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54-543: Although the League officially records itself as having been founded in 1909, when Scottish Football League club Queen's Park decided that their fourth team needed regular competition, research published by the Scottish Football Historical Archive confirms that the league was actually founded by six clubs at a meeting at Glasgow University in late June 1901, with Paisley Academicals winning

108-565: 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

162-497: A dispute began between the Football Association (FA) and Bolton Wanderers (founded in 1874), who had offered professional terms to Scottish players. The subject remained a heated one through the 1880s, directly or indirectly involving many other clubs besides Bolton. Their neighbours, Blackburn Rovers (founded in 1875) and Darwen (founded in 1870) had also signed Scottish players professionally. The FA espoused

216-527: 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

270-644: A match against the Scotland national team to mark the centenary of the SFL. Scotch Professors The Scotch Professors were Scottish football players of the late 19th century who moved south to play for clubs participating in the English Football League during the period when football had become professional in England but remained (theoretically) amateur in Scotland . The origin of

324-553: A number of clubs from the Argyll area which otherwise might not have regular competition. At its peak in the early 1980s, the SAFL contained 12 divisions, but for season 2020/21, there will be 3. For more than 20 years, the League was split into a Premier section of three divisions, with two or three further divisions comprising Section One, so named as it preserved the divisions of the original league. But following an SAFA directive during

378-574: 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

432-591: 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

486-553: The 1895 World Championship was made from entirely Scottish players. Sunderland striker, the Scot John Campbell , became league top scorer three times, in all of which Sunderland won the league. Important to his success in attack were other "Team of All Talents" players from Scotland : Jimmy Hannah and Jimmy Millar . Their goalkeeper Ned Doig set a 19th-century world record by not conceding any goals in 87 of his 290 top division appearances. Preston North End ,

540-494: 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

594-497: 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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648-754: 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

702-594: 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

756-446: The 2011–12 season, this format has been changed back to one all-in competition, with effect from the start of the 2012–13 season. The three premier divisions are retained, and the lowest two divisions become two sections of equal status, decided by a balloted draw prior to the start of each season. The top two teams from each section will be promoted to Premier 2, which will start the 2012–13 season with 11 clubs, but will have 12 clubs from

810-502: 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

864-496: 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

918-592: The England national team to challenge Scottish dominance which had seen the Scots defeat the English by scores of 7–2, 6–1 and 5–1 between the years 1878 and 1882. The first English team to win the Championship and Cup " double ", Preston North End , did so with a majority of their team being made up of Scottish players as did the Sunderland side which won three English Championships between 1892 and 1895 while

972-443: 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

1026-548: 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 the championship was shared. Goal average was introduced for the 1921–22 season and replaced by goal difference for

1080-930: 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

1134-464: The Scottish game of the era. The ability of the Scottish players, their apparently superior technique, and the nature of their play impressed English spectators during the Scotland – England international fixtures which had been taking place since 1872 and led to a great number of Scots players moving south to play professionally for English clubs once this became legal in 1885. In 1880,

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1188-562: 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

1242-475: The amateur principles even after entering into competition with professional clubs. They remained an amateur club until 2019, when its membership voted to end that status in November of that year. The impact made upon English football by these Scots players was immediate and wide-ranging. For instance, the famous Corinthian football club of London was founded purely to emulate the Scottish game and to allow

1296-489: 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

1350-516: 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 was associated with a title sponsor from the 1985–86 season. As this sponsor changed over

1404-467: 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

1458-434: 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

1512-663: The country. Although, prior to the official formation of the league a SAFL side made at least one visit to Fife for a match. Prior to the Second World War membership stretched across the Scottish Central Belt , with a number of clubs from the East of the country participating. However, following the end of the war membership became concentrated in the West of the country. The SAFL has been successful in embracing

1566-404: The first Liverpool team to take to the field in 1892 was made up entirely of Scots. The wealthy miner Samuel Tyzack, who alongside shipbuilder Robert Turnbull funded the Sunderland A.F.C. "team of all talents," often pretended to be a priest while scouting for players in Scotland, as Sunderland's recruitment policy in Scotland enraged many Scottish fans. In fact, the whole Sunderland lineup in

1620-597: The first English team to win the Championship and Cup " Double ", did so with a majority of their team being made up of Scottish players. In the first season, they went undefeated both in the league and the FA Cup , which led to them being known as " the Invincibles ". The "Scotch Professors" were known also for spreading the game – both football generally and "combination" team passing style of play for which they were known – internationally with prominent Scots players of

1674-528: The first championship. Queen's Park were successful in winning the league title in 1909–10, but Edinburgh Civil Service won the league the following year, so Queen's Park decided to enter their third team for the third season of the competition, indicating a high standard of football was played at this level from an early stage. Despite being called the Scottish Amateur Football League, the league has never included clubs from across

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1728-493: 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

1782-480: 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 the organisation of a league. All of the clubs accepted

1836-529: The ideal of so–called "amateurism" promoted by the likes of Corinthian F.C. from whom the phrase "Corinthian Spirit" came into being. There were constant arguments about broken–time payments, out–of–pocket expenses and what amounted to actual wages. Despite its convictions, the FA had no objection to professional clubs playing in the FA Cup and this may have been a tacit acknowledgement that the growth of professionalism

1890-440: 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 the founder members would leave the league before 1900. The Scottish Football League (SFL)

1944-414: 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

1998-512: 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

2052-406: The name was based upon the distinctive Scottish style of play – described at the time as being " combination football " – which was centred upon a passing game with greater teamwork as opposed to the individualistic, dribbling style common in England at the time. It was this distinctive style of football – which has been described as " changing the nature of soccer " – which had become the hallmark of

2106-471: 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 the regular diet of league fixtures replacing

2160-546: 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

2214-414: 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

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2268-420: The press with the Scottish Football Association blacklisting players known to have played professionally. However professionalism was eventually established in Scottish football in 1893 although Scotland's most powerful club and founders of both the passing and international game, Queen's Park , initially refused to participate in the new professional league (not joining until 1900) and remained committed to

2322-488: 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;

2376-450: 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

2430-459: 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:

2484-453: 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

2538-536: The start of the following season. In March 2013, the League held its inaugural Hall of Fame Dinner, attended by well over 300 guests, at which the following became the first inductees to the SAFL Hall of Fame: Office Bearers Divisional Representatives Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League ( SFL ) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland . From its foundation in 1890 until

2592-560: 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 the formation of the Scottish Football Association (SFA). During

2646-690: 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

2700-435: 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

2754-512: 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

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2808-529: 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 the 1890–91 season for playing against St Bernard's , who had been found guilty of concealed professionalism. Renton raised an action against

2862-514: Was inevitable, as had long been the case in cricket. Blackburn Rovers won the FA Cup in three successive seasons from 1884 to 1886 and the FA formally legitimised professionalism in 1885. This trend of Scottish players moving to England, along with professionalism generally, was bitterly opposed by much of the Scottish footballing establishment and media. The latter saw the Professors described as " Traitorous wretches " and " base mercenaries " in

2916-475: 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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