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| 1890 establishments | |
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FOUNDER MEMBERS The Scottish League's first season of competition was in 1890-91 . The original clubs in membership were:
FIRST 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 . FIRST TWO-DIVISION PERIOD The league proved to be highly successful andin 1893 a second division by the inclusion of a number of clubs previously in the Scottish Football Alliance . Promotion was initially based on a ballot of clubs as automatic promotion was not introduced until 1922. SECOND SINGLE-DIVISION PERIOD The onset of World War One saw the Second Division being suspended, but not being reintroduced until 1921 when the Central Football League was absorbed as a new division with automatic promotion. SECOND TWO-DIVISION PERIOD FIRST THREE-DIVISION PERIOD In 1923, the League decided to introduce a Third Division. the Western Football League (in Scotland) was used as its backbone but the new set-up lasted only three years when it collapsed under heavy financial losses. THIRD TWO-DIVISION PERIOD From 1926 until 1946, the League returned to two-division. Post World War Two reforms saw the League resume with three divisions. SECOND THREE-DIVISION PERIOD Post War seasons saw the divisions renamed 'A', 'B' and 'C' with the last section also including reserve sides. In 1949, the 'C' Division was expanded to two sections - North-West and South-East. FOURTH SECOND-DIVISION PERIOD The withdrawal of the resrves from 'C' Division in 1955 saw the return to two divisions which would last until the formation of the Premier Division in 1975 THIRD THREE-DIVISION PERIOD 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 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 . FOURTH 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. In 2002, Airdrie United effectively replaced Clydebank F.C. Former Airdrieonians supporters then had a team again, but at the expense of Clydebank supporters. Each season the winners of the First Division are eligible to be promoted to the Scottish Premier League providing their stadium meets certain criteria. As of March 2005, these criteria include priority tenancy/ownership of a stadium that contains at least 6,000 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 / 03 ; at that time, the SPL required 10,000 seats for its member clubs. They have since built a new stadium with an all-seater capacity of 6,000, and prompted by a campaign by Inverness Caledonian Thistle , the SPL reduced its seating requirement to 6,000, making them now eligible to join the SPL , having won the First Division again in 2004 / 05 . Rangers have won the greatest number of league titles in the league's history, with 51 national championships (including SPL titles) to their name. SCOTTISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE TABLES For a list of final league tables, season by season see Scottish Football League Tables . SEE ALSO | ||
| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Scottish_Division_One" class="copylinks">Scottish First Division |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Scottish_Division_Two" class="copylinks">Scottish Second Division |
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