North Caledonian Football League

1896-date

See also Main index Club directory

Founded in 1896, the North Caledonian League (NCL) is a league which has existed under a number of different names. The league mostly consists of amateur clubs that play on public parks, although Golspie Sutherland have full membership of the SFA, while the long defunct Thurso Pentland were also a senior club in the NCL that competed in the Scottish Cup in the 19th century. The present amateur side which plays in the Caithness County League were formed in 1918. During the 1920s, a number of clubs also competed in the Scottish Junior Cup. From 1948 the league was known variably as the North of Scotland 2nd XI League or Highland Reserve League, and the Highland League reserve teams which had dominated the championship continued to do so until the late 1960s. Since then the league has been called the NCL.

Champions 1896–97 Inverness Celtic 1897–98 Inverness Citadel ‘A’ 1898–99 Nelson 1899–00 Nelson 1900–01 Inverness Thistle ‘A’ 1901–02 Inverness Citadel ‘A’ 1902–03 Inverness Citadel ‘A’ 1903–04 Clachnacuddin ‘A’ 1904–05 Clachnacuddin ‘A’ 1905–06 Nelson 1906–07 Nelson 1907–08 Nelson 1908–09 Nelson 1909–10 Clachnacuddin ‘A’ 1910–11 Inverness Citadel ‘A’ 1911–12 Nelson 1912–13 Nelson 1913–14 Albert 1914–19 no Competition 1919–20 Dingwall Victoria United 1920–21 Nelson 1921–22 Inverness Citadel ‘A’ 1922–23 Inverness Caledonian ‘A’ 1923–24 Fortrose Union 1924–25 Catch-My-Pal 1925–26 Nelson 1926–27 Clachnacuddin ‘A’ 1927–28 Dingwall Victoria United 1928–29 Inverness Thistle ‘A’ 1929–30 Clachnacuddin ‘A’ 1930–31 Inverness Thistle ‘A’ 1931–32 Clachnacuddin ‘A’ 1932–33 Inverness District Asylum 1933–34 Inverness District Asylum 1934–35 Inverness Thistle ‘A’ 1935–36 Nairn County ‘A’ 1936–37 Clachnacuddin ‘A’ 1937–38 no Competition 1938–39 Highland Light Infantry 1939–46 No Competition 1946–47 Invergordon 1947–48 Inverness Thistle reserves 1948–49 Inverness Caledonian reserves 1949–50 Clachnacuddin reserves 1950–51 Clachnacuddin reserves 1951–52 Inverness Caledonian reserves 1952–53 Inverness Caledonian reserves 1953–54 Elgin City reserves 1954–55 Nairn County reserves / Buckie Thistle reserves 1955–56 Clachnacuddin reserves 1956–57 Clachnacuddin reserves 1957–58 Clachnacuddin reserves

1958–59 Inverness Thistle reserves 1959–60 Inverness Thistle reserves 1960–61 incomplete 1961–62 incomplete 1962–63 Inverness Thistle reserves 1963–64 Clachnacuddin reserves 1964–65 Avoch Rovers 1965–66 Ross County reserves 1966–67 Brora Rangers reserves 1967–68 Brora Rangers reserves 1968–69 Dingwall Thistle 1969–70 Inverness Caledonian reserves 1970–71 Dingwall Thistle 1971–72 Dingwall Thistle 1972–73 Alness United 1973–74 Alness United 1974–75 Golspie Sutherland 1975–76 Golspie Sutherland 1976–77 Invergordon 1977–78 Dingwall Thistle 1978–79 Wick Academy 1979–80 Wick Academy 1980–81 Wick Academy 1981–82 Wick Academy 1982–83 Bunillidh Thistle 1983–84 Muir of Ord 1984–85 Fort William 1985–86 Muir of Ord 1986–87 Wick Academy 1987–88 Invergordon 1988–89 Bunillidh Thistle 1989–90 Balintore 1990–91 Balintore 1991–92 Clachnacuddin reserves 1992–93 Golspie Sutherland 1993–94 Halkirk United 1994–95 Caledonian Thistle reserves 1995–96 Fearn Thistle 1996–97 Ross County reserves 1997–98 Inverness Caledonian Thistle reserves 1998–99 Golspie Sutherland 1999–00 Thurso 2000–01 Alness United 2001–02 Invergordon 2002–03 Thurso 2003–04 Golspie Sutherland 2004–05 Alness United 2005–06 Balintore 2006–07 Golspie Sutherland 2007–08 Golspie Sutherland 2008–09 Golspie Sutherland 2009-10 Thurso

