Reserve
Football
Overview
1881-date
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See also |
From the very earliest days, it has been
the practice for most clubs to field more than one team. First team matches
were usually supplemented by Second XI games while 3rd and even 4th XIs were
not unheard of. These teams were generally used for the younger men and were
possibly the origins of the Junior grade. Today these sides are given the tag
‘reserves’ and have done so since the formation of the Scottish (Reserve)
League in 1957. Although this term was also used in the
19th century many clubs gave their minor teams names such as Swifts, Rovers
or Strollers. For instance, the Ayr reserve side which won the Scottish 2nd
XI Cup in 1888, was called Ayr Swifts, although they were also later known as
Ayr ‘A’. On the other hand Queen’s Park’s reserve sides have always been
called Strollers, Victoria XI and Hampden XI. Reserve competition were also organized
at local levels with FAs such as the Edinburgh and the Linlithgowshire running
2nd XI cups parallel to the senior trophies. From its formation in 1998, the Scottish
Premier League ran an Under-21 league but this was dropped in favour of a
reserve league in 2005. The reserve leagues were finally abolished by both
the SPL and the Scottish League in 2007 when both bodies promoted under-21
leagues instead. In the early days, it was also common for
reserve sides to enter the various Senior leagues that were operating such as
the Scottish Alliance and Scottish Union. And it wasn’t until after the
Second World War .that dedicated reserve leagues were formed. Although there is a mention of a League
Reserve Championship in 1896 involving, amongst others, Rangers and Heart of
Midlothian, until the First World War, the ‘A’ sides of Scottish Football
League clubs mainly played their competitive football within the regular
non-League set-up. Dundee also
fielded an ‘A’ side in the Forfarshire County League, a supplementary
competition that existed around the turn of the century. They won this in
1902. |
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Central League Dundee ‘A’ Falkirk ‘A’ Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ Highland League Aberdeen ‘A’ Scottish Alliance Clyde ‘A’ Third Lanark ‘A’ Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ Rangers ‘A’ St Mirren ‘A’ Scottish Union Falkirk ‘A’ Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ Kilmarnock ‘A’ Queen’s Park Victoria XI Rangers ‘A’ St Mirren ‘A’ |
1897-98, 1912-1915 1912-13 1910-11 1912-1915 1896-97 1896-97 1905-06 1905-06 1905-06 1907-1909 1906-07 1906-1909 1911-1915 1906-1908 1906-1909 |
Eastern League Cowdenbeath ‘A’ Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ Raith Rovers ‘A’ Midland League Falkirk ‘A’ Northern League Aberdeen ‘A’ Dundee ‘A’ Dundee Hibernian ‘A’ Scottish Combination Celtic ‘A’ Cowdenbeath ‘A’ Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ Morton ‘A’ Queen’s Park Strollers Queen’s Park Victoria XI Rangers ‘A’ St Mirren ‘A’ |
1905-06 1904-1906 1909-1915 1908-09 1904-1912, 1913-15 1900-1915 1910-1912, 1913-1915 1896-97 1906-07 1896-97, 1898-99 1903-1905 1896-1902, 1903-1909 1909-1911 1896-1899 1899-1904 |
The
reserve sides that won these competitions were
1896-97 Scottish Alliance 1896-97 Scottish Combination 1897-98 Scottish
Combination 1898-99 Scottish
Combination 1900-01 Northern League 1902-03 Northern League 1904-05 Northern League 1905-06 Northern League 1905-06 Scottish Alliance 1906-07 Scottish Union 1908-09 Midland League 1908-09 Northern League 1908-09 Scottish Union 1909-10 Northern League 1910-11 Northern League 1912-13 Highland League 1913-14
Scottish Union |
Third Lanark ‘A’ Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ Rangers ‘A’ Rangers ‘A’ Dundee ‘A’ Dundee ‘A’ Dundee ‘A’ Aberdeen ‘A’ Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ Rangers ‘A’ Falkirk ‘A’ Dundee ‘A’ Falkirk ‘A’ Dundee ‘A’ Aberdeen ‘A’ Aberdeen ‘A’ Queen’s Park Victoria XI |
By 1909 a new Scottish Reserve League was established, although one
aspect of it was having at least one non-reserve side in each of its seasons.
It was generally regarded as a strong league and when Dumbarton Harp left the
Scottish Union for it in 1912, it was regarded as a step up for them. Although
the League disbanded in 1915, it was virtually re-established in 1919 as the
Scottish Alliance. Like its immediate predecessor also contained a small number
of a number of non-League sides within its membership. Celtic ‘A’ actually gave
up their place to let in Dundee United after their demotion from the Scottish
League in 1923.
When the Third Division of the Scottish
Football League disbanded in chaos in 1926, there was a huge influx of clubs.
To cater for this, the Alliance split into Northern and Southern sections. This
lasted for just one season though, after which the league reverted to a single,
all reserve, division.
