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Scottish Football League

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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 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 .

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74-794: The SFL 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

148-507: A presenting sponsor attaches the name of the corporation or brand at the end (or, sometimes, beginning) of a generic, usually traditional, name (e.g. Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome ); or, a title sponsor replaces the original name of the property with a corporate-sponsored one (as is the case with most sponsored sports venues), with no reference to the previous name. Stadium naming may have shifted in recent years to promoting corporate trade names, but in earlier decades

222-565: 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

296-409: A corporate-purchased name must always be referred to in all event-related media (including live broadcasts) by a generic name (e.g., General Motors Place was referred to as "Canada Hockey Place" during the 2010 Winter Olympics ). On the other hand, Toyota Stadium was referred to as "City of Toyota Stadium" during the 2019 Rugby World Cup to avoid confusion as a form of ambush marketing; the stadium

370-577: 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

444-579: A match against the Scotland national team to mark the centenary of the SFL. Title sponsor Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often a sports venue ), typically for a defined period of time. For properties such as multi-purpose arenas, performing arts venues, or sports fields,

518-552: A name of the sponsor as their team or club name (see List of sports clubs named after a sponsor). In association football , leagues and cup competitions sometimes adopt the name of their sponsors. For example, England 's Premier League was known as the Barclays Premier League until 2016, and its FA Cup is officially the Emirates FA Cup. The Premier League announced in 2015 that it would not accept

592-603: A property in recognition of the financial support. This is not a financial transaction in the style of the private sector. For example, in honor of the more than $ 60 million donated over the years by one donor to the National Air and Space Museum properties, the directors of the Smithsonian Institution chose to name its satellite facility in Loudoun County, Virginia , after the donor, calling it

666-620: A title sponsorship beginning in the 2016–17 season. Since 2020, the French Professional Football Ligue adopted the name of Ligue 1 Uber Eats . In college football , most bowl games have modified their traditional names in favor of title sponsors, and in some cases have abandoned their traditional names. While most include their traditional name in some form (e.g. the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential ), some have moved to sponsor-only names (e.g.

740-570: 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

814-603: Is Willis Tower in Chicago which was and often still is referred to as the "Sears Tower", even though the building was sold in 1994 (but retained its former name until 2003). Sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup , UEFA Euro , Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games prohibit the use of corporate-sponsored name on stadiums, construing the practice as a form of ambush marketing . Any stadium that uses

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888-500: Is not named after Toyota Motor Corporation , but the name of the city in which the stadium is located (though the city was named after the company). The regular corporate signage of a site, including billboards and deck advertising, is usually covered up in these cases; in the FIFA case the signage is replaced solely with FIFA sponsors. However, with the near-universal use of LED ribbon boards, scoreboards, and sideline boardings since

962-458: Is a commercial company that since 1979 has sold unofficial naming rights to stars ( i.e. , the astronomical objects ). The naming services are limited to an entry in a book, and carry no scientific or official authenticity according to professional astronomers. In some places, and especially in the UK and United States, the naming or renaming of arenas or events is usually met with disapproval from

1036-690: Is best known to the non-farming public for its insurance business, acquired the naming rights to the University of Kentucky 's new baseball park in 2018. The Farm Bureau in turn donated those naming rights to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture , naming the venue Kentucky Proud Park . The sponsored name is the brand used by said state agency in its marketing campaign for agricultural products produced in that state. Naming rights in United States may have been traced back to 1912 with

1110-632: Is closely related. Probably the most notable example of this is Friends Arena , a major stadium in Stockholm . The facility was originally known as Swedbank Arena, but in 2012 that company donated those rights to the Friends Foundation, an organization heavily sponsored by Swedbank that seeks to combat school bullying . More recently, the Kentucky Farm Bureau , an organization promoting the interests of Kentucky farmers that

1184-472: Is largely traced to the family names of company founders. The record for the highest amount paid for naming rights belongs to Crypto.com Arena . On November 17, 2021, a 20-year, US$ 700 million sponsorship deal was reached between Anschutz Entertainment Group and Singapore-based Crypto.com to rename Los Angeles's Staples Center (the Staples office supply store chain was the previous naming rights holder to

1258-590: 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

1332-588: The Busch Memorial Stadium in 1966 , shortened in the 1970s to "Busch Stadium" and remained the stadium's name until it closed in 2005. By that time, Major League Baseball 's policy had changed – with Coors Field in Denver and Miller Park in Milwaukee going up in that span – and Anheuser-Busch (who retained the naming rights after selling the team) was able to use the same name for

1406-497: 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,

1480-641: The Emirates Stadium , their previous ground being Arsenal Stadium . In cricket, the most famous example is The Oval , home of Surrey County Cricket Club . It has had several sponsors over the years, and is currently known as "The Kia Oval", having originally been known as the "Kennington Oval", after the district of London in which it is located. While the highest prices have traditionally been paid for stadium rights, many companies and individuals have found that selling their naming rights can be an important consideration in funding their business. Since

