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| Full name | Cove Rangers Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Toonsers | |||
| Founded | 1922; 103 years ago (1922) | |||
| Ground | Balmoral Stadium,Altens,Aberdeen | |||
| Capacity | 2,602 (410 seated) | |||
| Chairman | Keith Moorhouse | |||
| Manager | Paul Hartley | |||
| League | Scottish League One | |||
| 2024–25 | Scottish League One, 2nd of 10 | |||
| Website | https://coverangersfc.com/ | |||
Cove Rangers Football Club is a seniorScottishfootball club currently playing inScottish League One. They are based in theAltens area ofAberdeen and play their football atBalmoral Stadium, having left their former home at Allan Park,Cove Bay in April 2015.
Cove were formed in 1922 and played in the local amateur leagues until 1985, when they became ajunior team. However, the club applied and were accepted to theseniorHighland Football League in1986, where they played for 33 seasons. They have also racked up a formidable reputation in the lower rounds of theScottish Cup, reaching the 3rd round three times. In 2001 they won their first Highland League championship – but even more impressively won the 'treble' of Highland League,Aberdeenshire Shield andScottish Qualifying Cup.
In the 2007–08 season, Cove reached round four of the Scottish Cup for the first time, beatingBrora Rangers away 5–0,Keith 3–0 andEdinburgh University 1–0 on the way, before losing 4–2 toRoss County.
However, the southAberdeen side claimed their second everHighland League Championship with a 3–0 home win againstLossiemouth on 3 May 2008.
Cove Rangers were one of the clubs who prepared an application for entry into theScottish Football League followingGretna relinquishing their league status on 3 June 2008. The other clubs wereAnnan Athletic,Preston Athletic andSpartans.[1] Annan Athletic were eventually awarded the place, due to their superior facilities.
One of the club's most famous players is the young Scottish midfielderPaul Coutts who joined EnglishLeague One clubPeterborough United during the summer of 2008 for a nominal fee. Coutts won the club'sYoung Player of the Year award for the 2008–09 season[2] and won eight caps for theScotland under-21 squad, after being touted for a call up by his former managerDarren Ferguson.[3]
In2016 the club regained theirHighland League crown. Due to the introduction of the 'pyramid system' in Scottish football, Cove elected to say goodbye to theirAllan Park home due to the stadium not meetingSPFL minimum stadia requirements. This in turn meant the club played all of their games at an away ground withInverurie Locos,Formartine United andBanks 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 theLowland League,Edinburgh City. The tie was won by City 4–1 on aggregate who subsequently progressed toScottish League Two after beatingEast Stirlingshire in the second playoff tie.
In the2018–19 season they were promoted toSPFL League Two for the first time in their history after defeatingBerwick Rangers 7–0 on aggregate in the League Two play-off.[4]
In their first season in theSPFL, they won League Two after the season was terminated early due to theCoronavirus pandemic.[5] This resulted in back-to-back promotions for Cove, with the club gaining promotion toSPFL League One for the first time.[6]
In their first League One campaign, Cove narrowly lost out on promotion by 4 points to eventual winnersPartick Thistle, finishing 3rd in the League and losing 4–3 on aggregate toAirdrieonians 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 theScottish Championship for the first time in their history. This meant that Cove Rangers achieved three promotions in four seasons: from theHighland League in2019,League Two in2020, andLeague One in2022.
The 2022–23 Championship season saw Cove go into their final match againstGreenock Morton one point ahead ofHamilton Academical at the bottom, however a 1–2 defeat at a foggy Balmoral Stadium coupled with a goalless draw for Hamilton atArbroath 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.
From 1948 to 2015, Cove played at Allan Park, which was located inCove. 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 vsDeveronvale 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.[7]
On Friday, 30 July 2010, an article was placed in the local Aberdeen paper, theEvening Express thatStewart Milne, the chairman ofAberdeen, had bought Allan Park.[7][8] This scheme was thrown into doubt, however, whenAberdeen 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.[9][10] 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 overFort 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 asBalmoral Stadium, is located in Altens, next to a new secondary school, with the merging ofKincorth andTorry 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 atInverurie 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.[11]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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The club's honorary president Alan McRae served asSFA president from 2015 to 2019.[14]
