The 1891–92 Scottish Football League was the second season of the
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
after its formation in 1890. A total of 12 clubs ( 3rd LRV,
Abercorn
Abercorn (Gaelic: ''Obar Chùirnidh'', Old English: ''Æbbercurnig'') is a village and civil parish in West Lothian, Scotland. Close to the south coast of the Firth of Forth, the village is around west of South Queensferry. The parish had a p ...
,
Cambuslang
Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...
,
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
,
Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
,
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
Vale of Leven
The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ' ...
) took part in the competition. Dumbarton and Rangers were the defending champions having shared the title the previous season.
The competition began with the first matches held on 15 August 1891 and concluded on 24 May 1892. The league was won by Dumbarton who won the title outright for the first time on 7 May 1892 after they drew 1–1 away to Abercorn in their final match.
Clubs
In the close season after the league's successful first year, the Scottish Football League held its annual general meeting. As per the rules, the bottom three teams from season 1890–91 (St Mirren, Vale of Leven and Cowlairs) were put up for re-election to the league. Clyde and Leith Athletic both applied to join the league while league members agreed to increase the number of teams to 12. St Mirren, Vale of Leven, Clyde and Leith Athletic were all elected to join the league and would compete in the new season beginning on 15 August but Cowlairs failed re-election and instead became founding members of the
Scottish Football Alliance The Scottish Football Alliance was a football league football structure set up in Scotland in competition with the Scottish Football League. Its success in the early years of professional football in both England and Scotland made Alliance the bas ...
. Renton competed for the first few months of the previous season but were expelled by the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
for professionalism however the club successfully appealed its suspension and was readmitted to the league for this season.
Season overview
The league began on 15 August 1891. Both defending champions Dumbarton and Rangers opened the season with victories against Cambuslang (2–0) and Renton (4–1) respectively. On the same day, Clyde defeated Vale of Leven 10–3 in what would be the joint highest-scoring game of the season.
Rangers suffered an early season set back when they lost the first
Old Firm derby
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
of the season to rivals Celtic 3–0 on 22 August and, after a 3–1 defeat to Dumbarton two weeks later, they were effectively out of the running in 10th place with three defeats from their opening four games. Heart of Midlothian defeated Dumbarton 3–1 at
Tynecastle Park
Tynecastle Park is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a ...
on 29 August to take the early season lead two points clear at the top.
They would stay there until 19 September when a 5–1 reverse at
Boghead Park
Boghead Park was a football ground in the town of Dumbarton, Scotland. It was owned by Dumbarton F.C., who played there for 121 years between 1879 and 2000. By the time the ground closed in 2000, it was the oldest stadium in Scotland that had b ...
saw Dumbarton leapfrog them to go top. However, a run of three straight wins – culminating in a 10–3 defeat of Clyde – saw Heart of Midlothian three points clear of Celtic, Dumbarton and Leith Athletic on 3 October.
Dropping points to St Mirren and Vale of Leven allowed the chasing pack to catch up but it was Dumbarton who made the biggest impact. By the time they went top on 7 November after a tight 3–2 win against Renton, they had won five games in a row - a run that would extend well beyond the new year. On Boxing day they again defeated Renton 2–1 to move five points clear of Heart of Midlothian and 10 clear of third-placed Celtic but the Glasgow side had six games in hand, enough to catch and pass the league leaders.
Dumbarton would play just two games in the new year before a crucial tie at home to Celtic on 23 April 1892. The Glasgow side had been unbeaten in all competitions after their opening day loss to Heart of Midlothian racking up 23 wins in 25 games – winning the
Glasgow Cup
The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...
and the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,John Miller scored the only goal in front of 12,000 spectators at Boghead Park to put Dumbarton in pole position to claim the title.
A 6–0 humbling of Rangers 11 days later – in which the league's top scorer Jack Bell scored a hat-trick – put Dumbarton on the brink and, in their final match of the season on 7 May, a 1–1 draw with Abercorn was enough to secure a second league title. On the same day, Vale of Leven drew 1–1 with Renton in their final match as they finished bottom of the table, failing to win a single game throughout the league season.
At the league's annual general meeting on 3 June 1892, it was voted that the number of competing clubs would reduce from 12 to 10 for the next season. The bottom three clubs, St Mirren, Cambuslang and Vale of Leven, had to submit applications to rejoin the league for the next season. The league also received applications from four non-league clubs:
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
, Cowlairs,
Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
and St Bernard's. In the election, St Mirren received the most votes and retained their league status meaning Cambuslang and Vale of Leven lost their league places.
Lea
Lea or LEA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lea River, Tasmania, Australia
* Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows
* RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA"
England
* Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish
* Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...