Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region


The Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region is one of three regions of the SJFA which organise their own distinct league and cup competitions. The SJFA used to be split into six regions, but in 2002 they took the decision to reform into three to try to ensure more games between the top clubs and hence increase their revenues. The East Region was created by amalgamating the former East, Fife and Tayside Regions.

League structure

Until 2006–07

For season 2002–03, twelve clubs from the East, Fife and Tayside leagues in the eastern part of Scotland combined to create the East Super League; this was fed by the existing regional leagues: Tayside Premier, Fife District League and Lothians Division One A similar change occurred in the west of Scotland where the Ayrshire and Central leagues merged entirely to form a West Region. A year earlier, the North Region was re-named, but this had no impact on the system itself.

2006–07 to 2012–13

In 2006, a further reorganisation led to the creation of another region-wide tier below the East Super League, known as the East Premier League. Below this, the Regional leagues were streamlined into single North, Central and South Divisions. To balance the numbers in these new leagues, the majority of Perthshire clubs were re-allocated from the North to the Central Division.
As of the end of 2006–07 season, clubs were promoted and relegated between the Super League and the Premier League. One club from each of the lowest-tier divisions would be promoted to the Premier League, with three Premier League sides relegated to a regional division corresponding to their geographical area.

2013–14 to 2016–17

As agreed at the 2011–12 East Region AGM, the leagues were restructured into four divisions from the 2013–14 season. The Super League and Premier League were expanded to sixteen clubs while the regional divisions were merged into two from the current three and branded as North and South; clubs in the Central division were split between the two new leagues on a geographical basis. The League Cup competitions which traditionally opened the season were also scrapped as part of these proposals.

From 2017–18

Beginning in 2017, Kelty Hearts left the league to join the East of Scotland Football League in the Senior pyramid. The following April, thirteen clubs – most of them from the East Juniors – were accepted into the league from the 2018–19 season, doubling that league's membership. When the window for applications was extended, even more east region clubs quit the Junior grade, bringing the total of clubs leaving Junior football that summer to 24:
The loss of clubs caused the league to restructure from four divisions to three, which consist of two 12-team north and south sections feeding into a 12-team Superleague. Glenrothes and Kinnoull made the same move in summer 2019.
In April 2020, the 2019–20 season was declared null & void due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the next month it was confirmed that a further eight clubs were leaving the East Juniors for the East of Scotland League:
There are five cup competitions in the East Region:
Prior to league reconstruction in 2013, clubs also competed in one of three League Cup competitions at the beginning of the season:
2018–19 winners unless stated.

Member clubs for 2020–21 season

There are 30 clubs in the East Region for the 2020–21 season, following eight departures to the East of Scotland Football League. Clubs are split into two divisions, a Tayside League and a Lothian League.

Tayside League

Lothian League