Scottish Football League

The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland.

Founder members

The Scottish League's first season of competition was in 1890-91. The original clubs in membership were:

First single-division period (1890-1893)

The league was formed in the 1890s to provide the growing number of football clubs in the country with a more consistent fixture list.

In its initial season Rangers and Dumbarton topped the league on equal points. No thought of separating teams by goal average, or goal difference had been considered and the two teams played a play-off to decide the winner. The result of the play-off was a 2:2 draw and both teams were declared joint winners, each taking possession of the trophy for six-months. This was first an only occasion in which the Scottish league was tied. Goal average was only brought in for the 1921/22 and replaced by goal difference for the 1971/72 season. ^*

First two-division period (1893-1915)

The league proved to be highly successful, and in 1893 a Second Division was formed by the inclusion of a number of clubs previously in the Scottish Football Alliance. Promotion was initially based on a ballot of clubs; automatic promotion was not introduced until 1922.

Second single-division period (1915-1921)

The onset of World War One saw the Second Division being suspended, not being reintroduced until 1921 when the Central Football League was absorbed as a new division with automatic promotion.

Second two-division period (1921-1923)

First three-division period (1923-1926)

In 1923, the League decided to introduce a Third Division. The Western Football League (in Scotland) was used as its backbone but the new set-up lasted only three years before it collapsed under heavy financial losses.

Third two-division period (1926-1946)

From 1926 until 1946, the League returned to two divisions. Post-World War Two reforms saw the League resume with three divisions.

Second three-division period (1946-1955)

Postwar seasons saw the divisions renamed 'A', 'B' and 'C' with the last section also including reserve sides. In 1949, the 'C' Division was expanded to two sections - North-West and South-East.

Fourth two-division period (1955-1975)

The withdrawal of the reserves from 'C' Division in 1955 saw a return to two divisions which would last until the formation of the Premier Division in 1975.

Third three-division period (1975-1994)

This change of structure split the league into three divisions, Premier, First, and Second Divisions. This permitted more frequent fixtures between the top clubs; the expectation was that meant greater revenue for them, and it was hoped it would stimulate greater interest, at a time when attendance at league matches had dropped alarmingly.

This three-divisional structure (of 38 clubs) continued until 1994.

Four-division period (1994-1998)

After a couple of decades, the league again reorganised, with four divisions of 10 clubs, as Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County were elected to round out the league.

In 2000, following the SPL breakaway, a further round of league enlargement took place with Elgin City and Peterhead joining from the Highland League. This brought the Scottish Leagues up to 42 teams - 12 in the Scottish Premier League, and 10 in each of the three Scottish Football League divisions.

Gala Fairydean have been rejected from the Scottish League at each time of asking, despite having a setup and facilities arguably better than some of their opponents. Other teams that have fallen at this hurdle include Whitehill Welfare.

Fourth three-division period (1998-)

In 1998, the Premier Division clubs, fuelled by a desire to keep a greater share of television monies being raised by the game, split from the league to form the Scottish Premier League (SPL).

The remaining leagues, of ten clubs each, kept their names and the Premier Division was not reconstituted, leaving First, Second, and Third Divisions.

Scottish club Gretna from the English UniBond League were admitted in 2002 to replace the defunct Airdrieonians. Shortly afterwards Airdrie United who'd been snubbed by league members when Gretna were chosen to fill the gap created by Airdrienians demise, simply purchased ailing side Clydebank F.C., renaming then and moving them to Airdrie.

Each season the winners of the First Division are eligible to be promoted to the Scottish Premier League providing their stadium meets certain criteria. As of March 2005, these criteria include priority tenancy or ownership of a stadium with at least 6,000 seats, and an undersoil heating system for the pitch. Falkirk F.C.'s failure to meet these demands resulted in their being refused promotion despite winning the First Division in 2002/03; at that time, the SPL required 10,000 seats for its member clubs. They have since built a new stadium with an all-seater capacity of 6,000, and prompted by a campaign by Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the SPL reduced its seating requirement to 6,000, making them now eligible to join the SPL, having won the First Division again in 2004/05.

Promotion and relegation between the First and Second Division, and the Second and Third Division, are currently decided using a combination of automatic movement and playoffs.

Rangers have won the greatest number of league titles in the league's history, with 51 national championships (including SPL titles) to their name.