SFL Third Division
In the early 1920s the Scottish Football League decided it was time to expand the football league system and from August 1923 the first Scottish Third Division came into existence. This offered more clubs a chance to play in the long established Scottish League, it was the 34th season of competition. Creation of the Third Division allowed some 'new' clubs to join the league and some clubs that had previously dropped out of the league to return. Some of the clubs thrived and prospered and are still in the league today, others left the football league and returned to playing in other leagues.
Scottish Football League
A (Very) Brief History
The Scottish Football League (SFL) started its league competition in season 1890/91 and at that time had a single, First, division. There were other administrations running league football around or shortly after this time - such as the Scottish Football Alliance, Scottish Football Federation, Scottish Football Union, Highland Football League - and often, as places became available, clubs would move from one league to another, in the belief that this would represent better competition or be more financially viable. Of course, if a team dropped out of the First Division, it would try to rejoin one of the alternative leagues. As well as league games, clubs also often also played in local cup competitions, such as the Ayrshire Cup, the Forfarshire Cup and similar.
The SFL established a Second Division for season 1893/94 and this attracted new clubs and those from other leagues. The outbreak of the First World War meant that the Second Division was suspended at the end of the 1914/15 season and it was not re-established until season 1921/22. The SFL decided to expand the leagues and created a Division Three for season 1923-24. This saw a number of 'new' clubs promoted into the league system - such as Montrose and Queen of the South - and a number of clubs return to the league - like Arthurlie and East Stirlingshire. There were 16 clubs in the new Third Division, competition started on 18 August 1923 and the last game of the season was played on 28 April 1924.
On Other Pages
Results
On this page, you’ll find the results from a century ago posted precisely 100 years after they occurred, along with a league table showing where everyone stood as the season progressed.
Watch as teams do their best to get established in the Scottish Football League. Some will make it, others, unfortunately, will not.
The Division Three League Table part way through the season
Teams
More information about the 16 teams that took part in the the very first Scottish Football League Third Division. Who were they? Where did they play in 1923? Are the grounds still there today? How big were some of the towns / communities that supported their teams in the Third Division?
Find out if the teams and grounds are still with us today.
Nithsdale Wanderers Crawick Holm pitch in 2022
Ground Tour
In the summer of 2022 I undertook a trip over a few days to visit the 42 grounds in the Scottish Professional Football League. To make it a bit more personal, I also went to the grounds of teams that had been in the Scottish Leagues in my lifetime, so that added in a few extra visits.
See the fruits of my labour here.
Berwick Rangers ground, one of the sides no longer in the SPFL
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