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82-624: Irish League may refer to: Sport [ edit ] Former name of the Northern Ireland Football League , the national association football league of Northern Ireland Irish League representative team League of Ireland , the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland Irish Elite League , in rugby league Irish Baseball League Politics [ edit ] Irish National Land League ,

164-491: A +34 goal difference to Crusaders' +26. Before goal difference was introduced, if the top two teams finished the season with the same number of points, the championship title was decided by a play-off. Nine such championship play-offs took place over the years as follows: On seven occasions, a team has completed a league campaign unbeaten. Linfield have done so four times, but with fewer fixtures relative to Belfast Celtic's unbeaten seasons in 1926–27 and 1928–29. Glentoran were

246-864: A 2–0 win against Crusaders . This was the club's first league title. Originally formed in 1890, the Irish Football League, is the second-oldest national league in the world, being formed a week earlier than the Scottish Football League . Only the English Football League is older. (The Dutch Football League formed properly on the same year as the Scottish and Irish leagues, making it the first league in Continental Europe. Although it did have two previous seasons, thus making it equal in duration with

328-565: A breakaway Premier League , signing an exclusive television contract with Sky. Live Scottish Premier Division games were shown on STV during the 1990s, but the top division clubs formed the breakaway Scottish Premier League in 1998 and signed an exclusive broadcast contract with Sky. This left the remaining Scottish Football League clubs without live coverage, although STV continued to show highlights of First Division games in their Football First show. Scots Gaelic channel BBC Alba provided coverage of Scottish Football League games, including

410-580: A dispute between the League and the broadcasters. The birth of satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting (Sky TV) changed the situation significantly. As ITV had an exclusive contract for live coverage of games in the English league , the first match shown on Sky was a Scottish Premier Division match between Rangers and Dundee United in April 1991. A year later, the top division English clubs formed

492-478: A knockout competition for members was introduced, known as the B Division Knockout Cup and sponsored by Smirnoff . It was discontinued after 2002, but a new IFA Intermediate League Cup was played between 2004 and 2008, sponsored in its first season by the Daily Mirror and thereafter by Carnegie. In 2008–09, there was no knockout competition for Championship clubs, who participated with Premiership clubs in

574-615: A league below (a rump Irish Football League in 2003–04 and subsequently the IFA Intermediate League ). In 2008, with the creation of the IFA Premiership, the league was reduced to twelve. The Northern Ireland Football League was formed in 2013 to assume independent collective management of the top three levels of the Northern Ireland football league system , which had been under the direct management of

656-420: A limited company, the 36 member clubs act as shareholders with one vote each. The NIFL is the successor to the Irish Football League, which, upon its formation in 1890, was historically the league for the entire island of Ireland until it became Northern Ireland's national league after the partition of Ireland in 1921. Larne are the current champions, after winning the 2022–23 title on 14 April 2023 with

738-579: A membership of eight was achieved for the 1901–02 season. With the exception of one season (1912–13) in which there were ten clubs, membership stayed at eight until the southern clubs resigned in 1920, anticipating the formation of the separate League of Ireland in what would become the Irish Free State . (The League was suspended from 1915 to 1919 because of the First World War.) Prior to the split, three southern clubs had participated in

820-811: A play-off or series of play-offs. In 2023 the Northern Ireland Intermediate League announced that it would cease to exist due to a number of clubs deciding to join other regional leagues within the league system, thus leaving three regional leagues below the Premier Intermediate League. In 2013, the Northern Ireland Football League assumed responsibility from the IFA for the Championship, which became two intermediate divisions of

902-431: A political organization active from 1879 to 1882 Irish League (or L'Association Irlandaise) founded by Maud Gonne in 1896 United Irish League , a nationalist political party founded in 1898 and active until the early 1920s Irish Dominion League Irish Self-Determination League See also [ edit ] Gaelic League (Irish: Conradh na Gaeilge ), a social and cultural organisation which promotes

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984-423: A pyramid system was introduced, with the possibility of promotion and relegation between Championship 2 and the four regional intermediate leagues, namely the: Clubs in these leagues may only gain promotion to the Championship if they win their respective league championship and meet the necessary criteria. In the event that more than one league champion meets the criteria, only one will be promoted, to be decided by

