Scottish football league system


The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs.
In senior football in Scotland there is one national league, the Scottish Professional Football League, which has four divisions. There are also several regional leagues. From 2014–15, a promotion/relegation play-off between the two regional leagues and the SPFL national league was introduced for the first time.
The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'grades' of leagues and clubs. Outside of senior football is junior football, and also amateur football and welfare football.
Rangers are the current record holders with 54 titles. Two clubs based in England play in the senior Scottish system - Berwick Rangers in the Lowland League and Tweedmouth Rangers in the East of Scotland League. A small number of English amateur clubs in the lowest levels of the game, based on or around the Anglo-Scottish border, also compete in Scottish leagues for geographical and travel reasons.

Men's system

Until 2013 Scottish football had no pyramid league system, and as a result it was impossible for clubs in regional leagues to progress into the national leagues, unless a vacancy opened in the Scottish Football League. The final example of this was ahead of the 2008–09 season, where Gretna's demise allowed Annan Athletic to take their place. Overall, the structure of men's football in Scotland was among the most fractured and multi-faceted in Europe, being unique in having a plurality of adult male governing bodies. It was not uncommon for a given town or county to have clubs in as many as three or four separate systems.
Moves towards creating a pyramid system began in 2008 under the tenure of Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith, with discussions between the SFA and the regional and junior leagues. On 7 May 2013 Scottish Premier League clubs unanimously agreed on the introduction of a pyramid structure to Scottish football along with the reintroduction of a single governing body for the 42 clubs competing at a national level, a revised financial distribution model, and the possibility of a promotion/relegation play-off between the top two divisions.

Senior football

The current system has been in place since 2013-14, when the Scottish Professional Football League was formed by a merger of the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. At the same time, the Lowland Football League was founded, and a year later the leagues below were incorporated into the system. For each division, its official name, sponsor name, number of clubs, number of games, and promotion/relegation spots are given:
The leagues below level four are classed as "non-league football", meaning they are outside the Scottish Professional Football League and are played on a regional not a national basis. The Lowland League is parallel to the Highland League. These divisions created level five on the pyramid and since season 2014–15, the two league winners have played off against each other, with the winner then playing the team finishing 10th in League Two in a promotion/relegation play-off.
Below the Lowland League is the East of Scotland Football League ; the South of Scotland Football League ; and the West of Scotland Football League. An end of season promotion three match round robin play-off takes place between the champions of each league for a place in the Lowland League.
As of 2020–21 this totals 206 teams across 14 divisions.
There remains one Senior league - the North Caledonian Football League - which has not yet been incorporated into the pyramid system. It is based in the north of Scotland, including a club from the island of Orkney, and currently contains 13 teams. They will play in divisions of 7 and 6 in 2020–21 - respectively 12 and 10 games - before forming a single division from 2021–22. Discussions have taken place about adding the league to tier 6 below the Highland League.

Cup competitions

All clubs in tier 5 and above automatically enter the Scottish Cup, along with clubs in other divisions who are full members of the Scottish Football Association. Up to three non-SFA members can qualify for the Scottish Cup each season by winning the East or South leagues, or the East & South Cup-Winners Shield. All 42 SPFL clubs compete in the Scottish League Cup, along with the Highland and Lowland champions. The Scottish Challenge Cup features 30 SPFL clubs from outside the Premiership, Under 21s teams, and four from the Highland and Lowland leagues, along with guest teams from England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
The SFA South Region Challenge Cup is for all non-league clubs in the Lowland area. There are also a variety of smaller cup tournaments at regional level.

