Caledonian Braves Football Club is a Scottish semi-professional

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 based in

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

. They are members of the , in the fifth tier of the

Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

. The club originated from Edusport Academy, a residential

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

for French footballers founded in 2011 and initially based at the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

, North Lanarkshire, before relocating to Lesser Hampden in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 2015. A second centre based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

opened in 2014. From the 2014–15 season onwards, they fielded a team under the Edusport Academy name in Scottish senior football, the only private academy to do so in a recognised senior league. They initially played in the South of Scotland League before winning promotion to the Lowland League in 2017. As Edusport, the senior team played at the Hamilton Palace Sports Ground in

Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Hamilton (; ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits south-east of Glasgow, south-west of Edinburgh and north of Carlisle. It is situated on t ...

(2014–2015) and

Galabank Galabank is a Association football, football stadium in the town of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Annan Athletic F.C., Annan Athletic, who have played there since 1953 ...

Annan, Dumfries and Galloway Annan ( ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. Historically part of Dumfriesshire, its public buildings include Annan Academy, of which the writer Thomas Carlyle was a pupil, and a Georgian build ...

(2015–2019). From 2018 onwards, the senior team began to operate separately from the academy after launching a membership scheme, Our Football Club. In 2019 they were rebranded as Caledonian Braves and opened their own Alliance Park ground within

Strathclyde Country Park Strathclyde Country Park is a country park located on the outskirts of Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, named after the former Strathclyde region of Scotland. It is often commonly referred to as Strathclyde, or simply Strathy. Desc ...

in North Lanarkshire.

History

Academy

The Edusport Academy was founded in 2011 by Chris Ewing with the aim of helping talented young French footballers to develop their skills in football and the English language, and gain opportunities with British professional clubs. Initially, the main training venues were the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in

, North Lanarkshire, and the Hamilton Palace Sports Ground in

, with English classes taking place at

New College Lanarkshire New College Lanarkshire is a further education institution in Scotland in North Lanarkshire. The college was created in November 2013 from the merger of Cumbernauld College and Motherwell College, and in 2014 it absorbed Coatbridge College. ...

. Edusport expanded in 2014, opening an Edinburgh centre with training at

Ainslie Park Ainslie Park, also known as the Vanloq Community Stadium due to sponsorship, is a football stadium located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League Two club Spartans and the club's women's team in the Scottish Women's P ...

and education at

Edinburgh College Edinburgh College is a further and higher education institution with campuses in Edinburgh and Midlothian, Scotland. It serves the Edinburgh Region, Edinburgh, East Lothian and Midlothian, and is the largest college in Scotland. It was f ...

. In 2015, they decided to relocate from Motherwell to a new

base; the Academy now trains at Lesser Hampden with educational classes at

City of Glasgow College The City of Glasgow College is a further and higher education college in the city of Glasgow. It was founded in 2010 when the Central College, Glasgow Metropolitan College, and the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies merged. It is the largest ...

. Four women were added to the Edusport Academy programme in 2015. They are based at the Edinburgh centre and will gain senior experience through a partnership with

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 ...

of the

Scottish Women's Premier League The Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) is the highest level of league competition in women's football in Scotland. Its two divisions are SWPL (previously styled as ''SWPL 1'') and SWPL 2. The league was formed when the Premier Division of th ...

Senior football

In June 2014, Edusport Academy successfully applied for membership of the semi-professional South of Scotland League in the sixth tier of the

, becoming the first private football academy in the world to operate a team in a

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

-recognised senior league. They made further Scottish football history in a league match against

Creetown Creetown (, ) is a small seaside town in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in Galloway in the Dumfries and Galloway council area in south-west Scotland. Its population is about 750 people. It is situated near the head of Wigtown Bay, west of C ...

in September 2014, when they first fielded a team composed entirely of French nationals. The senior team won two trophies in their first season, the South of Scotland League Cup and the Cree Lodge Cup. They applied to move up a level to the

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) and the Park’s Motor Group Scottish Lowland League for sponsorship reasons is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits a ...

in 2015, but their application was rejected. Edusport Academy won the 2016–17 South of Scotland League title to gain promotion to the Lowland League, the fifth tier of Scottish football. In February 2018, Ewing announced plans to separate the senior team from the academy and attract a fanbase by launching a new online membership scheme, Our Football Club. Members will have voting and decision-making powers, including a say on choosing a new name, crest and colours for the team. They will be able to recommend potential signings, but will have no say on team selection. Ewing stated at the launch of the project that his aim was to reach the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

by 2025. At the start of the 2019–20 season Edusport Academy rebranded the club as the Caledonian Braves following a vote online by members of the Our Football Club.com project. In the first few seasons as a senior club, the Braves found moderate success in the Lowland League, finishing between 8th and 12th place from the curtailed 2019-20 season up until the 2022-23 season. Despite mid-table finishes, the team twice held the record for biggest home wins in the league, defeating Vale of Leithen 9-0 in the 2020-21 season, and defeating Dalbeattie Star 10-0 in the 2022-23 season. The club won the Southern Counties Challenge Cup in 2023, defeating Dalbeattie Star 3-1 in the final held at Galabank. They reached the final the previous year but were defeated 3-2 by the same opposition. The Braves also proved to be a force in the South Challenge Cup, reaching the Round of 16 of the 2021-22 competition, where they were defeated 3-1 by eventual champions Auchinleck Talbot, and reaching the semi-finals in 2022-23, losing 2-1 to eventual champions The Spartans.

Stadium

For the first season, South of Scotland League home matches were played at the Hamilton Palace Sports Ground in

. From 2015 onwards, the team groundshared with Annan Athletic at their

stadium in

. From the start of the 2019–20 Lowland League season, the team play at Alliance Park, their own purpose-built facility at

Bothwellhaugh Bothwellhaugh was a Scotland, Scottish coal mining village, which housed Hamilton Palace Colliery workers and their families. Locals referred to the village as The Pailis, and it was located near the towns of Motherwell, Bellshill and Hamilt ...

near

, North Lanarkshire. The name of the ground, which was voted for by more than 90% of Our Football Club members, was chosen to reflect the unity between the French and Scottish elements of the club.

Current squad

As of 12 June 2025

Club Staff

''As of 10 August 2024''

Season-by-season records

† Season curtailed due to coronavirus pandemic

Honours

* FENIX Trophy **Winners:

2024-25 A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

* Southern Counties Challenge Cup **Winners: 2022–23, 2023–24 **Finalists: 2021–22 * South of Scotland League **Winners: 2016–17 *South of Scotland League Cup **Winners (2): 2014–15, 2015–16 *Cree Lodge Cup **Winners: 2014–15 *Haig Gordon Cup **Winners: 2018–19 *Tweedie Cup **Winners: 2015–16

Affiliated club(s)

Travancore Royals FC The Kerala Premier League is the highest state-level football league organized by the Kerala Football Association and played in the state of Kerala, India. It is the overall fifth tier of the Indian football league system. For sponsorship rea ...

(2021– ) * Sweiqi Braves

References

External links

*
Edusport Academy website
{{Lowland League South of Scotland Football League teams Football clubs in Dumfries and Galloway Sport in Motherwell Football in North Lanarkshire 2011 establishments in Scotland Lowland Football League teams Association football clubs established in 2011