Non-reserve side soon re-entered but their involvement ended at the
Alliance’s AGM in 1938. A motion by Hamilton Academical to remove the two
remaining non-League sides – Beith and Galston – for financial reasons was
approved by 15 votes to 5. The Alliance was then effectively reformed as the
Scottish Reserve League, and was to be an exclusively First Division reserve
body.
Because of geographical restrictions, as
well as being limits to the Alliance membership, some clubs entered sides in
other competitions. Aberdeen ‘A’ won the 1924-25 Highland League and Ayr United
‘A’ won the 1936-37 Scottish Combination, while Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ lifted
the Central League Cup in 1920. Aberdeen also fielded a reserve side in the
Aberdeenshire & District League, winning it between 1925 and 1929 and in
1948.
Northern
League
Aberdeen ‘A’ Dundee ‘A’ Dundee Hibernian ‘A’ Scottish
Combination
Ayr United ‘A’ Edinburgh City ‘A’ Queen’s Park Victoria XI Third Lanark ‘A’ Edinburgh & District
League Edinburgh
City ‘A Raith Rovers ‘A Inter
County League
Queen’s Park Strollers Central
League
Falkirk ‘A’ Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ |
1919-20 1919-20 1919-20 1935-1937 1935-1937 1935-1937 1935-36 1931-1934 1931-32 1916-17 1919-1921 1919-1921 |
Eastern
League
Aberdeen ‘A’ Dundee ‘A’ Raith Rovers ‘A’ Western
League
Clydebank ‘A’ Hamilton Academical ‘A’ Queen’s Park Strollers Queen’s Park Victoria XI Southern Counties League Queen of the South ‘A’ Stranraer ‘A’ Highland
League
Aberdeen ‘A’ Provincial
League
Arthurlie ‘A’ Queen’s Park Victoria XI |
1922-1923 1919-20, 1922-23 1919-20 1919-1921 1920-1921 1916-17, 1919-20 1921-23 1921-22, 1930-1933 1935-1937 1924-25 1926-27 1926-27 |
Following their relegation from the
First Division in 1939, Queen’s Park Strollers helped to re-form the Scottish Alliance
with several non-League clubs, but this competition was also curtailed by the
War. Despite the hostilities, several clubs did manage to field two sides
during the War. The North Eastern League was formed in 1941, but, due to its
limited membership, invited a number of Southern League clubs to enter their
2nd XIs. Rangers’ second team were successful in the first season by winning
the Autumn series. They also won both the League Cup competitions in 1943-44. A
number of other clubs went on to form the Glasgow & District Reserve League
in 1942. Kilmarnock’s first team, when they resurfaced from their enforced
hibernation, played in this competition during its last season.
When normality had returned to football in
1946, the Scottish League structure had altered from the pre-War set-up.
Instead of two divisions of about 20 clubs, the First Division, now renamed A
Division, held sixteen clubs, the B division fourteen (soon to increase by two)
while a new third level was tagged on for the remaining member clubs. The
Scottish Reserve League restarted, again it was a mirror of the sixteen club
First, now renamed A, Division. Throughout its four year existence, the
league’s membership changed to resemble the A Division’s so that although
Rangers ‘A’ finished bottom in 1947-48, they were saved by the fact that the
1st XI were runners-up in the Scottish League. This version of the Reserve
League lasted for four seasons before it was merged with the C Division to
create a two section third tier of the Scottish League.
As the C Division had initially only seven
clubs in it, three reserve sides excluded from the Scottish Reserve League were
invited to make the numbers up to ten, one was Dundee United ‘A’, while two of
them, Dundee ‘A’ and St Johnstone ‘A’ had both played in the 1945-46 Eastern
League. Additional reserve clubs saw the C Division increase to twelve clubs.
In 1949, the section amalgamated with the Reserve League, and the influx of
clubs necessitated two regional sections being implemented, named North &
East, and South & West. From 1946 to 1949 no reserve side won the C
Divison, but from 1949 to its abolition in 1955, they only failed to win it
once. The C Division was formally abolished at a SGM of the Scottish League on
19 June 1955 after a number of prominent clubs pulled their sides out. They
subsequently set up the Scottish (Reserve) League, the brackets distinguishing
it from the 1938-1949 version. Again it was to be a mirror of the First
Division although there were a number of seasons when not all of those clubs
took part. As an exclusively First Division competition, Second Division clubs
were denied a place so many of these clubs sought new pastures. Some formed a
Scottish Alliance was during 1956-57 but it wasn’t popular and disbanded after
only one season while others formed the Combined Reserve League. And again
other clubs found homes in one of the Senior non-League competitions.