1554-591: The Gator Bowl was known for four playings as the TaxSlayer Bowl), a move that generally is treated with consternation from fans. Some newer bowl games have been named after title sponsors since inception—for example, the Blockbuster Bowl , original named after Blockbuster Video when it debuted in 1990, has gone through multiple sponsorship and naming changes; for its December 2023 playing, it

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1628-605: The MBTA 's State Street station by Citizens Bank lasted from 1997 to 2000. In Tampa , naming rights for both streetcar stations and rolling stock are available. In December 2016, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a naming rights policy for its facilities and routes, but later rescinded the policy two months later over potential lawsuits for skipping sponsors. Examples outside of

1702-598: The New York Giants and New York Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey , US, was expected to eclipse both deals, with experts estimating it would value US$ 25–30 million annually. It ultimately fell short of that benchmark, with MetLife Stadium earning $ 17 million annually from its naming rights deal with MetLife . Occasionally, the purchaser of a stadium's naming rights may choose to donate those rights to an outside organization, typically one to which it

1776-610: 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

1850-590: 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

1924-757: The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center . Walgreen Coast , a portion of the coast of Antarctica , was so named because the Walgreens pharmacy chain sponsored the Byrd Antarctic Expedition . Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship . The First Division

1998-718: The Winston Cup Series featured sponsor names (including the Daytona 500 , which was given a presenting sponsor as the Daytona 500 by STP ), with little or no reference to the original names. As of the 2010s, very few exceptions remain in NASCAR (such as the Daytona 500, which no longer uses the presenting sponsor), and typically races without sponsor names only lack them because a suitable sponsor could not be secured in enough time. IndyCar follows suit, with most races (except

2072-605: The 10 largest football stadiums have their naming rights sold to corporate sponsors. The practice is widening in the United Kingdom; for instance the current stadium of Bolton Wanderers is the Toughsheet Community Stadium (after 17 years as Reebok Stadium, 4 as Macron Stadium and 5 as the University of Bolton stadium) and Arsenal Football Club 's stadium (opened for the 2006/2007 season) is

2146-568: 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

2220-571: The Cardinals' new stadium which opened on April 4, 2006. Foxboro Stadium , the home of the New England Patriots between 1971 and 2001, was an early example of a team selling naming rights to a company that did not own it, naming the stadium Schaefer Stadium after the beer company from its opening until 1983. The public reaction to this practice is mixed. Naming rights sold to new venues have largely been accepted, especially if

2294-461: The Cardinals, " Budweiser Stadium". When this idea was rejected by Ford Frick , the Commissioner of Baseball at that time, Anheuser-Busch then proposed the title "Busch Stadium" after one of the company's founders. The name was readily approved, and Anheuser-Busch subsequently released a new product called "Busch Bavarian Beer" (now known as Busch Beer ). The name would later be shifted to

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2368-497: 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

2442-494: 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

2516-487: The Evraz steel company – mistakenly believing that the company's North American division was based there. However, the main motivation for accelerating the name change was the perceived need to disassociate with the steel company, largely owned by Russian oligarchs, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . A nonprofit organization has the option to recognize a major gift from a donor by bestowing naming rights to

2590-441: 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

2664-929: 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

2738-627: The United States include Madrid Metro where the metro line Line 2 and the station Sol was renamed from 2013 to 2016 after the mobile phone operator Vodafone , and Monumento Station in the Manila Light Rail Transit System in the Philippines , which was renamed Yamaha Monumento Station on February 14, 2018, after renovations. Naming rights in the realm of sports is common for both stadiums and sports competitions and series. In addition, some sports teams adopt

2812-617: 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

2886-649: The arena, having held them since the venue's opening in 1999). The home of the NHL 's Los Angeles Kings and NBA 's Los Angeles Lakers became known as Crypto.com Arena on December 25, 2021. Prior to the Crypto.com Arena deal, the record belonged to Toronto's Scotiabank Arena (formerly the Air Canada Centre, which opened in 1999), which garnered a deal of CA$ 800 million (US$ 517 million) over 20 years starting in 2018. The New Meadowlands Stadium, shared home of

2960-482: 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

3034-690: The buyer is well-established and has strong local connections to the area, such as the cases of Rich Stadium (now Highmark BlueCross BlueShield Stadium ) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park , Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh , and Coors Field in Denver . Selling the naming rights to an already-existing venue has been notably less successful, as in the attempt to rename Candlestick Park in San Francisco to 3Com Park. The general public (and some media outlets) continued to call

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3108-613: 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