	1948-49	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Inverness Caledonian reserves Clachnacuddin reserves Inverness Thistle reserves Forres Mechanics reserves Nairn County reserves Ross County reserves Corinthians Muir of Ord

	1972-73	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Easter Ross Dingwall Thistle Golspie Sutherland Wick Academy Bunilidh Thistle Invergordon Tain St Duthus Ross County reserves Bonar Bridge Black Rock	18	0	2	16			2

	1988-89	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Balintore Bonar Bridge Dornoch Bunillidh Thistle Invergordon Golspie Sutherland Tain St Duthus Brora Rangers reserves Inverness Caledonian reserves Wick Academy Ross County reserves Fearn Thistle

	1990-91	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3	Balintore Inverness Thistle reserves Wick Academy Inverness Caledonian reserves Invergordon Brora Rangers reserves Tain St Duthus Ross County reserves Fearn Thistle

	1994-95	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Caledonian Thistle reserves Balintore Bonar Bridge Bunillidh Thistle Clachnacuddin reserves Dornoch Fearn Thistle Fort William reserves Golspie Sutherland Halkirk United Invergordon Muir SC Ross County reserves Tain St Duthus

	1997-98	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11	Inverness Caledonian Th res Balintore Golspie Sutherland Alness United Ross County reserves Halkirk United Invergordon Tain St Duthus Bunillidh Thistle Bonar Bridge Dornoch	20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20	16 15 13 10 10 8 10 7 4 4 0	2 2 4 3 2 5 0 3 2 2 1	2 3 3 7 8 7 10 10 14 14 19	84 70 72 45 76 55 44 43 30 30 15	23 27 25 40 37 38 46 34 66 87 141	34 32 30 23 22 21 20 17 10 10 1

	1998-99	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11	Golspie Sutherland Balintore Inverness Caledonian Th res Thurso Alness United Halkirk United Invergordon Tain St Duthus Bonar Bridge Bunillidh Dornoch	20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20	16 14 12 10 10 9 7 6 5 4 4	0 3 2 4 4 4 5 1 1 2 0	4 3 6 6 6 7 8 13 14 14 16	80 59 71 57 41 36 53 35 27 24 17	22 25 27 25 28 34 46 51 86 61 75	32 31 26 24 24 22 19 13 11 10 8

	1999-00	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Thurso Golspie Sutherland Invergordon Balintore Alness United Halkirk United Tain St Duthus Bonar Bridge Dornoch Bunillidh Thistle	18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18	13 13 12 11 9 5 3 4 3 1	3 2 2 3 4 4 6 3 1 4	2 3 4 4 5 9 9 11 14 13	58 67 51 59 43 20 29 26 18 16	16 26 27 26 23 37 43 48 80 61	29 28 26 25 22 14 12 11 7 6

	2000-01	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Alness United Thurso Golspie Sutherland Balintore Halkirk United Invergordon Tain St Duthus Bunillidh Thistle Bonar Bridge Dornoch	18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18	15 14 13 12 7 8 5 4 3 2	1 1 0 0 4 2 2 1 2 1	2 3 5 6 7 8 11 13 13 15	68 59 63 47 51 47 27 23 22 27	15 22 20 35 31 41 42 56 83 89	31 29 26 24 18 18 12 9 8 5

	2001-02	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Invergordon Alness United Golspie Sutherland Thurso Halkirk United Tain St Duthus Bunillidh Thistle Balintore Bonar Bridge Dornoch	18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18	14 12 12 10 7 7 5 4 4 2	3 3 2 4 4 1 4 3 1 1	1 3 4 4 7 10 9 11 13 15	58 53 45 33 39 39 26 33 35 21	13 21 24 22 28 36 47 52 50 89	45 39 38 34 25 22 19 15 13 7

