The Scottish FA membership has officially approved a resolution to restructure the fifth tier of Scottish football.
This move will see the current Lowland League replaced by two new regional divisions: the Lowland League East and Lowland League West.
These changes will take effect from the beginning of the 2026/27 season and mark a significant overhaul of the national football pyramid.
The revamped Tier 5 structure will feature the two new Lowland Leagues operating alongside the existing Highland League, creating a three-league fifth tier.
Each Lowland League will comprise 16 teams, with promotion and relegation systems linked to the surrounding non-league structures.
While the restructure will not come into force until the 2026/27 campaign, the upcoming 2025/26 season will act as a transition year, particularly for clubs in the West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL).
A minimum of eight WoSFL clubs could be promoted to the new Lowland League West at the end of the campaign, with no teams relegated from any WoSFL division, as confirmed at the league’s AGM before the end of last season.
Promotion eligibility is also contingent on Scottish FA licensing, with only clubs holding an SFA Membership Licence able to be promoted to Tier 5.
From 2026/27 onwards, the new Tier 5 setup will see each Lowland League operate with promotion and relegation to and from their respective regional leagues, such as the WoSFL and East of Scotland League.
The three champions of the Highland League, Lowland League East, and Lowland League West will enter a round-robin play-off.
The winner of that mini-league will then face the bottom club in SPFL League 2 in a two-legged tie for a place in the professional leagues.
At the other end, one team will be relegated from each Lowland League annually, with the corresponding regional champion replacing them, again, subject to licensing.
2 Responses
Do you know how many teams will gain promotion this season from the East of Scotland Premier League?
My team is Musselburgh Athletic. They won the league last season, & are currently involved in a 5 team race to win it again. My calculation, is that there are 13 east of scotland teams in the present Lowland league, leaving 3 spaces in a 16 team league. Of course it depends on the who gets relegated this season, & if Brechin gain promotion.
The other issue is the Midland league. Keen to the answer to this conundrum. Thanks.
Short answer: there isn’t a single fixed number — it depends on the reconstruction/allocation process and which clubs meet SFA licensing/FFP criteria.
What the rules actually say (the important bits)
• The Lowland League is being split into Lowland League East and Lowland League West for 2026–27. There will be no relegation from the Lowland League at the end of 2025–26 because 2025–26 is a transition season. 
• The two new Lowland divisions will aim for up to 16 clubs each. The existing Lowland clubs will be split geographically into East and West and will form the core of those new divisions. Any remaining places in Lowland League East will be filled on an alternating basis by the highest-placed eligible (SFA-licensed and FFP-compliant) clubs from the East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) and the Midlands Football League (MFL) until the places are filled. (If two clubs are tied in eligibility the Lowland board can require a play-off.) 
• The practical consequence: promotion from the EoSFL this season is conditional — it depends on
1. how many Lowland clubs fall inside the East geographic footprint (they take up slots in Lowland East),
2. whether any clubs are relegated into the Lowland East / moved from Highland/SPFL (which can change slot math), and
3. which EoSFL/Midlands clubs finish highest and hold the required SFA licence and meet FFP rules. 
Putting that against your calculation
Your thinking (13 East-of-Scotland clubs already in the current Lowland League → 3 vacancies in a 16-team East division) is a sensible back-of-the-envelope approach — but it’s incomplete because:
• the exact number of “East footprint” Lowland clubs that will form the Lowland East core is set by the geographic split (the Lowland Board will decide), and
• those remaining slots will then be allocated alternately between EoSFL and Midlands clubs by finishing position and licensing. So — depending on results and licences — the EoSFL could supply zero, one, several, or most of the promoted clubs in practice. 
Bottom line for Musselburgh Athletic
If Musselburgh win the EoSFL Premier and they have (or gain) an SFA licence and meet the Lowland League entry criteria, they will be in the running to move up under the reconstruction rules — and quite likely to be chosen because the allocation alternates between the two feeder leagues and the champion will be a high-priority eligible club. But there is no guaranteed fixed number from the EoSFL printed in the rules — it’s a conditional allocation process.