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Reserve sides in membership of other
senior leagues since 1946 |
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Annan Athletic reserves Arbroath reserves Ayr United ‘A’ Berwick Rangers reserves Cowdenbeath reserves Dalbeattie Star reserves Dunfermline Athletic reserves East Fife reserves Gretna reserves Heart of Midlothian ‘B’ Heart of Midlothian ‘A’ Hibernian ‘B’ Hibernian ‘A’ Kilmarnock ‘A’ Queen of the South reserves Raith Rovers reserves Stranraer reserves |
South of Scotland League East of Scotland League South of Scotland League East of Scotland League East of Scotland League South of Scotland League East of Scotland League East of Scotland League South of Scotland League East of Scotland League East of Scotland League East of Scotland League East of Scotland League South of Scotland League East of Scotland League South of Scotland League East of Scotland League South of Scotland League |
1987-1991, 1992- 1969-1971 1946-1948 1951-1954, 1955-56, 1959-1968,
1977-1983 1969-70, 1971-72 2001- 1957-58 1958-59, 1966-67 2001-2003 1949-1952 1969-1972 1947-1953 1971-1974 1946-1948 1970-71 1972-73, 1992-93, 1996-97, 2003-04 1970-71 1949-1988, 1990-91, 2003-04 |
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Reserve sides winning other senior
leagues since 1946 |
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Ayr United ‘A’ Cowdenbeath reserves Heart of Midlothian ‘B’ Hibernian ‘B’ Queen of the South reserves Stranraer reserves |
South of Scotland League East of Scotland League East of Scotland League East of Scotland League South of Scotland League South of Scotland League |
1947, 1948 1970 1950 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953 1997 1957, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1977 |
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Reserve sides winning senior cup
competitions since 1946 |
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Alex Jack Trophy Cree Lodge Cup East of Scotland League Cup Haig Gordon Memorial Trophy King Cup Potts Cup South of Scotland League Cup Tweedie Cup |
Berwick Rangers reserves 1990 Stranraer reserves 1950, 1954, 1956,
1960, 1966, 1975 Berwick Rangers reserves 1990 Stranraer reserves 1968, 1971, 1972,
1975-1977, 1985 Berwick Rangers reserves 1981, 1990 Hibernian ‘B’ 1948, 1949 Heart of Midlothian ‘B’ 1950-1952 Queen of the South reserves 1960,
1961 Stranraer reserves 1959, 1964, 1971,
1973, 1974, 1976-1978, 1984 Queen of the South reserves 1997 Stranraer reserves 1957, 1958, 1962,
1964, 1969, 1974, 1977 Stranraer reserves 1953, 1960, 1962,
1967, 1971 |
Reserve football in the Highlands
The North Caledonian League has been in
existence since 1896 but for a time it was also called the North of Scotland
Reserve League, while the North Caledonian was formed ten years earlier. Today the
league’s membership consists of amateur teams, but reserve sides of Highland
League clubs have won the competitions on a great number of occasions.
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Competition wins by the reserve sides of
Highland clubs |
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North Caledonian League Brora Rangers 1967, 1968 Buckie Thistle 1955 (shared) Clachnacuddin 1904, 1905, 1910, 1927,
1930, 1932, 1937, 1950, 1951, 1956-1958, 1964, 1992 Elgin City 1954 Inverness Caledonian 1923, 1949,
1952, 1953, 1970 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1995,
1998 Inverness Citadel 1898, 1902, 1903,
1911, 1922 Inverness Thistle 1901, 1929, 1931,
1935, 1948, 1959, 1960, 1963 Nairn County 1936, 1955 (shared) Ross County 1966, 1997 Macnicol Trophy Brora Rangers 1970 Clachnacuddin 1956, 1961, 1963 Elgin City 1954 Inverness Caledonian 1965 Inverness Thistle 1959 Nairn County 1955, 1957, 1960 Ross County 1950, 1958, 1966, 1968, 1971,
1972 Football Times Cup Brora Rangers 1974 Clachnacuddin 1932, 1951, 1956, 1957,
1963, 1992, 1993, 1995 Inverness Caledonian 1930, 1936, 1939,
1948, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1964, 1970 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1999 Inverness Citadel 1924 Inverness Thistle 1925, 1926, 1935,
1953, 1960 Nairn County 1958 Ross County 1947, 1949, 1959, 1961, 1965,
1966, 1994, 1996, 1997 |
North Caledonian Cup Brora Rangers 1965 Clachnacuddin 1909, 1920, 1923, 1930,
1937, 1950, 1956-1958, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1992, 1995 Crusaders 1888, 1889 Inverness Caledonian 1893, 1895,
1896, 1900, 1905-1907, 1922, 1948, 1949, 1955, 1960, 1966, 1971, 1989, 1991 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1999 Inverness Citadel 1897, 1898, 1921 Inverness Crown 1892* Inverness Thistle 1891, 1894, 1901,
1910, 1926, 1931, 1932 Inverness Union 1890 Nairn County 1954 Ross County 1947, 1951, 1959, 1970,
1973, 1993 *this side was known as Crown Strollers Chic Allan Memorial Cup Clachnacuddin 1994 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1995,
1999 Inverness Thistle 1991 Ness Cup Brora Rangers 1968 Clachnacuddin 1957 Inverness Caledonian 1956, 1965 Inverness Thistle 1960 Nairn County 1958 Ross County 1961, 1966 Morris Newton Cup Clachnacuddin 1995 Ross County 1988, 1989 |