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North Junior Football League

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The North Junior Football League, also known as the North-East Junior League, was a football league competition operated in northern Scotland (but anchored around the city of Aberdeen) under the Scottish Junior Football Association which operated as the top league in the territory until 2001 when a new regional setup was established - although this was very similar to the previous setup.

History

In 1968, the Scottish Junior Football Association restructured its leagues into six 'regions', with those local leagues merging in the northern area including the Morayshire Junior League and the Aberdeen & District League which had been competed for since 1901[1] and had provided two winners of the Scottish Junior Cup in the 1950s.[2] However, outwith the city of Aberdeen (where the only local professional club, Aberdeen F.C. were also based) football in the territory was dominated by the Highland Football League which had member clubs in most of the towns across the Moray Firth and inland. Junior teams that operated in the same towns were invariably run on a smaller scale than their Highland League neighbours, and though technically competing for the same support base and players, had fraternal relationships akin to a farm team model, although formal agreements between them were rare. Even after the 1968 merger, a separate local 'North Section' was established for these landward clubs due to difficulties in travelling regularly to the Aberdeen area where most of the other teams were based. As a consequence of these dynamics, the North League was seen as the weakest of the six regions despite having a larger population than the Fife and Ayrshire regions, and none of its members reached the Scottish Junior Cup final during its 33-year existence.[3]

In 2001 (one year earlier than other parts of the country) a new SJFA North Region was set up, now one of three across Scotland, but with its scope almost unchanged owing to the geography of the area - the existing East and North (re-named West) sections fed the Super League for its first two seasons before a region-wide three-tier model was adopted in 2003. With three stronger district leagues merging to create the East Region and two combining in the West Region, this change further reduced the North's comparative strength, hampered yet more by the defection of four clubs to the Highland League in the 2000s,[4] prompted by some Highland clubs joining the senior Scottish Football League (in turn, the North Juniors also drew new members from amateur football such as the Aberdeenshire AFA). In its first 20 years of operation, the North Region also never produced a Scottish Junior Cup finalist,[3] although its league champions have entered the 'senior' Scottish Cup since 2007 with some credible results.[5][6]

Champions

Season[7][8][9] Winner[a] Runner-up[b] North section[a]
1968–69 Banks O' Dee Formartine United
1969–70 Banks O' Dee Buckie Rovers
1970–71 Banks O' Dee Islavale
1971–72 Sunnybank Forres Thistle
1972–73 Banks O' Dee Burghead Thistle
1973–74 Parkvale Burghead Thistle
1974–75 Sunnybank Buckie Rovers
1975–76 Sunnybank Nairn St Ninian
1976–77 Banks O' Dee Burghead Thistle
1977–78 Aberdeen East End Nairn St Ninian
1978–79 Banks O' Dee Nairn St Ninian
1979–80 Fraserburgh United Forres Thistle
1980–81 Banks O' Dee Lewis United Bishopmill United
1981–82 Banks O' Dee Sunnybank Nairn St Ninian
1982–83 Sunnybank Buckie Rovers
1983–84 Banks O' Dee Deveronside
1984–85 FC Stoneywood Fochabers
1985–86 Banks O' Dee Deveronside
1986–87 Banks O' Dee Caberfeidh Juniors
1987–88 Deveronside
1988–89[10] Bon Accord FC Stoneywood Deveronside
1989–90 Stonehaven Deveronside
1990–91 FC Stoneywood Inverurie Loco Works Deveronside
1991–92 FC Stoneywood Stonehaven Lossiemouth United
1992–93 Inverurie Loco Works FC Stoneywood Buckie Rovers
1993–94 Stonehaven Sunnybank Deveronside
1994–95 FC Stoneywood Turriff United Lossiemouth United
1995–96 Inverurie Loco Works Turriff United Deveronside
1996–97 Sunnybank FC Stoneywood Islavale
1997–98 Inverurie Loco Works Sunnybank Islavale
1998–99 Sunnybank FC Stoneywood New Elgin
1999–2000 Longside Sunnybank Deveronside
2000–01 Longside Sunnybank Deveronside

Notes

  1. ^ a b 1 winner missing.
  2. ^ Runners-up incomplete.

List of winners

Club Winner[a] Runner-up[b] First win Last win
Banks O' Dee 11 0 1968–69 1986–87
Sunnybank 6 5 1971–72 1998–99
FC Stoneywood 4 4 1984–85 1994–95
Inverurie Loco Works 3 1 1992–93 1997–98
Stonehaven 2 1 1989–90 1993–94
Longside 2 0 1999–2000 2000–01
Parkvale 1 0 1973–74
Aberdeen East End 1 0 1977–78
Fraserburgh United 1 0 1979–80
Bon Accord 1 0 1988–89
Turriff United 0 2 N/A
Lewis United 0 1 N/A

Notes

  1. ^ 1 winner missing.
  2. ^ Runners-up incomplete.

References

  1. ^ Aberdeen & District Junior Football League 1901-1968, Scottish Football Historical Archive (archived version, 2014)
  2. ^ "Scottish Junior Cup > Finals 1886 to 1956". Scottish Football Association (archive version, 2018). Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Scottish Junior Cup > Finals 1957 - Present [2009]". Scottish Football Association (archive version, 2018). Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  4. ^ Dave Edwards (26 February 2009). "Turriff United, Formartine and Strathspey in". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  5. ^ Scottish Cup wins for Sunnybank and Bo'ness, BBC Sport, 23 October 2010
  6. ^ Culter hold Partick Thistle in Scottish Cup, BBC Sport, 19 November 2011
  7. ^ McGlone, David; McLure, Bill (1987). The Juniors - 100 Years. A Centenary History of Scottish Junior Football. Mainstream. ISBN 1-85158-060-3.
  8. ^ Non-League Scotland (archive version), with club progression by season 1990 to 2007)
  9. ^ Timeline Junior North, Scottish Football Historical Archive (archived version, 2017)
  10. ^ Non League Tables for 1988-1989, NonLeague Matters
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