South of Scotland Football League

The South of Scotland Football League is a football competition based in the south of Scotland. The current league is considered to be the weakest of Scotland's three "senior" non-leagues (the other two being the Highland Football League and the East of Scotland Football League).

Original league

A league of the same name briefly existed during the early days of competitive football. The original South of Scotland Football League was created in 1892–93 and featured seven clubs:

• 5th Kirkcudbrightshire Rifle Volunteers
• Queen of the South Wanderers
• Mauchline
• Cronberry Eglinton
• Lugar Boswell
• Springbank
• Lanemark

The clubs preferred to play in cup competitions and traditional friendlies, so most of the league fixtures weren't played. The competition was subsequently abandoned and no championship was awarded.

Current league

When league football was re-established in 1946, the title Southern Counties League couldn't be used because Ayr United 'A' and Kilmarnock 'A' were not members of the Southern Counties F.A. Instead the new competition was called the South of Scotland Football League.

The first season saw the league played in two sections, East and West, but has been played as a single league ever since.

In 1950 the league’s membership had been reduced to just seven clubs. To compensate for the lack of fixtures, the League Cup was introduced. This is competed for on a league basis, with the section winners meeting in the final, but has also been played as a straight knock-out competition. There was no separate League Cup competition between 1962-1968 and 1973-1975. Instead the trophy was awarded to the runner-up in the League.

The Southern Counties Cup, also known as the Challenge Cup, is the league's main knockout competition. It has been played for since 1891 and the first winners were The 5th Kirkcudbrightshire Rifle Volunteers.

Teams play each other on a home and away basis. In seasons where league membership has been low, clubs have played each other four times instead of the usual twice. Recent changes in league membership have been:

• Stranraer Athletic withdrew from the league at the end of the 2007-08 season.
• The newly-formed Gretna 2008, founded to replace the Gretna team that had been forced to dissolve following its meteoric rise to the Scottish Premier League between 2002 and 2007, applied to join the South of Scotland League, but then joined the East of Scotland League instead.
• Annan Athletic withdrew their reserve team from the league at the end of the 2008-09 season, so that they could concentrate on the SFL Under 19 League and the Reserve League West.
• Stranraer withdrew their reserve team from the league at the end of the 2011-12 Season.

In the 2012/13 season the league featured the following 12 clubs:

Club	Ground	Capacity (Seated)
Abbey Vale	Maryfield Park, New Abbey	1,000
Creetown	Castlecary Park, Park Crescent, Creetown	2,000
Crichton	Crichton Hospital Park, Bankend Road, Dumfries	2,500
Dalbeattie Star	Islecroft Stadium, Mill Street, Dalbeattie	3,500 (300)
Fleet Star	Garries Park, Gatehouse of Fleet	1,000 (20)
Heston Rovers	Maryfield Park, Kellwood Road, Dumfries	1,000
Mid-Annandale	Galabank, North Street, Annan	3,000 (200)
Newton Stewart	Blairmount Park, Corsbie Road, Newton Stewart	1,500
Nithsdale Wanderers	Lorimer Park, Blackaddie Road, Sanquhar	1,000
St. Cuthbert Wanderers	St. Mary's Park, Castledykes Road, Kirkudbright	2,000 (250)
Threave Rovers	Meadow Park Stadium, Blackpark Road, Castle Douglas	1,500
Wigtown & Bladnoch	Trammondford Park, Wigtown (B733)	1,500

_{Note: Mid-Annandale's traditional home ground is King Edward Park in Lockerbie, but has been deemed unsuitable by the league. The club began ground-sharing with Annan Athletic in 2012. A date for their return to Lockerbie yet to be announced.}

Dalbeattie Star, Newton Stewart, St. Cuthbert Wanderers, Threave Rovers and Wigtown & Bladnoch are full members of the SFA and are therefore allowed to enter the Scottish Cup.

League Membership

Club	Years Active
Abbey Vale	2001-
Annan Athletic	1977-1987
Annan Athletic reserves	1987-1991, 1992-2009
Ayr United 'A'	1946-48
Crichton Royal	1992-
Creetown	1946-48, 1972-
Dalbeattie Star	1946-47, 1976-2001, 2009-
Dalbeattie Star reserves	2001-2009
Dumfries	2000-2008
Dumfries High School Former Pupils	1994-2000
Dumfries United	1987-88
Fleet Star	2004-
Girvan	1951-62, 1975-2005.
Glenluce	1948-50
Gretna reserves	2001-03
Gretna Community	1991-92
Greystone Rovers	1956-58
Heathhall Athletic	1948-50
Heston Rovers	2008-
Kilmarnock 'A'	1946-48
Lincluden Swifts	1977-80
Maxwelltown High School Former Pupils	1990-2000
Mid-Annandale	2003-
Newton Stewart	1946-
Nithsdale Wanderers (1)	1946-47, 1948-50.
Nithsdale Wanderers (2)	2001-
Queen of the South reserves	1972-73, 1992-93, 1996-97, 2003-04.
RAF West Freugh	1948-49
St. Cuthbert Wanderers	1946-
Solway Star	1946-47
Stranraer	1946-49
Stranraer reserves	1949-88, 1990-91, 2003-04, 2007-2012.
Stranraer Athletic	1995-2008
Tarff Rovers	1946-88, 1990-2003
Threave Rovers	1959-1998, 2004-
Whithorn	1946-59, 1962-63, 1964-69
Wigtown & Bladnoch	1946-

_Notes:

_{Crichton was known as Blackwood Dynamos until 1999. The club was to be called Crichton Royal, but the suffix has never been used.}

_{Dumfries was formed by the merger of Dumfries High School Former Pupils and Dumfries Amateurs.}

_{Heston Rovers Youth (formed in 1978) merged with Dumfries in 2008, retaining Heston Rovers as the name of the new club.}

_{The following clubs have resigned during the season:}

• _{Creetown 1975-76}
• _{Girvan 1978-79}
• _{Gretna Community 1991-92}
• _{RAF West Freugh 1948-49}
• _{St. Cuthbert Wanderers 1977-78}
• _{Wigtown & Bladnoch 1962-63 and 1972-73}
• _{Dumfries United resigned prior to the start of the 1987-88 season.}

_{Three clubs - Annan Athletic (1987-2008), Dalbeattie Star (2001-2009) and Threave Rovers (1998-2004) - have all run teams in the East of Scotland League. From the 2008-09 season Annan Athletic has played in the Scottish Football League.}

External links

• Official league website
• Non League Scotland Website