Glasgow Junior Football League

Last updated

The Glasgow Junior Football League (GJL) was a football league competition operated under the Scottish Junior Football Association between 1895 and 1927. [1] As its name suggests, it was primarily for teams in the Glasgow area, but did include teams from towns outside the city; conversely, other leagues existed concurrently (such as the Scottish Junior Football League) and some teams based in Glasgow played in those.

Contents

The league – the champions of which were awarded the Evening Times Trophy [2] – was seen as one of the strongest in Scotland, with its clubs winning or reaching the final of the national knockout competition, the Scottish Junior Cup, several times. [1] Membership varied, with mergers involving other leagues occurring on various occasions and individual teams being enticed to join the GJL from those leagues.

Having continued through World War I, the GJL was dissolved in 1927 when the intermediate dispute occurred; however its members (and other clubs) formed the Scottish Intermediate Football League which was contested for four years. [1] In 1931, the Central Junior Football League was formed, with notes from its 1932 AGM stating that it was the 32nd such meeting, suggesting that it was considered a continuation of the pre-1927 GJL. [1] This setup continued until 1968 when the Central League merged with the long-running Lanarkshire Junior Football League as the Central Region, and eventually 2002 the Ayrshire Junior Football League (many of whose clubs had also been involved in the intermediate dispute of the 1920s, although they played in a separate division) joined to create the Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region.

Two of the clubs who participated in the first season of the Glasgow Junior League in 1895–96 – Maryhill and Vale of Clyde – played in the SJFA West in 2019–20, and others who joined in the 19th century (Ashfield, Glasgow Perthshire, Petershill and Rutherglen Glencairn) also survived into the 21st. At the end of that season – which was curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic – all 63 West Region clubs left the SJFA setup to join a new West of Scotland Football League in the Senior pyramid, [3] [4] bringing 125 years of Junior league football in the region (including the intermediate years) to an end.

Champions

Key:

Club also won the Scottish Junior Cup [5] (doubles in bold).
Club were also runners-up in the Scottish Junior Cup [5]
SeasonWinner [1] Runner-upOther member in Scottish Cup final [5]
1895–96 Cambuslang Hibernian Strathclyde Parkhead
1896–97 Strathclyde Cambuslang Hibernian
1897–98 Parkhead Rutherglen Glencairn
1898–99 Rutherglen Glencairn Cambuslang Hibernian Parkhead
1899–1900 Vale of Clyde Glasgow Perthshire Maryhill
1900–01 Maryhill / Parkhead (shared) Maryhill
1901–02 Rutherglen Glencairn Parkhead Maryhill
1902–03 Parkhead Petershill
1903–04 Maryhill Petershill Vale of Clyde
1904–05 Maryhill Strathclyde Ashfield
1905–06 Ashfield Strathclyde
1906–07 Ashfield Maryhill Strathclyde
1907–08 Ashfield Clydebank Juniors [lower-alpha 1]
1908–09 Ashfield Strathclyde
1909–10 Ashfield Kirkintilloch Rob Roy
1910–11 Cambuslang Rangers Strathclyde Petershill
1911–12 Cambuslang Rangers Vale of Clyde Petershill
1912–13 Vale of Clyde Glasgow Perthshire
1913–14 Benburb Cambuslang Rangers Ashfield
1914–15 Cambuslang Rangers Vale of Clyde Parkhead
1915–16 Cambuslang Rangers Clydebank Juniors Petershill
1916–17 Parkhead Petershill
1917–18 Vale of Clyde Ashfield Petershill
1918–19 Rutherglen Glencairn Ashfield
1919–20 Vale of Clyde Petershill Parkhead
1920–21 Ashfield Benburb Kirkintilloch Rob Roy
1921–22 Rutherglen Glencairn Parkhead
1922–23 Strathclyde Shettleston
1923–24 Shettleston Rutherglen Glencairn Parkhead
1924–25 St Roch's Parkhead St Anthony's
1925–26 St Roch's Strathclyde
1926–27 Shettleston Strathclyde Rutherglen Glencairn
  1. ↑ GJL teams did not enter in 1907–08 due to a dispute with the SJFA.

List of winners

Club [1] WinnersRunner-upFirst winLast win
Ashfield 62 1905–06 1920–21
Parkhead [lower-alpha 1] 43 1897–98 1916–17
Vale of Clyde 42 1899–1900 1919–20
Rutherglen Glencairn 42 1898–99 1921–22
Cambuslang Rangers 41 1910–11 1915–16
Maryhill [lower-alpha 1] 31 1900–01 1904–05
Strathclyde 27 1896–97 1922–23
Shettleston 21 1923–24 1926–27
St Roch's 20 1924–25 1925–26
Cambuslang Hibernian 12 1895–96
Benburb 11 1913–14
Petershill 04–
Glasgow Perthshire 02–
Clydebank Juniors 02–
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 01–
  1. 1 2 Includes one shared title, counted for both teams.