	2002-03	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Thurso Alness United Golspie Sutherland Balintore Dornoch Bonar Bridge Halkirk United Invergordon Tain St Duthus Bunillidh Thistle	18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18	14 14 12 8 8 7 6 5 2 1	3 0 3 4 1 3 4 2 2 4	1 4 3 6 9 8 8 11 14 13	63 42 46 46 40 37 45 41 28 19	14 21 23 27 55 53 37 56 78 43	45 42 39 28 25 24 22 17 8 7

	2003-04	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Golspie Sutherland Balintore Alness United Thurso Invergordon Dornoch Halkirk United Bunillidh Thistle Tain St Duthus Bonar Bridge	18 18 18 17 18 18 18 17 18 18	18 14 12 11 6 6 5 4 4 3	0 0 1 2 2 1 3 3 2 2	2 4 5 4 10 11 10 10 12 13	53 57 53 54 31 41 20 23 30 31	14 21 26 22 45 69 37 43 61 55	48 42 37 35 20 19 18 15 14 11

Bunillidh Thistle v Thurso not played

	2004-05	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Thurso Alness United Golspie Sutherland Balintore Dornoch Bonar Bridge Halkirk United Invergordon Tain St Duthus Bunillidh Thistle	18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18	14 14 12 8 8 7 6 5 2 1	3 0 3 4 1 3 4 2 2 4	1 4 3 6 9 8 8 11 14 13	63 42 46 46 40 37 45 41 28 19	14 21 23 27 55 53 37 56 78 43	45 42 39 28 25 24 22 17 8 7

	2005-06	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	Balintore Dornoch Halkirk United Golspie Sutherland Thurso Invergordon Alness United Bonar Bridge Bunillidh Thistle	16 16 15 16 16 16 16 15 16	12 11 9 8 8 7 5 3 0	3 2 1 3 2 3 1 1 0	1 3 5 5 6 6 10 11 16	46 48 44 48 48 41 36 25 12	13 26 22 29 33 40 36 66 84	39 35 28 27 26 24 16 10 0

Bonar Bridge v Halkirk United not played

	2006-07	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	Golspie Sutherland Thurso Inverness City Halkirk United Balintore Alness United Invergordon Bunillidh Thistle Dornoch	16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16	13 13 10 10 9 4 2 2 2	1 0 2 1 2 3 3 2 0	2 3 4 5 5 9 11 12 14	50 60 46 57 50 40 34 20 26	21 23 29 27 26 40 49 79 89	40 39 32 31 29 15 9 8 6

	2007-08	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11	Golspie Sutherland Thurso Inverness City Muir of Ord Rovers Halkirk United Balintore Invergordon Bunillidh Thistle Alness United Bonar Bridge Dornoch	19 20 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20	16 14 13 12 12 8 5 5 4 3 2	2 2 2 5 4 5 4 2 3 1 0	1 4 4 3 4 7 11 13 13 16 18	75 72 73 64 62 44 32 35 25 22 18	20 30 31 32 31 39 57 76 51 61 94	50 44 41 41 40 29 19 17 15 10 6

Golspie Sutherland v Inverness City not played

	2008-09	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Golspie Sutherland Halkirk United Balintore Muir of Ord Rovers Bonar Bridge Thurso Bunillidh Thistle Alness United Invergordon Tain Thistle	18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18	16 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 5 1	1 2 2 2 2 4 2 3 1 1	1 3 6 7 8 7 10 10 12 16	82 77 47 35 42 33 26 27 20 23	15 26 37 38 48 30 47 43 56 72	49 41 32 29 26 25 20 18 16 4

	2009-10	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Thurso Muir of Ord Rovers Dingwall Thistle Halkirk United Golspie Sutherland Balintore Bonar Bridge Tain Invergordon Fort William reserves	18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18	15 15 12 12 11 6 5 5 3 1	3 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 1 0	0 3 4 4 6 11 13 13 14 17	77 63 54 54 54 26 21 20 20 22	13 15 20 27 30 57 59 63 63 64	48 45 38 38 34 19 15 15 10 3

NOTE: Bonar Bridge v Dingwall (1-5), Halkirk v Fort William (2-1) and Invegordon v Fort William (5-2) each counted as two wins for the victors, although goals only counted once.

Bonar Bridge v Fort William awarded 1-0 to Bonar as Fort couldn’t raise a team

Golspie v Balintore (3-0) was later awarded 1-0 to Balintore as Golspie fielded an ineligible player