The East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) is a senior

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league based in the east and south-east of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The league sits at levels 6–9 on the

Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

, acting as a feeder to the

Lowland Football League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...

. Founded in 1923, it is currently composed of 60 member clubs competing in four divisions. Traditionally clubs were located in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Lothians and the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

however the league has now expanded and also includes clubs from

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the hi ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. Since 2014–15 it has featured in the senior pyramid system. The winners take part in an end of season promotion play-off with the

South of Scotland Football League The South of Scotland Football League (SoSFL) is a senior football league based in south-west Scotland. The league sits at level 6 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 1946, it i ...

and

West of Scotland Football League The West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) is a senior football league based in the west of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–10 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 202 ...

champions, subject to clubs meeting the required licensing criteria.

History

Original EoSFL

An earlier East of Scotland League existed between 1896 and 1906, when the supplementary Edinburgh Football League changed its name, after accepting

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

as a member. There is no connection between the two incarnations of the league.

21st Century

The EoSFL was traditionally one of Scotland's three "senior" non-leagues which sat outside 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 ...

(SFL), the other two being the

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system The Scottish football league syst ...

and the

(SoSFL). It was generally viewed as being weaker than the Highland League (with fewer of their club sides defeating SFL sides in the Scottish Cup competition as opposed to the HFL), but was still regarded as being stronger than the South of Scotland League. Some SoSFL clubs opted to join the EoSFL, including Annan Athletic before they were elected to the SFL in 2008. Dalbeattie Star and Threave Rovers also joined however both subsequently left to rejoin the SoSFL and then later the Lowland League. A number of the sides in the EoSFL have applied to join the SFL in the past, with Annan Athletic applying in (2000, successfully in 2008), Edinburgh City (2002, 2008),

Gala Fairydean Gala Fairydean Rovers Football Club are a Scottish association football club based in the town of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. The club competes in the , after joining from the East of Scotland Football League in 2013. At the same tim ...

(1994, 2000, 2002), Preston Athletic (2000, 2002, 2008) and The Spartans (2008). In 2004, Threave Rovers pulled out of the league to concentrate their efforts on the

. This left the league with an uneven number of clubs, and they were expected to fill the vacancy in the summer of 2005, with Gala Rovers widely touted as likely candidates. However, this did not happen. The only change that happened at that year's AGM of the league, was that Tollcross United announced that they would be competing as Tynecastle from the 2005-06 season. In 2006,

Peebles Rovers Peebles Rovers Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Peebles, Scottish Borders. Originally founded in 1888 as Greenside Rovers, the club changed their name to Peebles Rovers in the May of 1890. This is at odds with the official ...

merged with several local amateur sides to become

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

, who took Rovers' place in the league. At the 2007 AGM, agreement was reached to admit the reserve side of

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...

as the twelfth member of the First Division. They also entered the League Cup, but no other cups during the 2007–08 season. However, the reserves lasted only one season following Berwick Rangers' relegation to the fourth tier of

Scottish football Association football ( sco, fitbaa, gd, ball-coise) is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scot ...

. They were replaced by

Stirling University The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

, but returned for the 2010–11 season. Gretna 2008 entered the league in 2008, formed in the wake of the financial disaster that befell Gretna's former club,

Gretna F.C. Gretna Football Club was a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway, close to the border between England and Scotland, that last competed in the Scottish Premier League, the then top flight of Sco ...

They initially had to play home matches in the nearby town of Annan, the club that took their place in the SFL. The admission of

Duns Duns may refer to: * Duns, Scottish Borders, a town in Berwickshire, Scotland ** Duns railway station ** Duns F.C., a football club ** Duns RFC, a rugby football club ** Battle of Duns, an engagement fought in 1372 * Duns Scotus ( 1265/66–1308 ...

prior to the 2011–12 season, and then Burntisland Shipyard in 2012–13 brought the number of sides in the EoSFL to 26, the highest it had ever been at that point.

Lowland League and decline

In 2013, the

was formed to act as a direct feeder to the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), covering an area of Scotland south of the

Tay Road Bridge The Tay Road Bridge ( gd, Drochaid-rathaid na Tatha) carries the A92 road across the Firth of Tay from Newport-on-Tay in Fife to Dundee in Scotland, just downstream of the Tay Rail Bridge. At around , it is one of the longest road bridges in E ...

. Nine EoSFL clubs gained entry to the Lowland League, reducing the EoSFL to 20 teams. Hibernian entered a reserve team into the league at the start of the 2013–14 season, but withdrew after one season due to their first team being relegated. Further departures saw the league merged into a single division of 16 teams in 2015–16, which was then reduced to just 11 teams during 2016–17 as more clubs moved to the Lowland League, Juniors or resigned.

Influx of Junior clubs

Beginning in 2017 the league experienced a resurgence with SJFA East Superleague champions

Kelty Hearts Kelty Hearts Football Club is a football club based in the village of Kelty in Fife, Scotland. Formed in 1975 and nicknamed ''the Hearts'', ''the Maroon Machine'' and ''the Jambos'', they play their home games at New Central Park. Their home ...

joining from the Juniors. In April 2018, thirteen clubs—most of them from the East Juniors—were accepted into the league for the 2018-19 season, doubling the league's membership. When the window for applications was extended to the league's AGM in June, even more clubs quit the Junior grade, bringing the total membership up to 39 clubs, split over three conferences. The following season

Glenrothes Glenrothes (; , ; sco, Glenrothes; gd, Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making i ...

made the same switch. In 2020 a further ten clubs, including the return of Eyemouth United after a year out, boosted the league's membership to 49 clubs ahead of the 2020–21 season. The remaining East Region junior clubs south of Tayport (most from

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

) joined the league for 2021–22, giving the league a total of 59 members.