1066-698: A separate league and association (the Football Association of the Irish Free State – now called the Football Association of Ireland ) – being formed for the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland ). The league's records from its days in operation as the league for all of Ireland stand as the records for Northern Ireland (as is the case for the Northern Ireland national football team ). In its first season, seven of

1148-574: A total of £1.46 million. By 1990, this source of income had been overtaken by revenue from sponsorships and television rights. As of 1990, 75% of these central revenues were split equally between the 38 member clubs, with the remaining 25% allocated according to each club's position in the league ladder. During the 1970s and 1980s, the main terrestrial television companies ( STV and BBC Scotland ) produced shows ( Scotsport and Sportscene respectively) containing highlights of league matches. The revenues from these broadcasts were relatively small, with

1230-407: A year earlier in 2012. Three clubs – Cliftonville , Glentoran and Linfield – have retained unbroken membership since 1890: 130 years and 119 seasons (due to eleven suspended seasons). In 1891, the league expanded to ten clubs, but shrank again after only one season to six clubs for the 1892–93 season. Only four clubs competed in 1892–93 and 1893–94, then six clubs for the following season, until

1312-755: Is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland . From its foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League (SPL) was formed in 1998, the SFL was the top level of football in Scotland . After 1998, the SFL represented levels 2 to 4 of the Scottish football league system . In June 2013, the SFL merged with the SPL to form the Scottish Professional Football League . The SFL

1394-731: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Northern Ireland Football League In addition to the league divisions, the NIFL also operates the Northern Ireland Football League Cup for its member clubs, as well as the NIFL Development League and George Wilson Cup for their reserve teams, and the NIFL Youth League and NIFL Youth League Cup for their youth teams. Operated as

1476-591: Is not wholly suited to the modern-day business environment, or the size of the league. In March 2007, a self-conducted review found the league to be three times more expensive to run than equivalent leagues in England, with a report stating the league structure was "outdated": the report found that the Football Conference had four employees looking after 68 clubs, while the SFL had 14 people running leagues with just 30 clubs. No clubs were relegated from

1558-514: Is the only occasion in the league's history that the title has been shared. Using the modern award of 3 points for a win, Distillery would have been crowned champions by one point. However, if goal difference had been used instead, Cliftonville would have won the title with a goal difference of +9 compared to Distillery's +7. In the 1992–93 season, Linfield became the first club to win the championship on goal difference, when they finished level on 66 points with Crusaders , but eight goals better with

1640-446: The 2017–18 season , losing just once in 38 league games. A total of 46 different clubs have been members of the senior league since its inception - ten of which have been members for only one season. The newest members are Warrenpoint Town , who joined the league in 2013 for the first time. That was the second consecutive season that a new member club had made its first appearance in the league, following Ballinamallard United 's debut

1722-497: The Central Football League was absorbed as a new division with automatic promotion. Note: in contemporary sources the divisions were often referred to as 'First' and 'Second' rather than 'One' and 'Two'; the latter format has been used throughout the site to avoid confusion with the league's First and Second Division , each one tier lower than their predecessor, introduced in the 1970s (see below). In 1923,

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1804-850: The Irish Football Association took direct charge of Northern Ireland's top flight with the creation of the Irish Premier League (IPL). As in England and Scotland , the old Irish Football League retained a separate existence, but controlling only two feeder leagues: the First Division and Second Division. In 2004, the IFA took over control of the remaining IFL divisions and renamed them as the IFA Intermediate League First Division and Second Division, effectively winding up

1886-651: The Irish Football Association : namely the IFA Premiership and both divisions of the IFA Championship. In 2016, the NIFL Championship was given senior status. Listed below are all the senior League members from 1890 up to and including the 2022–23 season in the following competitions: Bold – a current member Italics – a club no longer in existence, or no longer competing in Northern Irish football Between 1995–96 and 2002–03,

