

External links

Official website
{{Football in Aberdeen, state=collapsed Scottish Professional Football League teams Former Highland Football League teams Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Football clubs in Aberdeen Association football clubs established in 1922 1922 establishments in Scotland