History
The SJFA was formed in Glasgow on 2 October 1886 and the first seasons Junior Cup saw thirty-nine clubs take part. Junior football had existed since the early 1880s, initially as separate local associations across Scotland for clubs not in membership of the SFA. This new national association acted as an umbrella for these local Junior associations, as well as establishing the Scottish Junior Cup, a national cup competition. The first three winners of the Scottish Junior Cup all joined the SFA and stepped up to Senior level. Gradually, a number of Junior leagues grew in strength, particularly in Glasgow where leading clubs drew large crowds. The Glasgow Junior FA having seen a number of its proposals rejected at SJFA meetings seceded from the SJFA in 1907 but returned a year later. Further disputes occurred in 1922 over "poaching" clubs and in 1927, the GJFA was instrumental in the Intermediate dispute which split the SJFA for four seasons. The record number of clubs to enter the Junior Cup was four hundred and twelve in 1922–23.
The local associations continued to run their leagues until 1968, when the SJFA instituted major reforms, running all the leagues itself, removing the need for the many local associations, replacing them instead with six district committees. These six regions — Ayrshire, Central, East, Fife, Tayside and North — still exist to a certain extent, as divisions in the national league structure and as operators of many cup competitions.
The last major league reform took place in 2002, with the six districts "merging" to create a three-pronged league setup (see "Organisation and regions").
A further reform took place in June 2007. The Scottish Cup, run by the Scottish Football Association for its full member clubs, welcomed four Junior teams from the 2007–08 season onwards. All four join the competition in the First Round. The four teams are the three Superleague winners (West, East and North) and the Scottish Junior Cup winners, all from the previous season. Should a club qualify on two counts by winning both its Superleague and the Junior Cup, only three clubs shall enter. From 2007, Girvan also enter the Scottish Cup automatically each season as a result of being full members of the SFA.
Read more about this topic: Scottish Junior Football Association
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