scottish football league

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

Single-Division Period

The league was formed in the 1890s to provide the growing number of football clubs in the country with a more consistent fixture list. In its initial season the league was won jointly by Rangers and Dumbarton.

Two-Division Period

The league proved to be highly successful and soon a second division was added from which clubs could be promoted to the first division. Promotion was initially based on a ballot of clubs. In the early 1920s automatic promotion and relegation between the two divisions was introduced. This two-divisional structure existed until the mid-1970s.

First Three-Division Period

The next 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 drop alarming. This three-divisional structure (of 38 clubs) continued until 1994.

Four-Division Period

After a couple of decades, the league again reorganised, with four divisions of 10 clubs, as Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County were elected to round out the league. In 2000, following the SPL breakaway, a further round of league enlargement took place with Elgin City and Peterhead joining from the Highland League. This brought the Scottish Leagues up to 42 teams - 12 in the Scottish Premier League, and 10 in each of the three Scottish Football League divisions. Gretna from the UniBond League in England were admitted in 2002 to replace the defunct Airdrieonians. Gala Fairydean have been rejected from the Scottish League at each time of asking, despite having a setup and facilities arguably better than some of their opponents. Other teams that have fallen at this hurdle include Whitehill Welfare.

Second Three-Division Period

In 1998, the Premier Division clubs, fuelled by a desire to keep a greater share of television monies being raised by the game, split from the league to form the Scottish Premier League (SPL). The remaining leagues, of ten clubs each, kept their names and the Premier Division was not reconsistuted, leaving First, Second, and Third Divisions. Each season the winners of the First Division are eligible to be promoted to the Scottish Premier League providing their stadium meets certain criteria. As of March 2004, these criteria include priority tenancy/ownership of a stadium that contains at least 10,000 seats, and an undersoil heating system for the field of play. Falkirk F.C.'s failure to meet with these demands resulted in their being refused promotion despite winning the First Division in 2002/2003. They are currently building a new stadium. Glasgow Rangers have won the greatest number of league titles in the league's history, with 50 national championships (including SPL titles) to their name.