Related Research Articles

Arthurlie Football Club are a Scottish football club from Barrhead, East Renfrewshire. Based at Dunterlie Park, they play in the West of Scotland Football League. The club played in the Scottish Football League in two spells, 1901 to 1915 and 1923 to 1929. They have won the Scottish Junior Cup twice, in 1937 and 1998.

Scottish Junior Football Association Scottish sporting body, founded 1886

The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the level of football played, not the age of the players. The closest equivalent terminology would be non-League football in England, the difference being that junior football in Scotland was not similarly integrated into its football league system until 2021.

Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region Association football league in Scotland

The Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region is one of two regions of the SJFA, which currently organises the Midlands League and local cup competitions.

The Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region was one of three regions of the SJFA which organised its own distinct league and cup competitions. The SJFA used to be split into six regions, but in 2002 they took the decision to reform into three to try to ensure more games between the top clubs and hence increase their revenues. The region covered an area from Girvan in South Ayrshire to Denny in Central Scotland.

The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2021–22 edition, 110 teams compete in the tournament. The cup has an unseeded knockout format with semi-finals over two legs and the final played at a neutral venue, always that of an SPFL club.

The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs.

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C. Association football club in Scotland

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. Nicknamed The Rabs or The Roy, they were formed in 1878. They wear red and black strips and currently compete in the West of Scotland League Premier Division.

East Kilbride Thistle Football Club are a Scottish football club, based in the town of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire near Glasgow. Nicknamed The Jags, they were formed in 1968 and play at the Showpark, situated in the Village area of the town. Currently playing in the West of Scotland League Conference C. They wear all black; their change strips are all red, or white tops with red or black shorts.

Rutherglen Glencairn F.C. Association football club in Scotland

Rutherglen Glencairn Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, near Glasgow. Nicknamed The Glens and formed in 1896, they play at The Hamish B Allan Stadium.

The Scottish Junior Football League (SJL) was a Scottish football competition that, through various incarnations, existed from 1892 to 1947.

The Intermediate dispute was a major split in Scottish football which lasted from 1925 to 1931 and concerned the compensation that Junior clubs received when one of their players moved to a Senior football league side. Although largely confined to the West of Scotland, the dispute involved many of the best Junior clubs in the country, setting them in direct conflict with both the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and their own organisation, the Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA).

East Craigie Football Club are a Scottish football club based in Dundee. Members of the Scottish Junior Football Association, they currently play in the SJFA Midlands League. The club are one of a number who claim to be the oldest Junior club currently in existence, but are the oldest football club playing in Dundee.

Luncarty F.C. Association football club in Scotland

Luncarty Junior Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the village of Luncarty, near Perth, Perth and Kinross. Their home ground is Brownlands Park and the club competes in the East of Scotland League First Division Conference B.

Baillieston Juniors Football Club were a Scottish football club based in Baillieston, Glasgow, who played in Scottish Junior Football Association competitions from 1919 until 2003. They won the Scottish Junior Cup once, in 1980.

The Central Junior Football League was a football league competition operated under the Scottish Junior Football Association between 1931 and 2002, with an expansion of its membership in 1968.

The West of Scotland Junior Challenge Cup is an annual Scottish football competition played in a one-leg knockout format, organised by the West Region of the Scottish Junior Football Association.

The Ayrshire Junior Football League, known as the Western Junior League from 1919 until 1968, was a football league competition operated in Ayrshire under the Scottish Junior Football Association which operated until a merger in 2002.

The Lanarkshire Junior Football League was a football league competition operated in Lanarkshire under the Scottish Junior Football Association which operated from 1891, being the oldest-running regional competition of its kind until a merger in 1968.

The Fife Junior Football League was a football league competition under the jurisdiction of the Scottish Junior Football Association, which operated as the top league in Fife until a merger in 2002; it existed for a further four years as a second-tier league before the name was discontinued in 2006.

The Evening Times Champions Cup, the name of the current version, is an association football trophy for clubs of the Junior level in the western part of Scotland. Sponsored by the Glasgow-based newspaper the Evening Times since its inception, the trophy has been competed for since 1896 and has been recommissioned under many different guises throughout its history. It was originally awarded annually as a league championship trophy, but has latterly been contested in a Super Cup style format for winners of various league divisions and local cups in the region.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Glasgow Junior League, Scottish Football Historical Archive, 27 August 2020
  2. ↑ Evening Times Trophy, Scottish Football Historical Archive, 21 April 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021
  3. ↑ Pyramid Update – 67 Applications Approved, Scottish Lowland Football League, 14 April 2020
  4. ↑ Junior clubs in the west are about to get the best of both worlds, The Scotsman, 19 April 2020
  5. 1 2 3 "Scottish Junior Cup > Finals 1886 to 1956". Scottish Football Association (archive version, 2018). Archived from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.