1968-656: The Irish League B Division (latterly known as the Irish League Second Division ). The B Division of the Irish League was founded in 1951, and originally consisted of the reserve teams of the senior Irish League clubs alongside some of the top intermediate clubs. The B Division was split geographically into North and South sections in 1974 (with a play-off to determine the winners in 1974–75 and 1975–76), and then into Section 1 (containing

2050-638: The Irish League Cup . In the 2009–10 season only, however, while Championship 1 clubs continued to participate in the Irish League Cup, a Championship 2 League Cup was inaugurated for those in Championship 2. From 2010–11 onwards, all Championship clubs from divisions 1 and 2 also competed in the Irish League Cup, and the Championship 2 League Cup was abolished. Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League ( SFL )

2132-754: The Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Challenge Cup . The League Cup was established in 1946, succeeding the wartime Southern League Cup. Unlike the Scottish Cup , organised by the Scottish Football Association , the League Cup was only open to Scottish Football League clubs. Scottish Premier League clubs continued to participate in the League Cup after the top tier clubs broke away in 1998. Until

2214-594: The Scottish League Cup first attracting sponsorship in 1979. The competition was revamped in 1984, adopting a straight knock-out format, when Skol Lager began its sponsorship. The Co-operative Insurance company sponsored the League Cup for 12 seasons, until the 2010–11 competition. It has since been sponsored by the Scottish Government , under the name of the Scottish Communities League Cup . The Scottish Challenge Cup

2296-491: The Troubles after the League voted narrowly to continue a ban on their home ground imposed by the security forces, even after the security forces had lifted it. Historically, with relatively few league fixtures each season, the Irish League organised a number of other competitions for its members. While some of these once enjoyed considerable prestige, they have been phased out over the years due to fixture congestion caused by

2378-571: The 1890–91 season for playing against St Bernard's , who had been found guilty of concealed professionalism. Renton raised an action against the SFA in the Court of Session and won, which meant that their SFA and SFL memberships were restored. In the 1890–91 season, Rangers and Dumbarton were level at the top of the league on 29 points. The teams drew 2–2 in a play-off match, but no further thought had been given to separating teams by another method and

2460-502: The Challenge Cup, from its launch in 2008. Live coverage on English language channels returned to Scottish Football League games in the 2012–13 season, as Sky and ESPN agreed contracts to show Third Division matches involving Rangers . These arrangements secured revenues that had been under threat due to the financial collapse of Rangers . Of the original SFL clubs, Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, St Mirren and Dumbarton are

2542-402: The Challenge Cup, to give a round number of 32 clubs participating. Both the League Cup and the Challenge Cup continued under the auspices of the Scottish Professional Football League . From 1985, the League accepted sponsorships for its main competition. Below is a list of sponsors and the League's name under their sponsorship: The League's cup competitions have had different sponsors, with

Irish League - Misplaced Pages Continue

2624-531: The EFL, these two seasons did not have an equal number of matches per club). The Irish Football League was originally formed as the football league for, in theory, all of Ireland (although, for cultural reasons , all of its member clubs were in fact based in two zones: initially in what would become Northern Ireland, and, from 1900, in Dublin). It became the league for Northern Ireland in 1921 after partition , with

2706-624: The Irish Football League after 114 years. The first ever Irish League match to be broadcast live on television took place on 24 September 2007 when Sky Sports showed Cliftonville and Linfield draw 2–2 at Solitude . In 2008, the IFA took over responsibility for the Senior League under the name IFA Premiership , and the IFA Intermediate League was replaced by the IFA Championship . After five years under

2788-459: The Irish League split in 1921, Glenavon was the only non-Belfast team left. No southern clubs (from what would become the Irish Free State and later the Republic of Ireland ) ever won the championship. The highest place achieved by any of these clubs was second, by Shelbourne in 1906–07. During the 1920s, however, the league expanded and soon achieved a wide geographic spread across Northern Ireland. Nonetheless, no club from outside Belfast won

2870-605: The Irish language Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Irish League . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Irish_League&oldid=1255730185 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Political party disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing Irish-language text Short description

2952-483: The League championship for the first 62 years of its existence, until Glenavon took it to County Armagh in 1951–52. In 1957–58, Ards became the first team from County Down to win the League, and in 1964–65, Derry City were the first County Londonderry club to do so. Derry City – now of the League of Ireland – played in the Irish League from 1929 until 1972 and won the title in 1965, but eventually resigned during

