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 Highland Football League in
1986, where they played for 33 seasons. They have also racked up a formidable reputation in the lower rounds of the
Scottish 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 and
Scottish Qualifying Cup. 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
Edinburgh University 1–0 on the way, before losing 4–2 to
Ross County. However, the south
Aberdeen side claimed their second ever
Highland League Championship with a 3–0 home win against
Lossiemouth on 3 May 2008. Cove Rangers were one of the clubs who prepared an application for entry into the
Scottish Football League following
Gretna relinquishing their league status on 3 June 2008. The other clubs were
Annan Athletic,
Preston Athletic and
Spartans. 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 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 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 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 7–0 on aggregate in the League Two play-off. In their first season in the
SPFL, they won League Two after the season was terminated early due to the
Coronavirus pandemic. 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, 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 for the first time in their history. This meant that Cove Rangers achieved three promotions in four seasons: from the
Highland League in
2019,
League Two in
2020, and
League One in
2022. 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
Arbroath 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 ==