Cove Rangers Football Club is a senior

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club currently playing in . They are based in the Altens area of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

and play their football at Balmoral Stadium, having left their former home at Allan Park, Cove Bay 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 Scott ...

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 for 33 seasons. They have also racked up a formidable reputation in the lower rounds of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Aberdeenshire Shield The Aberdeenshire Shield, like the Aberdeenshire Cup, is a competition for Aberdeenshire Football clubs. The winners are awarded the Fleming Shield, which was originally awarded to the winners of the Fleming Charity Shield competition - las ...

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 Cu ...

. In the 2007–08 season, Cove reached round four of the Scottish Cup for the first time, beating Brora Rangers away 5–0, Keith 3–0 and

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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 Lossiemouth () is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, Moray, Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the ...

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) is a defunct 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&nbs ...

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

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

. 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 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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 well ...

minimum stadia requirements. This in turn meant the club played all of their games at an away ground with Inverurie Locos, Formartine United 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, Edinburgh City. The tie was won by City 4–1 on aggregate who subsequently progressed to

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

after beating East Stirlingshire 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 Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, who play in the Scottish football system. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite being ba ...

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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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 association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

, finishing 3rd in the League and losing 4–3 on aggregate to Airdrieonians in the Play-offs. In the 2021–22 season, Cove won the League One title by 7 points, only losing 3 league games all season, securing promotion to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

for the first time in their history. This meant that Cove Rangers achieved three promotions in four seasons: from the Highland League in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, League Two in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and League One in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. The 2022–23 Championship season saw Cove go into their final match against Greenock Morton one point ahead of Hamilton Academical at the bottom, however a 1–2 defeat at a foggy Balmoral Stadium coupled with a goalless draw for Hamilton at

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meant that both Cove and Hamilton finished level on points but Cove were relegated to League One after just one season due to an inferior goal difference.

Stadium

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

Cove A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...

. 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, the chairman of

, had bought Allan Park. This scheme was thrown into doubt, however, when

Aberdeen City Council Aberdeen City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Aberdeen City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Aberdeen was formerly governed by a municipal corporation, corporat ...

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 in Altens, next to a new secondary school, with the merging of

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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 Inverurie Loco Works Football Club are a senior semi-professional football (soccer), football club from Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1902 by workmen from the Great North of Sco ...

' 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 William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

**Winners: 2021–22 *

**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 The Aberdeenshire Cup is a Scottish football tournament for all senior clubs affiliated to the Aberdeenshire and District Football Association (ADFA), being clubs from the historic counties of Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. The Aberdeenshire ...

**Winners (3): 2001–02, 2010–11, 2018–19 *

Aberdeenshire Shield The Aberdeenshire Shield, like the Aberdeenshire Cup, is a competition for Aberdeenshire Football clubs. The winners are awarded the Fleming Shield, which was originally awarded to the winners of the Fleming Charity Shield competition - las ...

**Winners (4): 1990–91, 2000–01, 2008–09, 2017–18 * Scottish Qualifying Cup (North) **Winners (2): 1990–91, 2000–01 * Aberdeenshire League **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

Club officials

Technical staff

*Football manager: Paul Hartley *Coach: Gary Hake *Goalkeeping coach: Derek Soutar *Performance analyst: Rhys Sutcliffe *Sports scientist: Fraser Bennie *Physiotherapist: Joe Dawson *Kit manager: Ian Sellar

Management

*Honorary president: Alan McRae *Chairman: Keith Moorhouse *Vice-chairman/finance director: Graeme Reid *Director: Darren Anderson *Director: Grant Moorhouse *Director: Willie Young *Head of commercial & operations: Martin Johnson *Head of media & communications: Richard Gordon *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