Scottish Football Association

Hampden Park, Glasgow: G42 9AY
Telephone 0141 616 6000: Fax 0141 616 6001
Email: info@scottishfa.co.uk


Founded 1873	FIFA affiliation 1910	UEFA affiliation 1954
	President John McBeth

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) was formed in 1873 making it the second oldest national football association in the world (after The English Football Association). It is the governing body for the sport of football in Scotland. Along with the other home nations associations (The Football Association, Football Association of Wales and Irish Football Association) the SFA sits on the International Football Association Board which is responsible for the laws of the game. They also have responsibility for the running of the Scottish national football team.

The SFA are also a full member of Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

The SFA also organise an annual "knock-out" tournament, the Scottish Cup which the 12 Scottish Premier League (SPL) clubs and 30 Scottish Football League (SFL) clubs automatically qualify, and 8 "non-league" clubs qualify for. The final of the Scottish Cup is usually played in the month of May.

Although the SFA are not involved in the day-to-day running of the SPL or the SFL they do appoint referees to officiate at the games in these two leagues.

There are six affiliated football associations to the SFA. They are the Scottish Amateur Football Association; Scottish Junior Football Association; Scottish Schools Football Association; Scottish Welfare Football Association; Scottish Women's Football Association and the Scottish Youth Football Association.

The SFA are based at Hampden Park in Glasgow. In addition, the Scottish Football Museum is located at Hampden Park.

Scottish Premier League

The Scottish Premier League (also known as the Bank of Scotland Premierleague for sponsorship reasons or the SPL for short) is the top division within the current structure of Scottish football.
Previously the Scottish Football League had a two divisional structure (Divisions One and Two) between which clubs were promoted and relegated at the end of each season. However, by the mid 1970s this organisation had become a bit stagnant and it was decided to split into a three divisional structure (Premier Division, First Division and Second Division).

This set up continued till the mid 1990s when it was decided to split into a four divisional structure with the addition of a Third Division.

In 1998 the football clubs in the Premier Division decided to split from the Scottish Football League and form the Scottish Premier League. This decision was fuelled by a desire by the top clubs in Scotland to retain more of the revenue generated by the game. Originally league sponsorship monies were divided between clubs in every league, after the SPL was formed this was no longer the case.

Since 2000, the SPL has operated a "split league format". Under this system, after 33 games (i.e. when every club has played every other club 3 times, either twice away and once at home, or vice versa), the division is split into 2 halves, and clubs play a further 5 matches, against the teams in their half of the division, taking their total to 38 games. This can (and often does) result in the team placed 7th having a higher points total than the team placed 6th, because their final 5 games are considerably easier.

Providing they meet certain criteria to do with their stadium it is still possible for clubs to be promoted from the Scottish Football League, First Division to the SPL.

Originally the SPL contained 10 clubs, but it subsequently decided to enlarge itself to a membership of 12.

In 2003, the league's promotion criteria caused controversy as the chairmen of the member clubs voted against Falkirk's proposed ground share with Airdrie United and stopped the club from having the 10,000 fan stadium capacity it required, thus saving Motherwell from relegation.

The same situation nearly materialised in 2004, but after several votes and discussion, including threats of court cases from Partick Thistle, the team then threatened with prospect of relegation, Inverness Caledonian Thistle were finally allowed promotion provided that they groundshared with north rivals Aberdeen at Pittodrie, a ground over 160 km (100 miles) away. In 2005 the stadia criteria for entry to the SPL was reduced to 6,000 thereby allowing Inverness Caledonian Thistle to return to their home stadium during the season.

Current SPL members

Dundee were relegated at the end of the 2004-2005 season. The teams currently playing in the SPL for the 2005-2006 season are:

Aberdeen	Celtic	Dundee United	Dunfermline Athletic
Falkirk	Heart of Midlothian	Hibernian	Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Kilmarnock	Livingston	Motherwell	Rangers

Scottish Football League

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

Founder Members

The Scottish League's first season of competition was in 1890-91. The original clubs in membership were:

Abercorn	Cambuslang	Celtic
Cowlairs	Dumbarton	Heart of Midlothian
Rangers	Renton	St Mirren
Third Lanark	Vale of Leven

First Single-Division Period 1890-1893

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 1893-1915

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 1915-1921

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 1893-1915

First Three-Division Period 1923-26

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 1926-46

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 1946-55

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 1955-75

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 1975-1994

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 1994-98

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 1998-date

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 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.

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