For the fourth time in their history Fraserburgh are Highland League champions.
Saturday’s 5-0 demolition of Forres Mechanics means Mark Cowie and his players have brought the league championship back to Bellslea for the first time in 20 years.
But Saturday’s win means so much more than that as, for the first time, the door to promotion has opened for the Broch.
Unlike a club like Cove Rangers or Peterhead, who long yearned for the chance to play in the senior leagues, there has never been any strong burning desire on the part of the Broch to leave the Highland League.
But, as the management, players and fans no doubt nurse their sore heads today, you can be sure there has been more than a second’s thought given to the possibility of heading into uncharted territory by competing in the SPFL next season.
Promotion an unprecedented opportunity for Fraserburgh
When Fraserburgh last won the title in 2002, the league championship was the prize itself. It was a cherished one, too, given it was the Broch’s first in 64 years.
But, in 2022, the league title – as precious as it may be – is only the first step.
A new, as yet untried challenge awaits as the Broch head to Lowland League champions Bonnyrigg Rose in the play-off semi-final first leg at New Dundas Park.
Fraserburgh have never been a club to go shouting from the rooftops about their plans.
Holding off the challenge of a resilient Buckie to clinch the title is a fantastic achievement and one which they should be rightly proud of.
But beating the Lowland League champions and then Cowdenbeath to join Elgin City in League Two next season? That sounds like fun.
That’s the Broch mindset.
Broch will relish underdog status
Everything tells you they would be overmatched in the SPFL.
The travelling costs are one thing, but the Broch’s historic policy of employing players almost exclusively from Aberdeen and the surrounding Shire would be tested, too.
After all, Fraserburgh is about as far away from the central belt talent pool as you can get. Even a few short miles along the Buchan coast, Peterhead have had to cast their net wide in the search for players to compete in League One.
But don’t believe for a second Broch manager Cowie and his players fear that challenge.
If anything they would see it as an opportunity to do something no other side in the club’s history can lay claim to – represent the town in the senior ranks.
The SPFL is something new, something different, something to aim for – and now the chance is theirs, you can bet everyone at Fraserburgh will be determined to give it their all.
It will not be easy though.
Lowland League champions Bonnyrigg are no strangers to the Highland League having beaten Forres Mechanics 2-0 at Mosset Park in the first round tie in the Scottish Cup back in September.
They dearly hope their match against East Kilbride on Saturday was their last in the Lowland League as they look to follow Kelty Hearts in winning promotion to the League Two.
While Fraserburgh’s title challenge went to the final day of the season Bonnyrigg have been champions for weeks after winning the division by 14 points.
Whether the chance to rest up in preparation for the play-offs will be a factor remains to be seen.
But it is clear a titanic two legs now loom large with the winners going on to face Cowdenbeath, who beat the Broch 1-0 in the Challenge Cup in August thanks to Liam Buchanan’s injury time goal, for the right to compete in the SPFL next season.