3034-443: The League decided to introduce a third tier. The Western League was used as its backbone but the new set-up lasted only three years before it collapsed under heavy financial losses. From 1926 until 1946, the League reverted to two divisions with many of the third tier clubs joining the second iteration of Scottish Football Alliance. Post- World War II reforms saw the League resume with three divisions, renamed 'A', 'B' and 'C' with

3116-536: The League had a record twenty clubs in membership. From 1999 to 2002, ten clubs each competed in the Premier and First Divisions and in 2002–03 there were twelve in the Premier Division and eight in the First Division. In 2003, with the creation of the Irish Premier League, the senior league was reduced to a single division of sixteen clubs, although for the first time with relegation to, and promotion from,

3198-478: The League was divided into two divisions (the Premier and First Divisions) of eight in 1995, with promotion and relegation between the two. In 1996 the results from the Premier Division and the First Division started to be featured on the Press Association vidiprinter . In 1997, membership increased again to eighteen, with ten in the Premier Division and eight in the First Division. Between 1999 and 2003,

3280-880: The League: Bohemians , Shelbourne and Tritonville . In the early years, Army regiments stationed in Ireland had also participated in the League: the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1891–92; the North Staffordshire Regiment for three seasons from 1896–99; the Royal Scots in 1899–1900 and the King's Own Scottish Borderers in 1903–04. Only five and six clubs competed in 1920–21 and from 1921–23 respectively, but expansion began with

3362-518: The NIFL and was renamed as the NIFL Championship. In 2016, Championship 1 acquired senior status and Championship 2 was renamed as the Premier Intermediate League, thus succeeding the Championship as the top intermediate league in Northern Ireland. Listed below are the 38 member clubs for the 2023–24 season. Country coefficient for 2023–24: Clubs in italics either no longer exist (Belfast Celtic, Queen's Island) or no longer compete for

Irish League - Misplaced Pages Continue

3444-803: The Scottish Football League to form the Scottish Premier League . The remaining Scottish Football League divisions continued as before. The SFL was the organising body of the Scottish Football League XI , a select side which represented the SFL in matches against other leagues, including the English Football League , the League of Ireland , the Northern Irish league and the Italian Serie A . These matches began in 1892, soon after

3526-482: The admission of four new clubs in 1923, another two in 1924 and a further two in 1927, giving a membership of fourteen from 1927 until the League was suspended in 1940 because of the Second World War. When the League resumed in 1947 it was reduced to twelve clubs, and stayed at this number until 1983 when membership was increased to fourteen. In 1990, a further two clubs brought the membership to sixteen, and

3608-513: The agreement was that the SPL would expand to 12 clubs in 2000. The SFL then took in two new members to replace the two clubs lost to the SPL; Highland League clubs Elgin City and Peterhead were admitted, increasing the total number of clubs in the Scottish football league system to 42. From 2005, the SFL determined a promotion and relegation place between each division according to playoffs between four clubs. The playoffs were contested between

3690-608: The auspices of the IFA, it was decided to create a single Northern Ireland Football League to assume responsibility for all the national leagues from the 2013–14 season. The NIFL Premier Intermediate League , as the highest-level of intermediate football in Northern Ireland, is the successor to the intermediate-status IFA Championship (2008-16), IFA Intermediate League (2004-08), the Irish Football League First Division (2003-04) during its last season (when it had intermediate status), and ultimately

3772-489: The bottom end of the Scottish Football League, although there were changes of membership due to clubs going out of business. The Scottish Football Association were keen for a pyramid system to be instituted. SFL First Division clubs wanted to gain a greater share of the media revenue generated by the SPL. In 2013, both the SPL and SFL voted in favour of merging to form the new Scottish Professional Football League . The number of divisions and clubs in each division remained

3854-615: The championship was shared. Goal average was introduced for the 1921–22 season and replaced by goal difference for the 1971–72 season. The league proved to be highly successful, and in 1893, a second tier 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. The onset of World War I saw Division Two but not Division One being suspended, not restarting again until 1921 when

