Brora Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club from the village of Brora, Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. They play in the , of which they have been champions five times, having won their first title in 2013âÂÂ14 and successfully defended it in the 2014âÂÂ15 season. They were awarded the title in the 2019âÂÂ20 and 2020âÂÂ21 seasons which were incomplete due to the coronavirus pandemic and would win it again on goal difference in 2024âÂÂ25.
They have won the North of Scotland Cup nine times and the Highland League Cup on three occasions.
Nicknamed the Cattachs, Brora Rangers play at Dudgeon Park, Brora, and hold a rivalry with neighbours Wick Academy, in the Northern Derby.
Brora Rangers were founded in 1879. In 1933 they gained access to membership of the Scottish Football Association and entered the draw for the Scottish Qualifying Cup competition. They were accepted into membership of the Highland Football League in 1962.
They won the North of Scotland Qualifying Cup competition in their centenary year, 1979, when they defeated Peterhead 5âÂÂ0 on 17 November after a replay at Grant Street Park, Inverness, the teams having played a goal-less draw the previous week.
The club won their first ever Highland Football League title in the 2013âÂÂ14 season after a 3âÂÂ0 win against Keith on 5 March at Kynoch Park. They are the most northerly club to win the League title to date. They set several postwar Highland League records over the season: most points (95), greatest margin of victory in the league (20 points), highest win rate (31 out of 34), fewest goals conceded (16) and highest positive goal difference (+107). They ended the season with a 19-game unbeaten run which subsequently carried on into the 2014âÂÂ15 season. With a draw against Fraserburgh in their 38th and final match of the year (across two seasons), Brora achieved the distinction of being unbeaten in league matches for the whole of 2014. Their unbeaten run in the Highland League eventually extended to 57 matches across three seasons, ending with a 3âÂÂ0 defeat by Cove Rangers on 22 August 2015.
For the 2014âÂÂ15 season, they started in the second round of the 2014âÂÂ15 Scottish Cup, and they played for the first time in the 2014âÂÂ15 Scottish Challenge Cup but lost in the second round to East Fife 3âÂÂ2. The club retained its Highland League title in the 2014âÂÂ15 season, scoring a postwar record of 125 goals in a Highland League season, beating Inverness Thistle's previous postwar record of 124 in the 1969âÂÂ70 season. With a record of 30 wins and 4 draws Brora ended the season as unbeaten champions, and were only the second club to complete an unbeaten season in the postwar era (following Caledonian in 1982âÂÂ83). As Highland League champions, Brora entered the newly introduced promotion playoffs against Lowland League champions Edinburgh City. They won 4âÂÂ2 in a penalty shootout after a 2âÂÂ2 aggregate draw, with Stuart Kettlewell scoring the winner on 2 May. Brora played off against Montrose, the bottom-placed club in Scottish League Two, for a place in League Two for the 2015âÂÂ16 season. After winning their home leg 1âÂÂ0, Brora suffered a 3âÂÂ1 defeat in the away game, thereby losing 3âÂÂ2 on aggregate to remain in the Highland League.
The prospect of a future promotion to the national leagues has proven controversial due to the distances that players and supporters would be expected to travel to many of the away games. Before the 2014âÂÂ15 season began, it had been suggested that supporters would be allowed to vote on whether the club should join the Scottish Professional Football League were it to qualify for promotion. However following Brora's successful defence of their Highland League title, chairman John Young said that the club had "looked at all options and there's no way we can avoid competing. We meet SPFL criteria for entry level so we canâÂÂt opt out, weâÂÂve got to go for it." Besides the impact on the club, it has been suggested that Brora itself would benefit economically from players and supporters of Southern clubs visiting the town.
The 2019âÂÂ20 season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Brora were declared Highland League champions. They were due to progress to the playoffs with the Lowland League winner and the bottom club in League Two, but they were never held.
On 23 March 2021, in the 2020âÂÂ21 Scottish Cup, Brora upset runaway Championship leaders and the previous season's Scottish Cup finalists, Heart of Midlothian, 2âÂÂ1 at Dudgeon Park, described as one of Scotland's biggest cup shocks of all time.
For the second consecutive season, Brora were declared champions of the 2020âÂÂ21 Highland Football League on a points per game formula due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was announced by the Highland Football League on 30 March 2021.
Brora originally played at Inverbrora Park, which is now the site of the Hunters of Brora woollen mills, before moving to Dudgeon Park in 1932. The ground's capacity is 4,000, including 200 seats. The record attendance was set in 2013 when over 2,000 people watched Brora play Rangers in a friendly match.
<nowiki>*</nowiki><small>Awarded following a vote of the league's member clubs. Seasons 2019âÂÂ20 and 2020âÂÂ21 were incomplete due to the coronavirus pandemic.</small>