3182-466: 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

3256-430: 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

3330-577: The early 2000s, many new categories have opened up, such as the selling of the rights to name a new monkey species for $ 650,000. Naming rights to public transit stations have been sold in Las Vegas and Philadelphia ( NRG station , Jefferson Station , and Penn Medicine station ). Such sales have been contemplated in New York and Boston , and ruled out in San Francisco. A sponsorship for

3404-552: The facility what it had been known as for over three decades – i.e. Candlestick Park. After the agreement with 3Com expired, the rights were resold to Monster Cable , and the stadium was renamed Monster Park . San Francisco voters responded by passing an initiative (Proposition H) in the November 2004 elections that essentially stipulated the name must revert to Candlestick Park once the contract with Monster expired in 2008. The initiative proved largely ceremonial, however, and it

3478-490: 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

3552-491: 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

3626-475: 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

3700-409: The general public. Some people see it as an example of a selling out , especially when they see no obvious benefit to themselves. They often refuse to use a new name, preferring instead to use a non-branded name, especially in colloquial situations. Rebranding can also lead to confusion. In such cases, there may be a lengthy period during which the property is known by both names. A common example

3774-411: 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

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3848-511: 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

3922-410: The mid-2000s in most major league sites where only known sponsors have advertising displayed, "neutralizing" an arena has become a much easier process than in the past. Regina, Saskatchewan 's REAL District was formerly named " Evraz Place"; when discussing its 2022 rebranding, its owner Regina Exhibition Association Limited stated that it had sometimes received shipments and communications meant for

3996-543: 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

4070-414: 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

4144-678: The opening of Fenway Park in Boston . The stadium's owner had owned a realty company called "Fenway Realty" (itself, like the stadium, named for a nearby parkland ), so the promotional value of the naming may have likely been considered. Despite this, it is more widely believed to have begun in 1926 when William Wrigley , the chewing gum magnate and owner of the Chicago Cubs , named his team's stadium " Wrigley Field ". In 1953, Anheuser-Busch head and St. Louis Cardinals owner August Busch, Jr. proposed renaming Sportsman's Park , occupied by

4218-400: 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

4292-452: The program ; examples include The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour , Texaco Star Theatre and The Philco Television Playhouse . This form of sponsorship fell out of favor in the late 1950s, although later examples include Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom , which originally aired from 1963 to 1988. One of the last surviving examples is the now irregularly-airing Hallmark Hall of Fame , on the air since 1951. The International Star Registry

4366-467: 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

4440-486: 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;

4514-449: 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

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4588-407: 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:

4662-453: 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

4736-406: The term ranges from three to 20 years. Longer terms are more common for higher profile venues such as professional sports facilities. The distinctive characteristic for this type of naming rights is that the buyer gets a marketing property to promote products and services, promote customer retention and/or increase market share. There are several forms of corporate sponsored names. For example,

4810-407: The top tier of the Scottish Football League. In July 2013, the Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League merged to form the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). The SPFL named its second tier as the Scottish Championship , which effectively replaced the First Division. From 1994 until 2013, the First Division consisted of ten teams. From 1998, only the winner of the First Division

4884-447: The very traditional Indianapolis 500 ) embracing title sponsorship. Sports media coverage (such as ESPN news reports) typically refer to races by the town in which the home race track is held, avoiding the use of sponsored names in news coverage. Television and radio series, especially in the early days of each medium in the early-mid 20th century, frequently sold the naming rights to their programs to sponsors, most of whom bankrolled

4958-433: 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

5032-432: 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

5106-512: 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

5180-401: Was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two , as the top flight of the Scottish Football League was renamed from Division One to Premier Division . In 1998, the Premier Division clubs broke away from the Scottish Football League to form the Scottish Premier League . The First Division remained the second tier of the Scottish league system, but was now

5254-565: Was known as the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Team names and even whole leagues have occasionally been sold to corporate sponsors as well (examples include the New York Red Bulls in the former case, the NET10 Wireless Arena Football League for the latter), but this is generally rare in the United States and more common in other parts of the world. During the 1980s, sanctioned auto races in NASCAR and IndyCar began to abandon their traditional names in favor of exclusive sponsor names. The trend expanded rapidly in NASCAR such that in 1991, all 29 races in

5328-426: Was overturned by the passage of Proposition C in 2009 in response to desperate economic times. The naming rights to the park were never resold and the stadium was closed and demolished in 2014. Sports stadiums with naming rights deals are most common in but not limited to the United States. "Named" stadiums can be found in countries including Australia, Japan, China, Finland, Canada, Israel and Germany, where 8 of

5402-562: Was promoted to the Scottish Premier League (SPL), subject to that club meeting the SPL stadium criteria. From 2007, the bottom club in the First Division was automatically relegated to the Second Division and the second bottom club went into an end of season play-off with the second, third and fourth placed clubs in the Second Division. The ten teams in the First Division played each other four times with three points for

5476-475: 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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