Fife Junior Football League


The Fife Junior Football League was a football league competition under the jurisdiction of the Scottish Junior Football Association, which operated as the top league in Fife until a merger in 2002; it existed for a further four years as a second-tier league before the name was discontinued in 2006.

History

The league was formed in 1913 from a merger between smaller competitions across the county, initially the Howe of Fife League and the West Fife County League, later joined by teams from the East Neuk League. It continued during World War I and had periods where there were sufficient numbers involved to have West and East sections whose winners would play off for the title. Due to anticipated problems with travelling distances, the Fife clubs chose not to join the Intermediate dispute of the late 1920s, instigated by clubs in the West of Scotland who broke away from the SJFA.
The league stopped for six seasons during World War II and lost a number of member teams in the late 1940s, but was still running in 1968 and considered sufficiently strong to form one of six 'regions' across Scotland in a re-organisation of Junior football at that time. The Fife area suffered from an economic decline in the subsequent decades, owing to the collapse of the mining industry which had provided the main source of employment in most towns and villages, with several teams folding and others struggling to continue as small isolated communities became impoverished and residents moved away.
As membership of the Fife League fell steadily, a few well-run clubs who had joined more recently than its oldest members became dominant, and in 2002 these teams were invited to form the new regional Superleague in the east of the country along with the leading teams in the East League and the Tayside League. Fife's setup was retained as a feeder division to the Superleague along with the other historic districts until 2006, when they were fully integrated into the East Region; Fife's section became the Central Division below the Super League and a new Premier Division, but it was disbanded in 2013, meaning the county was no longer represented separately in the Junior grade.

Later movement of Fife clubs

In 2018, a large group of East Junior clubs followed the path taken by Kelty Hearts a year earlier and joined the East of Scotland Football League to take part in the Scottish football pyramid. With Glenrothes making the same switch in 2019, this left eight local clubs in the East Region, including Tayport and Kennoway Star Hearts who never played in the old Fife Junior League. A further seven clubs left for the senior ranks in 2020, leaving Tayport as the only Junior club remaining in Fife.

Champions

1913–1968 era

Key:
Club also won the Scottish Junior Cup.
Club were also runners-up in the Scottish Junior Cup.

Notes

1968–2002 era

SeasonWinnerRunner-up
1968–69Thornton HibernianLochore Welfare
1969–70GlenrothesNewburgh Juniors
1970–71GlenrothesOakley United
1971–72Oakley UnitedLochore Welfare
1972–73Newburgh JuniorsLochgelly Albert
1973–74Lochgelly AlbertGlenrothes
1974–75GlenrothesNewburgh Juniors
1975–76GlenrothesComrie Colliery
1976–77Newburgh JuniorsGlenrothes
1977–78GlenrothesNewburgh Juniors
1978–79Oakley UnitedClackmannan Juniors
1979–80Oakley UnitedTulliallan Thistle
1980–81Halbeath JuniorsKelty Hearts
1981–82Leven JuniorsLochore Welfare
1982–83Dundonald BluebellKelty Hearts
1983–84GlenrothesDundonald Bluebell
1984–85GlenrothesClackmannan Juniors
1985–86Oakley UnitedGlenrothes
1986–87Hill of Beath HawthornOakley United
1987–88Oakley UnitedHalbeath Juniors
1988–89Hill of Beath HawthornThornton Hibernian
1989–90St Andrews UnitedHill of Beath Hawthorn
1990–91Kelty HeartsNewburgh
1991–92Kelty HeartsHill of Beath Hawthorn
1992–93Kelty HeartsHill of Beath Hawthorn
1993–94Hill of Beath HawthornOakley United
1994–95Hill of Beath HawthornKelty Hearts
1995–96Hill of Beath HawthornKelty Hearts
1996–97Kelty HeartsHill of Beath Hawthorn
1997–98Hill of Beath HawthornKelty Hearts
1998–99Kelty HeartsHill of Beath Hawthorn
1999–2000Hill of Beath HawthornKelty Hearts
2000–01Oakley UnitedHill of Beath Hawthorn
2001–02Hill of Beath HawthornGlenrothes

Notes

List of winners

Notes