Scottish football league system

The current system has been in place since 2013–14, when the Scottish Professional Football League was formed by a merger of the Scottish Premier League (tier 1) and the Scottish Football League (tiers 2–4). At the same time, the Lowland Football League (tier 5) was founded, and a year later the leagues below (tier 6) were incorporated into the system. For each division, its official name, sponsor name, number of clubs, number of games, and promotion/relegation spots are given:

There remains one Senior league - the North Caledonian Football League - which has not yet been incorporated into the pyramid system. It is based in the north of Scotland, including a club from the island of Orkney, and currently contains 9 clubs playing 16 games. However, it has been reported that this league will enter the pyramid at Tier 6 as the "Northern" feeder to the Highland League in the foreseeable future.

The leagues below level four are classed as "non-league football", meaning they are outside the Scottish Professional Football League and are played on a regional not a national basis. The Lowland League is parallel to the Highland League. These divisions created level five on the pyramid and since season 2014–15, the two league winners have played off against each other, with the winner then playing the team finishing 10th in League Two in a promotion/relegation play-off.

Below the Lowland League is the East of Scotland Football League (40 clubs, which includes a reserve team, split into a 16-team Premier Division, and two First Division conferences each containing 12 teams) and the South of Scotland Football League (16 clubs in a single division) - with promotion (via a play-off) and relegation between the Lowland League.

As of 2019–20 this totals 139 teams across ten divisions. All clubs in tier 5 and above automatically enter the Scottish Cup, along with clubs in other divisions who are full members of the Scottish Football Association. Up to three non-SFA members can qualify for the Scottish Cup each season by winning the East or South leagues, or the East & South Cup-Winners Shield. There are a variety of cup tournaments, sometimes involving reserve teams fielded by the SPFL clubs, and some cups are played for by clubs from multiple leagues.

Also outside of the national structure, overseen by the Scottish Junior Football Association, are the three junior regions, Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region of 63 clubs; Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region of 38 clubs; and the Scottish Junior Football Association, North Region of 32 clubs. As of 2019–20 this represents a total of 133 teams across 11 divisions. The term 'junior' refers not to the age of the players but the level of football played.[4][5][6]

These clubs operate separately from the Scottish Football Association, except Girvan (who for historical reasons are a member of both the SFA and the SJFA), and Banks O' Dee (who joined the SFA in 2013). They participate in a number of their own cup competitions, as well as the Scottish Junior Cup.

Up to four non-SFA members can qualify for the Scottish Cup each season by winning one of the Superleagues or the Junior Cup. Banks O' Dee also enter Senior tournaments the Aberdeenshire Cup and Shield, and run an Under 20s team in the Senior development structure the Aberdeenshire & District League.

In 2020, as part of a long process of negotiation to form an integrated footballing pyramid structure, all 63 West Region Junior clubs decided to depart and join the newly-founded West of Scotland Football League, a feeder to the Lowland League. Since 2017, most East Region Clubs also departed the Junior ranks to join the Senior East of Scotland Football League, also below the Lowland League.

Again separate from the above, and generally agreed to lie 'below' the senior and junior levels, are the over 1,000 clubs in membership of the Scottish Amateur Football Association which oversees 50 different leagues[7][8][9] - although this includes a number of Sunday League football and Futsal competitions. Prestige centres around the historic Scottish Amateur Cup. For historical reasons Glasgow University are a member of both the SFA and the SAFA and enter the Scottish Cup and South Challenge Cup. A number of Senior and Junior clubs run reserve teams in Amateur football.

As of 2019–20 there are 424 teams – in 12 geographic leagues containing a total of 37 divisions – playing Saturday football under a regular August–May season. In addition there are 123 teams playing in four specialist Saturday Morning leagues (including one for Colleges) in Dundee and Glasgow, plus 31 clubs playing in Churches leagues. Student and Police football is also affiliated to the SAFA.

Roughly concurrent with the Scottish Amateur Football Association is the Scottish Welfare Football Association, which has a very low profile nationally. The SWFA was established in the aftermath of World War I, and oversees leagues mainly operating Sunday and summer or midweek football, predominantly in the north of Scotland. From a peak of over 500 clubs, there were 158 teams in membership in November 2012,[10] down from 238 teams in 2007.[11]

The reserve & youth leagues are mostly governed by the relevant adult leagues.