The Glasgow Junior Football League (GJL) was a football league competition operated under the Scottish Junior Football Association between 1895 and 1927.Glasgow Junior League, Scottish Football Historical Archive, 27 August 2020 As its name suggests, it was primarily for teams in the Glasgow area, but did include teams from towns outside the city; conversely, other leagues existed concurrently (such as the Scottish Junior Football League) and some teams based in Glasgow played in those.
The league – the champions of which were awarded the Evening Times TrophyEvening Times Trophy, Scottish Football Historical Archive, 21 April 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021 – was seen as one of the strongest in Scotland, with its clubs winning or reaching the final of the national knockout competition, the Scottish Junior Cup, several times. Membership varied, with mergers involving other leagues occurring on various occasions and individual teams being enticed to join the GJL from those leagues.
Having continued through World War I, the GJL was dissolved in 1927 when the intermediate dispute occurred; however its members (and other clubs) formed the Scottish Intermediate Football League which was contested for four years. In 1931, the Central Junior Football League was formed, with notes from its 1932 AGM stating that it was the 32nd such meeting, suggesting that it was considered a continuation of the pre-1927 GJL. This setup continued until 1968 when the Central League merged with the long-running Lanarkshire Junior Football League as the Central Region, and eventually 2002 the Ayrshire Junior Football League (many of whose clubs had also been involved in the intermediate dispute of the 1920s, although they played in a separate division) joined to create the Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region.
Two of the clubs who participated in the first season of the Glasgow Junior League in 1895–96 – Maryhill and Vale of Clyde – played in the SJFA West in 2019–20, and others who joined in the 19th century (Ashfield, Glasgow Perthshire, Petershill and Rutherglen Glencairn) also survived into the 21st. At the end of that season – which was curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic – all 63 West Region clubs left the SJFA setup to join a new West of Scotland Football League in the Senior pyramid,Pyramid Update – 67 Applications Approved, Scottish Lowland Football League, 14 April 2020Junior clubs in the west are about to get the best of both worlds, The Scotsman, 19 April 2020 bringing 125 years of Junior league football in the region (including the intermediate years) to an end.
Champions
Key: Club also won the Scottish Junior Cup (doubles in bold).Club were also runners-up in the Scottish Junior Cup
SeasonWinnerRunner-upOther member in Scottish Cup final1895–96Cambuslang HibernianStrathclydeParkhead1896–97StrathclydeCambuslang Hibernian1897–98ParkheadRutherglen Glencairn1898–99Rutherglen GlencairnCambuslang HibernianParkhead1899–1900Vale of ClydeGlasgow PerthshireMaryhill1900–01 Maryhill / Parkhead (shared)Maryhill1901–02Rutherglen GlencairnParkheadMaryhill1902–03 ParkheadPetershill1903–04MaryhillPetershillVale of Clyde1904–05 MaryhillStrathclydeAshfieldRunner-up Renfrew Victoria was also a League member.1905–06AshfieldStrathclyde1906–07AshfieldMaryhillStrathclyde1907–08AshfieldClydebank Juniors1908–09AshfieldStrathclyde1909–10AshfieldKirkintilloch Rob Roy1910–11Cambuslang RangersStrathclydePetershill1911–12Cambuslang RangersVale of Clyde Petershill1912–13 Vale of ClydeGlasgow Perthshire1913–14 BenburbCambuslang RangersAshfield1914–15Cambuslang RangersVale of ClydeParkhead1915–16Cambuslang RangersClydebank JuniorsPetershill1916–17ParkheadPetershill1917–18 Vale of ClydeAshfieldPetershill1918–19Rutherglen GlencairnAshfield 1919–20Vale of ClydePetershill Parkhead1920–21 AshfieldBenburb Kirkintilloch Rob Roy1921–22Rutherglen GlencairnParkhead1922–23StrathclydeShettleston1923–24ShettlestonRutherglen GlencairnParkhead1924–25St Roch'sParkheadSt Anthony's1925–26St Roch'sStrathclyde 1926–27ShettlestonStrathclydeRutherglen Glencairn
List of winners
Club Winners Runner-up First win Last winAshfield 6 21905–06 1920–21Parkhead 4 31897–98 1916–17 Vale of Clyde 4 21899–19001919–20 Rutherglen Glencairn 4 21898–99 1921–22 Cambuslang Rangers 4 11910–11 1915–16 Maryhill 3 11900–011904–05 Strathclyde 2 71896–971922–23 Shettleston 2 11923–241926–27 St Roch's 2 01924–25 1925–26 Cambuslang Hibernian 1 2 1895–96 Benburb 1 1 1913–14 Petershill 0 4 – Glasgow Perthshire 0 2 – Clydebank Juniors 0 2 – Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 0 1 –
References
Scottish Junior FA Structure, Scottish Junior Football Association