3936-400: The city) and Ross County were elected to round out the league. At the same time, the SFL adopted the system of three points for a win . In 1998 the Premier Division clubs 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. Part of

4018-434: The companies paying less than £1000 per match in the mid-1970s. BBC Radio Scotland had exclusive rights for live radio coverage of matches at this time, with independent stations such as Radio Clyde providing coverage via score updates and analysis. The first live television broadcast of a Scottish league match was not until April 1986. Earlier in the 1985–86 season, there had been no television coverage at all due to

4100-483: The conclusion of the 1960–61 competition, as fixture congestion meant that the cup could not be completed before the end of the previous season. The record for consecutive league titles is six, which has been achieved by two clubs. Belfast Celtic won five consecutive titles between 1935–36 and 1939–40, before the suspension of the league in 1940 due to World War II . On the resumption of the league in 1947–48 they won their sixth consecutive title, albeit eight years after

4182-402: The eight teams came from Belfast , and the league – and Irish football – continued to be dominated by Belfast clubs for many years. In 1892, Derry Olympic became the second non-Belfast side, but only lasted for one season. In 1900, Derry Celtic joined the league and, in 1901, a second Derry team, St Columb's Court , was added. St Columb's Court lasted just one season, before being replaced by

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4264-489: The end of the 2015–16 season, the Championship acquired senior status and the league reverted to two senior divisions, with promotion and relegation between those divisions, and between the second senior tier (the Championship) and the top intermediate division below (now NIFL Premier Intermediate League ). † Elected to senior football ‡ Promoted to senior football ‡ Promoted to senior football In 1982,

4346-948: The expansion of the league, and reduced spectator interest. These competitions were: the City Cup ; the Gold Cup ; the Ulster Cup and the Irish League Floodlit Cup . In addition, clubs still compete in their respective regional cup competitions: the County Antrim Shield (for clubs within the jurisdiction of the North-East Ulster F.A., also known as the County Antrim & District F.A.); the Mid-Ulster Cup (for clubs within

4428-468: The feat of winning seven trophies; the Irish League, Irish Cup ; City Cup , Gold Cup ; County Antrim Shield ; Belfast Charities Cup and Alhambra Cup. In 1961–62, the club achieved a similar feat, winning six trophies; the Irish League; Irish Cup ; City Cup , Gold Cup ; Ulster Cup and County Antrim Shield . They also lifted the North-South Cup as a seventh trophy, however that was actually

4510-486: The fifth. Linfield are the only club to achieve six consecutive titles without a hiatus, from 1981–82 to 1986–87. The longest gap between title wins is the 88 years separating Cliftonville 's wins in 1909–10 and 1997–98. A total of 12 different clubs have won the championship, Linfield holding the record for the most wins (56). In the 1905–06 season, the championship title was shared after Cliftonville and Distillery could not be separated after two play-off matches. This

4592-493: The formation of the Scottish Football Association (SFA). During the next 15 years or so, clubs would play friendly matches , Scottish Cup ties and local cup (e.g. Glasgow Cup or East of Scotland Shield ) ties. The Football League , initially containing clubs from the North West and Midlands of England, was formed in 1888. This had been done in response to the professionalisation of football in England in 1885, with

4674-426: The foundation of the SFL. Before the Second World War, inter-league matches were only second in importance to Scotland international matches. After the war, however, the inter-league matches became less important as European club football was instituted and clubs withdrew players due to fixture congestion. The last inter-league match was played in 1980, while a Scottish Football League XI was last selected in 1990 for

4756-479: The founder members would leave the league before 1900. The Scottish Football League (SFL) was inaugurated on 30 April 1890. The first season of competition, 1890–91 , commenced with 11 clubs because St Bernard's were not elected. The eleven original clubs in membership were Abercorn , Cambuslang , Celtic , Cowlairs , Dumbarton , Heart of Midlothian , Rangers , Renton , St Mirren , Third Lanark and Vale of Leven . Renton were expelled after five games of

