Cove Rangers Football Club, a senior association football club based in Cove Bay, Aberdeen, Scotland, was founded in 1922. Cove originally played in the Aberdeen Juvenile League before becoming original member of the Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association in 1947. In 1985 the club became a junior team, and then successfully applied to join the senior Highland Football League in 1986, the joint-highest tier of non-league football in Scotland, along with the Lowland Football League, and joint-fifth tier overall in the Scottish football league system. They spent 33 consecutive seasons in the Highland League, winning the competition seven times.

The 2014–15 season saw the introduction of a play-off competition where the champions of the Highland and Lowland Leagues would play each other and the winner plays the club that finished in last place of Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, for a chance to take their place for the following season. If the League Two club wins they retain their league status. All play-off matches are two-legged ties. Cove Rangers first entered the play-offs when they won the 2015–16 Highland Football League, they lost to the Lowland League champions Edinburgh City 4–1 on aggregate in the semi-final. Their next chance at promotion was in the 2017–18 season, they beat The Spartans in the semi-final but lost 3–1 on aggregate to League Two side Cowdenbeath. They won the play-offs in their third attempt after winning the 2018–19 Highland Football League, they beat East Kilbride in the semi-final and Berwick Rangers in the final with a 7–0 aggregate win, earning promotion to the 2019–20 Scottish League Two.

The club's first season in a professional league was a successful one, they played 28 games, won 22, drew two and lost four. The season was suspended on the 13 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and curtailed on the 15 April with the points per game earned by each team to date used to determine the final standings, which resulted in the club finishing in first place, therefore winning the League Two title and earning a second consecutive promotion to League One.

Cove qualified to enter the Scottish Cup nine times before becoming full members of the Scottish Football Association and qualifying automatically each season from 2007–08. Their best run in the cup was reaching the fifth round in the 2017–18 season. After their promotion to League Two in 2019 the club was eligible to participate in the League Cup and Challenge Cup, being eliminated in the group stage and third round respectively.

As at the end of 2020–21, the club's first team had spent 2 seasons in the SPFL and 33 in non-League football (North Junior League and Highland League). The table details their achievements in first-team competitions for each completed season since their first appearance in the Junior League in 1985–86. This list does not include their seasons in local amateur leagues before 1985.

Key

Key to divisions Aberdeenshire Amateur League = Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association League Division One North Junior League East Two = North Junior Football League East Section Division Two Highland League = Highland Football League SPFL League One = Scottish League One SPFL League Two = Scottish League Two

Key to positions and symbols = Champions = Runners-up = Promoted = Relegated

Key to rounds Group = Group stage R1 = First round, etc. — = Did not enter or qualify for the competition N/A = Not eligible to enter the competition

Seasons SeasonLeague recordScottish CupLeague CupChallenge CupDivision1947–48Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—N/AN/A1948–49Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1949–50Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1950–51Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1951–52Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1952–53Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1953–54Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1954–55Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1955–56Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1956–57Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1957–58Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1958–59Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1959–60Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1960–61Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1961–62Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1962–63Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1963–64Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1964–65Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1965–66Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1966–67Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1967–68Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1968–69Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1969–70Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1970–71Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1971–72Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1972–73Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1973–74Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1974–75Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1975–76Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1976–77Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1977–78Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1978–79Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1979–80Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1980–81Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1981–82Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1982–83Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1983–84Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One—1984–85Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One1st—1985–86North Junior League East Two27196210931441st—1986–87Highland League34176117958578th—1987–88Highland League3414101067545210th—1988–89Highland League3421677138692nd—1989–90Highland League3417897259596thR11990–91Highland League3423299552713rdR31991–92Highland League3418976235634th—1992–93Highland League3423477837732ndR31993–94Highland League34204108946644thR21994–95Highland League3018396938572ndR31995–96Highland League3020557435652nd—1996–97Highland League30155108447507th—1997–98Highland League30194710039614th—1998–99Highland League3016598848537th—1999–2000Highland League30126128154428th—2000–01Highland League2620337432631stR22001–02Highland League2812797260436th—2002–03Highland League2814776946494thR22003–04Highland League28761545612710th—2004–05Highland League2816485944526thR22005–06Highland League28126105546428thR22006–07Highland League2813695236456th—2007–08Highland League2819728533641stR42008–09Highland League2822429626701stR32009–10Highland League3423659742752ndR32010–11Highland League34225710043713rdR32011–12Highland League3423749233762ndR22012–13Highland League34255410126801stR32013–14Highland League34167119162557thR22014–15Highland League34227510340733rdR22015–16Highland League3429239828891stR42016–17Highland League34257210930822ndR2Group R22017–18Highland League34293212722901stR5N/AR32018–19Highland League 34303110012931stR2GroupR12019–20SPFL League Two 2822247634681stR2GroupR32020–21SPFL League One2210662818363rdR3GroupNot held2021–22SPFL League One 36231037332411stR4GroupSF2022–23SPFL Championship 367101938753110thR4GroupR32023–24SPFL League One36147155863495thR5GroupR32024–25SPFL League One36169116244572ndR5GroupR3

Notes

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