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 from 1968 until 2001 when a new regional setup was established – although this was very similar to the previous system.[1]
In 1968, the Scottish Junior Football Association restructured its leagues into six 'regions', with those local leagues merging in the northern area including the Aberdeen & District League which had been competed for since 1901[2] and had provided two winners of the Scottish Junior Cup in the 1950s,[3] and the Morayshire Junior League established in 1906.[4] 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.[4] 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.[5]
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,[6] 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,[5] although its league champions have entered the 'senior' Scottish Cup since 2007 with some credible results.[7][8]
^At the end of each season, the North winners played the East winners to determine the overall champions; unless otherwise stated (and bolded), this was won by the East club.
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources North Junior Football League news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 from 1968 until 2001 when a new regional setup was established although this was very similar to the previous system 1 Contents 1 History 2 Champions 3 List of winners 4 ReferencesHistory editIn 1968 the Scottish Junior Football Association restructured its leagues into six regions with those local leagues merging in the northern area including the Aberdeen amp District League which had been competed for since 1901 2 and had provided two winners of the Scottish Junior Cup in the 1950s 3 and the Morayshire Junior League established in 1906 4 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 4 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 5 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 6 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 5 although its league champions have entered the senior Scottish Cup since 2007 with some credible results 7 8 Champions editSeason 9 10 11 1 Winner Runner up North section a 4 1 1968 69 Banks O Dee Stonehaven Burghead Thistle1969 70 Banks O Dee Stonehaven Buckie Rovers1970 71 Banks O Dee Lewis United Islavale1971 72 Sunnybank Banks O Dee Forres Thistle1972 73 Banks O Dee Sunnybank Burghead Thistle1973 74 Parkvale Banks O Dee Burghead Thistle b 1974 75 Sunnybank Banks O Dee Buckie Rovers1975 76 Sunnybank Aberdeen East End Nairn St Ninian1976 77 Banks O Dee Lewis United Burghead Thistle1977 78 Aberdeen East End Banks O Dee Nairn St Ninian1978 79 Banks O Dee Sunnybank Nairn St Ninian1979 80 Fraserburgh United Banks O Dee Forres Thistle1980 81 Banks O Dee Lewis United Bishopmill United1981 82 Banks O Dee Sunnybank Nairn St Ninian1982 83 Sunnybank Inverurie Loco Works Buckie Rovers1983 84 Banks O Dee Sunnybank Deveronside1984 85 FC Stoneywood Mugiemoss Fochabers1985 86 Banks O Dee Turriff United Deveronside b 1986 87 Banks O Dee Turriff United Caberfeidh Juniors1987 88 Rosslyn Sport Banks O Dee Deveronside b 1988 89 12 Bon Accord FC Stoneywood Deveronside1989 90 Stonehaven FC Stoneywood Deveronside b 1990 91 FC Stoneywood Inverurie Loco Works Deveronside1991 92 FC Stoneywood Stonehaven Lossiemouth United1992 93 Inverurie Loco Works FC Stoneywood Buckie Rovers b 1993 94 Stonehaven Sunnybank Deveronside1994 95 FC Stoneywood Turriff United Lossiemouth United1995 96 Inverurie Loco Works Turriff United Deveronside1996 97 Sunnybank FC Stoneywood Islavale1997 98 Inverurie Loco Works Sunnybank Islavale1998 99 Sunnybank FC Stoneywood Islavale1999 2000 Longside Sunnybank Deveronside b 2000 01 Longside Sunnybank DeveronsideNotes At the end of each season the North winners played the East winners to determine the overall champions unless otherwise stated and bolded this was won by the East club a b c d e f Overall champions List of winners editClub Winner 1 Runner up First win Last winBanks O Dee 11 a 6 1968 69 1986 87Sunnybank 6 8 1971 72 1998 99FC Stoneywood 4 5 1984 85 1994 95Deveronside 4 b c 0 1985 86 1999 2000Inverurie Loco Works 3 a 2 1992 93 1997 98Stonehaven 2 a 3 1989 90 1993 94Longside 2 a 0 1999 2000 2000 01Parkvale 1 a 0 1973 74Aberdeen East End 1 1 1977 78Fraserburgh United 1 0 1979 80Buckie Rovers 1 d e 0 1992 93Burghead Thistle 1 d e 0 1973 74Rosslyn Sport 1 a 0 1979 80Bon Accord 1 0 1988 89Turriff United 0 4 N ALewis United 0 3 N AMugiemoss 0 1 N AIslavale 0 e 0 N ANairn St Ninian 0 e 0 N AForres Thistle 0 f 0 N ALossiemouth United 0 f 0 N ABishopmill United 0 g 0 N ACaberfeidh Juniors 0 g 0 N AFochabers 0 g 0 N ANotes a b c d e f Includes 1 season when the play off with the North Section winners was lost Refers to 4 seasons of winning the North section and then defeating the East winners in a play off Won the North section 10 times overall a b Refers to 1 season of winning the North section and then defeating the East winners in a play off a b c d Won the North section 4 times overall a b Won the North section twice overall a b c Won the North section once overall References edit a b c d North Region Junior League Scottish Football Historical Archive 4 May 2021 Retrieved 13 June 2021 Aberdeen amp District Junior League Scottish Football Historical Archive 4 January 2021 Scottish Junior Cup gt Finals 1886 to 1956 Scottish Football Association archive version 2018 Archived from the original on 16 January 2018 Retrieved 28 December 2019 a b c North of Scotland Junior Competitions Scottish Football Historical Archive 6 January 2021 a b Scottish Junior Cup gt Finals 1957 Present 2009 Scottish Football Association archive version 2018 Archived from the original on 16 January 2018 Retrieved 28 December 2019 Dave Edwards 26 February 2009 Turriff United Formartine and Strathspey in The Press and Journal Archived from the original on 28 March 2012 Retrieved 16 March 2013 Scottish Cup wins for Sunnybank and Bo ness BBC Sport 23 October 2010 Culter hold Partick Thistle in Scottish Cup BBC Sport 19 November 2011 McGlone David McLure Bill 1987 The Juniors 100 Years A Centenary History of Scottish Junior Football Mainstream ISBN 1 85158 060 3 Non League Scotland archive version with club progression by season 1990 to 2007 Timeline Junior North Scottish Football Historical Archive archived version 2017 Non League Tables for 1988 1989 NonLeague Matters McGlone David McLure Bill 1987 The Juniors 100 Years A Centenary History of Scottish Junior Football Mainstream ISBN 1 85158 060 3 Non League Scotland archive version with club progression by season 1990 to 2007 Scottish Junior FA Structure Scottish Junior Football Association Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title North Junior Football League amp oldid 1081613547, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