4838-403: The intermediate clubs) and Section 2 (the reserve teams of senior clubs) in 1977. In 1999, the B Division Section 1 was renamed as the Irish League Second Division , and Section 2 became the Reserve League . There was never any automatic promotion and relegation between either the B Division or Second Division and the senior Irish League. In 2003, the Irish Premier League was formed by

4920-438: The jurisdiction of the Mid-Ulster F.A.); and the North West Senior Cup (for clubs within the jurisdiction of the North-Western F.A.). From 1995–96 until 2002–03, the senior League was split into two divisions: the Premier Division and First Division. From 2003-16, there was a single division, albeit with relegation to intermediate leagues below, and from 2016 there are two senior divisions (Premiership and Championship). In 2003,

5002-541: The last club to finish an entire league season unbeaten, when they won the 1980–81 Irish League title by two points after completing 22 league games without defeat. They again came close in the 1991–92 Irish League season, losing only once in 30 league games. Linfield also came close in the 2003–04 Irish Premier League season, when they too lost just one league game all season. Across the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, Linfield lost just two out of 60 league games in two seasons - one in each season. Coleraine also came close in

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5084-414: The last section also including reserve sides . In 1947, league championship trophies were introduced for the first time for the top two divisions, until then only flags had been presented to the winners. The new trophies were engraved with the names of all previous winners. In 1949, the 'C' Division was expanded to two sections – South-East (North-East from 1950) and South-West. The withdrawal of

5166-434: The league was split into two divisions, with promotion and relegation between the two as follows. At the end of the 2002–03 season, the league was reformed as the single-division Irish Premier League. Four clubs were relegated to intermediate football, and from then until 2014-15 there was relegation and promotion between a single senior Irish League division and the top intermediate league below (now NIFL Championship ). At

5248-468: The league's first Dublin team, Bohemians , in 1902. Another Dublin side, Shelbourne , was added in 1904. In 1911 Glenavon , from the County Armagh town of Lurgan replaced Bohemians, who resigned from the league, but were re-admitted in 1912. During 1912 there were three Dublin sides, with the addition of Tritonville, but, like Derry Olympic and St Columb's Court before them, they lasted just one season. Derry Celtic also dropped out in 1913, so that when

5330-457: The mid-1990s, the competition winner was eligible to participate in the UEFA Cup , but this was discontinued due to a loss of European places. The Scottish Challenge Cup was instituted in 1990, to celebrate the League's centenary. The Challenge Cup was only open to Scottish Football League clubs outside the top division of the Scottish football league system . From 2011, two Highland Football League clubs were allowed to participate each year in

5412-481: The ninth placed (second bottom) club in the higher division and the second, third and fourth placed clubs in the lower division. It was therefore possible for a team finishing fourth in the Second Division or Third Division to be promoted, rather than the clubs finishing immediately above them in the standings. It was also possible for the ninth placed club to retain their position in the higher division. Our review of non-financial matters indicate an organisation which

5494-414: The only clubs today playing in the successor Scottish Professional Football League . Every other club is either defunct or out of the League. When the Scottish Football League was established in 1890, all of the clubs played in just one division. In 1893 the Scottish Football League absorbed many clubs from the Scottish Football Alliance and had enough clubs to form another division. The existing division

5576-403: The organisation of a league. All of the clubs accepted the invitation, except Queen's Park and Clyde . Amateur club Queen's Park, who were the oldest organised club in Scotland and had played a key role in the development of football, were opposed to the league because it would lead to professionalism and eliminate many of the smaller clubs. These concerns were to prove well-founded, as six of

5658-402: The regular diet of league fixtures replacing the haphazard arrangement of friendlies. Many Scottish players, known as the Scotch Professors , moved to the English league clubs to receive the relatively high salaries on offer. This prompted Scottish clubs into thinking about forming their own league. In March 1890, the secretary of Renton wrote to thirteen other clubs inviting them to discuss

5740-432: The reserves from 'C' Division in 1955 saw a return to two divisions with the 5 first teams in Division C being given automatic promotion. There were then 18 clubs in Division A and 19 in Division B. In 1956 the divisions were renamed Division 1 and Division 2. Clydebank were elected to Division Two as the 20th club in 1966, but following the demise of Third Lanark in 1967, Division Two kept operating with just 19 clubs;

