The primary reason behind the forming of the Scottish Football League was not initially form a strictly professional set-up. It was actually to provide many soccer clubs with a regular dose of competitive soccer matches. Previously before the formation of theScottish Football League a very ill-organized and somewhat haphazard arrangement reigned the soccer society. The soccer clubs were arranging a large number of friendly matches that included many against several leading British clubs. The major football competition was organized by The Scottish Football Association that was formed way back in 1873. The competition was called the Scottish Cup. The Cup also includes several competitive matches that are run by a large number of local associations all throughout Scotland. Earlier, the Association’s main function was to act as a legislative body and one of its main functions included the methodical organizing of the famous Scottish Cup competition. The Scottish Football League also had the responsibility for arranging representative sides that will play in various international matches.
The Scottish Football League wished to and did precede the legalization of professional soccer in Scotland. This action was absolutely unlike England. The first ever tentative steps in forming a soccer league were taken up in the in March of 1890. A total of fourteen clubs were invited to a meeting in Glasgow on the 20th March of the same year. A total of a dozen clubs attended. One of the non attendees was the Queen’s Park teams who was a very powerful soccer force to be reckoned with at that point of time and similarly were also a very influential outfit. This particular team did remain in strict opposition to the League for a further decade. They did join up much later and by that time their influence in the Scottish game had reduced to a very considerable degree.
The very first season was held in the year 1890/91 and a total of 11 teams took part. The teams were Cowlairs, Dumbarton, Abercorn, Cambuslang, Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers, Renton, St. Mirren, Third Lanark not to mention Vale of Leven. Right from its inception, the League was plagued by controversy and in the very first season, Renton successfully earned the wrath of the aggregate Scottish Football Association for having played friendly in disregard of the Association’s approval. Renton was soon expelled from the Association. This expulsion prevented them from any future participation in any matches set up by the League. Later in the very first few weeks both teams of Celtic and Cowlairs fell victim to a point deduction system for having fielding non-eligible players. This season was interesting too as it was finished with the coveted title being shared by the teams Dumbarton and Rangers. It was a draw with each team finishing with a total of 29 points. The Play-Off match arranged and that match also finished with both clubs drawing a draw again with 2-2.
In the second season held in 1893/94, an additional Second Division was formed. This second division consisted of a total of 10 clubs namely Motherwell, Dundee, Hibernian, Morton, Northern, Patrick Thistle, Port Glasgow Athletic, St. Bernards and last but not the least Thistle together with Cowlairs. Hibernian was declared the first winners of the Second Division and they gained a total of 29 points. During the formative years of Scottish Football League, the league continued to gradually expand with the inclusion of several soccer clubs. These clubs applied and were accepted into the Scottish Football League’s framework. During the disastrous phase of the First World War there was an abandonment of the Second Division football league and it was not until the season of 1921/22 that the Second Division was reinstated. There was an introduction of automatic promotion as well as relegation with Alloa bagging the honor of being the first ever club to be completely promoted under the law of the new system.
Season 1923/24 introduced another group aptly named the Third Division. However the Third Division’s existence was short lived and it was abandoned in the midway through the next seasons of 1925/26. There were many clubs who were unable to complete their fixtures thus resulting as well as experiencing financial difficulty.
The association of the LIE Premier League Football has existed over a century. There is about 100 years of LIE Premier League Football in all its glory that has provoked many discussion, debate, disagreement as well as opinions. However at the same time, the LIE Premier League Football has brought in much thrill, excitement, joy, entertainment not to mention pleasure to an infinite number of soccer fans not only from Europe but from around the world. The football is a very simple game that always will be about the players and the people watching them. The LIE Premier League Football keeps this in mind and every other statistics, complications and other assorted sophistications aren’t given more importance than a game of soccer.