Perthshire
Football League
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See also |
The Perthshire
League was formed in the mid 1890s and was an erratically organised
competition that seemed to survive in bits and pieces as a Senior league
right up until WWII. Blairgowrie were the most respected entrants since they
actually eliminated Dumbarton in the 1938-39 Scottish Cup. Other entrants
included Vale of Atholl, Dunkeld & Birnam, Fair City Athletic,
Breadalbane, Huntingtower, Scone, Tulloch, Stanley and Luncarty. The pre-WWI days
were its most successful. A number of clubs (Tulloch, Scone, Morrisonians,
Luncarty etc) failed to survive long thereafter and this seems to have
limited competition. A Perth & County League and an Atholl League were
also played in the inter-war years. The Perthshire
League resurfaced in the mid to late 1930s and Fair City Athletic are noted
as being league winners in 1935-36, this referring to senior rather than
junior. Although the competition was regularly left incomplete, it does
appear that a championship trophy was awarded in this season. It’s fairly certain
that the inter-war competitions were more along the lines of the North
Ayrshire Cup competitions of the 1890s / 1900s....sporadically staged and
regularly incomplete. It would seem the league disbanded in 1959 and was
replaced by the Perthshire Amateur League. Vale of Atholl
lasted longest as a senior side, competing in the Qualifying Cup well into
the 1960s and in the Perthshire Cup into the 1970s. Some clubs, such as
Blairgowrie may also have played in the Juniors for a time. They last played
and won a tie in the Qualifying Cup in 1946-47 but scratched before the
second round and subsequently disbanded. The junior team in Blairgowrie was
formed around the same time, suggesting they followed the same pattern as a
number of teams either side of WW2 (Beith, Bo'ness, Vale of Leven e.g.) where
a junior team with the same or similar name to a senior side was set up,
often playing at the same ground. The junior side in Luncarty was formed much
earlier - in the 1920s. Luncarty are direct descendants of the seniors wheras
Scone Thistle played concurrently during Scone's existence. Whether any other
seasons were completed remains unknown. With only three or four SFA
affiliated member clubs within its entrants, it must be assumed that any competition
was either very brief or possibly encompassed some local amateur clubs. It’s
believed that there was a Perthshire Amateur League in existence in the 1930s
so it is possible this might be the competition referred to above. Many of the early
league members - Scone, Huntingtower, Stanley, Tulloch and Dunblane - were
regular Scottish Cup entrants pre-WW1, but it would seem that the rise of St
Johnstone in the 1920s did for the 'lesser' Senior teams in the county. The Perthshire Cup
continued until 1974-75 and, Breadalbane who were regular winners of this
tourney, played senior opposition as late as September 1961 when they were
beaten by an almost full strength St Johnstone in the Dewar Shield. This
suggests some form of league structure though the absence of these sides from
the all-in Scottish Cup of the mid-1950s, Vale of Atholl excepted, seems to
suggest amateur rather than senior non-league. Breadalbane and
Vale of Atholl continue to play in the amateur grades to the present day.
Whilst the Aberfeldy club (Breadalbane) have endured at least one brief
period of inactivity in the recent past, Vale of Atholl have survived
continuously and still play at Pitlochry's Recreation Ground. Huntingtower and
Fair City Athletic, both senior clubs from a bygone era, presently compete in
the Perthshire Amateur League also although it is not thought that either are
related to their earlier namesakes. Vale of Atholl
entered the Scottish Qualifying Cup for 1966-67 but scratched before the
first round where they were due to play Glasgow University, possibly due to
the fact that they just weren't able to compete at this level. They hadn't
actually qualified for the competition proper (excluding the all-in seasons
of the mid 1950s) since 1934-35 and hadn't won a qualifier since 1961-62.
They had taken some severe beatings since then - 6-1 v Gala Fairydean, 12-0 v
Duns, 5-1 v Burntisland Shipyard and 8-0 v Edinburgh University so maybe they
just gave up the ghost. Below is appended
a list of Senior clubs which have operated since the 1890s. Not all of these
would have played in the league, the intention being to give an idea of which
clubs played during the league’s existence. A note on Dunkeld
clubs - reference to the club playing as Atholl Rangers in the 1910s while
the inter-war years saw Dunkeld and Birnam Rovers appear to play as separate
clubs. The Dunkeld & Birnam that played in the Scottish Qualifying Cup
during this period may therefore have been a representative XI.
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Champions 1897-98 Scone 1898-99 Huntingtower 1899-00 Dunblane 1900-01 1901-02 1902-03 Stanley 1903-04 1904-05 Scone 1905-06 1906-07 1907-08 Stanley 1908-09 1909-10 1910-11 1911-12 Scone 1912-13 1913-14 Tulloch 1914-1919 no competition 1919-20 1920-21 1921-22 Vale of Earn (?) 1935-36 Fair City Athletic 1958-59 |
League Cup Scone |
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1897-98 |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
Scone Stanley Huntingtower Tulloch Airleywright Luncarty |
10 10 10 10 10 10 |
10 5 5 5 2 1 |
0 2 1 0 1 0 |
0 3 4 5 7 9 |
52 27 35 26 16 19 |
12 22 27 21 40 55 |
20 12 11 10 5 2 |
Burnbank Swifts v
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1898-99 |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
Huntingtower Stanley Scone Tulloch Airleywright Luncarty |
10 10 10 10 10 10 |
8 7 7 4 3 0 |
0 1 0 0 1 0 |
2 2 3 6 6 10 |
32 30 22 14 15 3 |
16 14 15 32 26 13 |
16 15 14 8 7 0 |
Luncarty withdrew after three matches. The
points of their remaining games were awarded to their opponents.
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1906-07 |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
Tulloch Stanley Scone Crieff
Morrisonians Huntingtower Luncarty Airleywright |
10 8 9 7 8 9 9 |
9 7 4 3 2 1 1 |
1 1 3 2 0 1 0 |
0 0 2 2 6 7 8 |
37 27 36 21 15 10 12 |
7 7 12 16 31 46 36 |
19 15 11 8 4 3 2 |
Tables
supplied by Stewart Davidson and thanks to David Ross and Alan McCabe for
supplying some background information