5822-450: The restructuring, a new club entered the league, Meadowbank Thistle (which would eventually become Livingston ). This three-divisional structure of 38 clubs continued until 1994. After a couple of decades, in 1994 the league again reorganised (following an attempted 'Super League' breakaway by the top clubs in 1992) with four divisions of 10 teams, as Highland League clubs Inverness Caledonian Thistle (a merger of two existing clubs in

5904-459: The same, but there were changes to the financial distribution model. The first club to be promoted to the SPFL from the new Lowland League via playoffs was Edinburgh City in 2016 at the expense of East Stirlingshire , while in 2019 Cove Rangers were the first Highland League champions to go up, replacing Berwick Rangers . The Scottish Football League organised two knock-out cup competitions:

5986-453: The situation would not be corrected until the next change of format, which happened in 1975. 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. One year before

6068-407: The title (Derry City). The first Irish League champions were Linfield , and the first runners-up were Ulster . Of the 122 completed championships, the title has only been taken out of Belfast on eleven occasions. The last club to do so was Larne in 2022–23 season. The clubs first Irish league title. 21 years since Portadown did so in 2001-02 season. In 1921–22, Linfield famously achieved

6150-639: The top sixteen senior teams in the senior Irish League (which, since 1995 had been divided into a Premier Division and a First Division). The four remaining senior teams reverted to intermediate football, along with the top eight teams from the previous year's Second Division - in the Irish League First Division (which now became the top intermediate league), with the Second Division continuing with twelve teams. Automatic promotion and relegation between senior and intermediate football

6232-626: Was abolished after the 1954–55 season. Since the 1975–76 season there has been a third tier, known as the Second Division . The top tier became the Premier Division and the second tier became known as the First Division. A fourth tier, known as the Third Division , was introduced in 1994. The last major change within the Scottish football league system was in 1998–99 , when the Premier Division clubs broke away from

6314-403: Was also an IFA Interim Intermediate League for those former members of the IFA Intermediate League which had failed to meet the criteria for the Championship. These clubs were given a year to make improvements in order to join the Championship for 2009–10. Ten of the 12 clubs succeeded in meeting the necessary standard in 2009 and the Championship was then divided into two divisions. In 2010–11,

6396-586: Was associated with a title sponsor from the 1985–86 season. As this sponsor changed over the years the league was known in turn as the Fine Fare League , B&Q League , Bell's Scottish Football League and finally as the Irn-Bru Scottish Football League . The SFL also organised two knock-out cup competitions, the Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Challenge Cup . Organised football in Scotland began in 1873 with

6478-435: Was created by League sponsor B&Q in 1990, but it was cancelled in 1998–99 due to a lack of sponsorship. Since 2008, the Challenge Cup has attracted its own sponsor, with BBC Alba and Ramsdens providing support. Before 1979, the major source of revenue to Scottish Football League clubs, apart from their attendances, was from the football pools . In the year ended 31 March 1983, the pools generated £1.08 million out of

6560-512: Was first established in the 1923–24 season, but it only lasted for two full seasons due to financial difficulties. A third tier league (called Division C) was reintroduced in 1946–47 . Division C, which also included reserve teams of higher division clubs, operated as a national competition for the first three seasons but thereafter it was split into two regional sections. During this period only full-strength clubs (not reserve teams) were promoted if they finished as champions. The two-division tier

6642-428: Was introduced. There was also automatic promotion and relegation between the two divisions of the (now intermediate-status) Irish League. In 2004, the Irish Football League was wound up and replaced by the IFA Intermediate League , consisting of two divisions of twelve, with promotion and relegation between the two. This continued for four seasons, until the Championship was created. For one season only, 2008–09, there

6724-475: Was renamed Division One and the new division was called Division Two. Nevertheless, promotion and relegation between the top two divisions was not automatic until 1921–22 when Division Two was brought back after a hiatus provoked by World War I which affected only that division; hence some teams of the era winning Division Two twice in a row before being promoted, and some Division Two winners being never promoted at all. A third tier of Scottish league football

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