The Southern Counties League was a league
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
tournament for teams in southern
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
History
Clubs in the Southern Counties Football Association, based in the south and west of Scotland, tried several times to form a league competition. The most successful of these initial attempts was 1897–98, under the presidency of W. T. Hay of
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
, which had seven clubs, and which played long enough to declare a champion in
Newton Stewart
Newton Stewart (Scottish Gaelic language, Gd: ''Baile Ùr nan Stiùbhartach'') is a former burgh town in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland.
The town is on the River Cree with most of the town to ...
, which earned 11 points from its 6 games; the only club which came close to playing all its fixtures was
Nithsdale
Nithsdale (), also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale (landform), dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost their administrat ...
, which played 11 times. The organizational shambles however was such that
Vale of Dryfe withdrew before the season kicked off,
Thornhill before playing a match (replaced by
Dumfries Hibernians), and
the 6th G.R.V. quit after it had four matches postponed at late notice because of clashing cup commitments. One attempt to raise funds - a match between a Counties side and a
Glasgow Football Association side at Cresswell Park in Dumfries - only raised £16 and the visitors had an easy 9–3 win.
After abortive seasons in 1910–11 and 1914–15, was properly established in 1921–22 and, apart from two seasons, ran almost until the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
The League never had more than 11 members, which it achieved in 1931–32, and even then
Nithsdale Wanderers only played four fixtures before withdrawing.
St Cuthbert's Wanderers was the only club to enter every season.
The League was formally abandoned in July 1937, as the Southern Counties FA voted instead to reintroduce the
South of Scotland Cup on a home-and-away principle.
An attempt to re-start the League after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
was thwarted by a protest from
Wigtown & Bladnoch, on the basis that the new membership had excluded
Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an counties of Scotland, administrative county used for ...
clubs in favour of two
Ayrshire
Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...
sides (the "A" sides of
Ayr United and
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
),
so the members formed a new competition instead, called the
South of Scotland League.
Member clubs
Champions
* 1921–22: Mid-Annandale
* 1922–23: Mid-Annandale (2)
* 1924–25: Dalbeattie Star
* 1928–29: St Cuthbert's Wanderers
* 1929–30: Dalbeattie Star (2)
* 1930–31: Dalbeattie Star (3)
* 1931–32: Dalbeattie Star (4)
* 1932–33: Dalbeattie Star (5)
* 1933–34: Dalbeattie Star (6)
* 1934–35: St Cuthbert's Wanderers (2)
* 1935–36: St Cuthbert's Wanderers (3)
* 1936–37: St Cuthbert's Wanderers (4)
See also
*
Scottish Football (Defunct Leagues)
After the formation of the Scottish Football League in 1890, a number of senior football clubs set up various non-league competitions around the country. A number of these leagues were supplementary football leagues, that is they were played by ...
External links
Tables and results
References
{{Defunct football competitions in Scotland
Defunct football leagues in Scotland
1897 establishments in Scotland
Sports leagues established in 1897
Sports leagues disestablished in 1957
1957 disestablishments in Scotland