Junior football

Also outside of the national structure, overseen by the Scottish Junior Football Association, are the two junior regions: the SJFA East Region of 30 clubs - split into two separate districts; and the SJFA North Region of 33 clubs. As of 2020–21 this represents a total of 63 teams across 5 divisions. The term 'junior' refers not to the age of the players but the level of football played.
These clubs operate separately from the Scottish Football Association, except Banks O' Dee who became a full SFA member in 2013. Junior clubs participate in a number of their own regional cup competitions, as well as the Scottish Junior Cup. Up to three non-SFA members can qualify for the Scottish Cup each season by winning one of the two Regions or the Junior Cup. Banks O' Dee also enter Senior tournaments the Aberdeenshire Cup and Shield, and run an Under-20s team in the Senior development structure.
In 2020, as part of a long process to form an integrated footballing pyramid structure, all 63 West Region Junior clubs decided to depart and join the newly-founded West of Scotland Football League, a feeder to the Lowland League. Since 2017 more than half of the East Region clubs have departed the Junior ranks, joining the senior East of Scotland Football League which is also below the Lowland League.
SJFA RegionNumber of DivisionsNumber of teams
SJFA North Region333
SJFA East Region230

Amateur football

Again separate from the above, and generally agreed to lie 'below' the senior and junior levels, are the hundreds of clubs in membership of the Scottish Amateur Football Association which oversees 50 different leagues - although this includes a number of Sunday League football and Futsal competitions. Prestige centres around the historic Scottish Amateur Cup. A number of Senior and Junior clubs run reserve teams in Amateur football.
As of 2019–20 there are 424 teams – in 12 geographic leagues containing a total of 37 divisions – playing Saturday football under a regular August–May season. In addition there are 123 teams playing in four specialist Saturday Morning leagues in Dundee and Glasgow, plus 31 clubs playing in Churches leagues. Student and Police football is also affiliated to the SAFA.

Saturday Amateur LeaguesDivisionsTeams
Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association568
Ayrshire Amateur Football Association443
Border Amateur Football League333
Caledonian Amateur Football League229
Central Scottish Amateur Football League330
Greater Glasgow Premier Amateur Football League338
Kingdom of Fife Amateur Football Association333
Lothian & Edinburgh Amateur Football Association550
Midlands Amateur Football Association225
Perthshire Amateur Football Association226
Scottish Amateur Football League329
Stirling & District Amateur Football Association221
Dundee Saturday Morning Amateur Football League335
Glasgow & District Saturday Morning Amateur Football League228
Glasgow Colleges Amateur Football Association329
Strathclyde Saturday Morning Amateur Football League340
Strathclyde Evangelical Churches Football League331
Total51587

Summer Amateur LeaguesDivisionsTeams
Caithness Amateur Football Association217
Inverness & District Amateur Football Association329
Lewis & Harris Amateur Football Association18
North West Sutherland Amateur Football Association111
Orkney Amateur Football Association215
Shetland Amateur Football Association215
Shetland Works Amateur Football Association18
Skye & Lochalsh Amateur Football Association19
Stewartry Sunday Amateur Football League17
Uist & Barra Amateur Football Association16
Total15125

Welfare football

Roughly concurrent with the Scottish Amateur Football Association is the Scottish Welfare Football Association, which has a very low profile nationally. The SWFA was established in the aftermath of World War I, and oversees leagues mainly operating Sunday and summer or midweek football, predominantly in the north of Scotland.
As of 2019–20 there are 81 teams in 8 geographic leagues and divisions. From a peak of over 500 clubs, there were 158 teams in membership in November 2012, down from 238 teams in 2007.
LeaguesDivisionsTeams
Forres and Nairn District Welfare Association League110
Forth & Endrick Football League19
Greenock & District Welfare League113
Mid-Deeside Summer Football League17
Montrose and District Welfare League111
Moray & District Welfare Football League19
North East Scotland Welfare Football League218
Strathspey & Badenoch Welfare Football League14
Total881

Reserve & Youth football

The reserve & youth leagues are mostly governed by the relevant adult leagues.
LeaguesDivisionsTeams
SPFL Reserve League219
Club Academy Scotland U18 Elite119
Aberdeenshire and District League 110
North of Scotland FA U20 League16
Highland League U17 League 121
Lowlands U20 Development League
568

Women's system

The four levels of women's football in Scotland are structured as follows:
The last change was made in 2017 when SWFL 2 split into four regions.