East of Scotland Football Association

While the EoSFL oversees the leagues and League Cup competitions; the East of Scotland Football Association (EoSFA) is a technically independent body, which organises all of the other cups. Most of the officials sit on both bodies, and the Executive Committee is a joint organisation. The current President of the EoSFA is Andy McDonald (of Edinburgh City), while the President of the EoSFL is John Greenhorn (of

Ormiston Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about . The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 1735 ...

). There are 73 members of the East of Scotland Football Association (EoSFA). * Five members play in the

SPFL The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As we ...

: ** Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic () ** Edinburgh City () ** Heart of Midlothian () ** Hibernian () **

() *9 members play in the

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior association football, football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, actin ...

: **

, Bo'ness United, Civil Service Strollers,

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

, Gala Fairydean Rovers, Gretna 2008, The Spartans,

, and Tranent Juniors. The first teams of the members in the SPFL have little involvement in EoSFA competitions. Youth teams of Hearts and Hibernian formerly contested the East of Scotland Shield, while Bonnyrigg Rose, Edinburgh City, and Kelty Hearts participate in the East of Scotland (City) Cup Semi-finals. Berwick Rangers, Hibernian, and The Spartans all previously fielded

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

s in the EoSFL. The EoSFL and EoSFA are full members of 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 ...

Member clubs

The EoSFL's two-tier format, which began in 1987–88, was abolished for the 2015–16 season due to dwindling numbers and replaced with a single division. To cope with the influx of new members in 2018-19, the league consisted of three conferences running in parallel. For 2019–20, the EoSFL was reorganised back into a two-tier setup, with a 16-team Premier Division and two First Division conferences. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, no relegation took place in 2020 meaning the Premier Division was temporarily increased to 18 clubs. For 2022-23, the Premier Division reverted back to 16 clubs while the top 7 in the two First Division conferences formed a First and Second Division, with Conference X being renamed the Third Division below. Listed below are the 60 clubs in the EoSFL for the 2022–23 season.

Premier Division

* Blackburn United * Broxburn Athletic * Crossgates Primrose * Dundonald Bluebell * Haddington Athletic * Hill of Beath Hawthorn * Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts * Jeanfield Swifts *

Linlithgow Rose Linlithgow Rose Football Club are a Scottish football club based in Linlithgow, West Lothian. The team plays in the East of Scotland Football League Premier Division, the sixth tier of Scottish football, having moved from the junior leagues i ...

* Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale * Musselburgh Athletic * Oakley United * Penicuik Athletic * Sauchie Juniors * Tynecastle * Vale of Leithen

First Division

* Burntisland Shipyard * Camelon Juniors *

Coldstream Coldstream ( gd, An Sruthan Fuar , sco, Caustrim) is a town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. A former burgh, Coldstream is the home of the Coldstream Guards, a regiment in the British Army. Description Coldstream l ...

* Dunbar United *

Dunipace Dunipace is a village in the west of the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is south of Stirling and north-west of Falkirk. The village is situated on the north bank of the River Carron and adjoins the town of Denny, to the south of ...

* Kennoway Star Hearts *

Kinnoull Kinnoull is a parish in Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, approximately half a mile northeast of Perth city centre. Beginning at the level of the River Tay, Kinnoull's terrain continues to rise as it continues southeast, culminating in Kinno ...

* Kirkcaldy & Dysart * Leith Athletic * Lochore Welfare *

Luncarty Luncarty (; pronounced ''Lung''-cur-tay) ) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, approximately north of Perth. It lies between the A9 to the west, and the River Tay to the east. Etymology The name ''Luncarty'', recorded in 1250 as ''Lum ...

* Newtongrange Star * Preston Athletic *

Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...

* Whitehill Welfare

Second Division

* Arniston Rangers * Craigroyston * Dalkeith Thistle * Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare * Edinburgh South * Edinburgh United * Hawick Royal Albert United *

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

* Lochgelly Albert * Newburgh *

* St Andrews United * Stirling University reserves *

Syngenta Syngenta AG is a provider of agricultural science and technology, in particular seeds and pesticides with its management headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It is owned by ChemChina, a Chinese state-owned enterprise. Syngenta was founded in 2 ...

*Thornton Hibs F.C., Thornton Hibs * Tweedmouth Rangers F.C., Tweedmouth Rangers *Whitburn Junior F.C., Whitburn

Third Division

*Armadale Thistle F.C., Armadale Thistle *Bathgate Thistle F.C., Bathgate Thistle *Bo'ness Athletic *Edinburgh College *Fauldhouse United F.C., Fauldhouse United *Harthill Royal F.C., Harthill Royal *Livingston United F.C., Livingston United *Pumpherston F.C., Pumpherston *Stoneyburn F.C., Stoneyburn *West Calder United F.C., West Calder United

Cup competitions

Current

*Scottish Cup: For full SFA members and winners of the East of Scotland League, who all enter at the preliminary round stage. Knock-out tournament, with replays until the quarter-finals. *SFA North and South Region Challenge Cups#South, SFA South Region Challenge Cup: This competition was introduced in 2007–08 as a replacement for the Scottish Qualifying Cup, Scottish Qualifying Cup (South) which was abolished under the new Scottish Cup format. It is for all senior non-league clubs in the south of Scotland and has 165 entrants for the 2022–23 season - 16 from the Lowland League, 58 from the EoSFL, 12 from the SoSFL, and 79 from the WoSFL. Reserve teams do not take part. The first and second rounds are regionalised, otherwise it is a straight knock-out tournament, without replays. *East of Scotland League Cup: All EoSFL teams enter this competition. The format for the 2021-22 season has yet to be determined. Previously, only the group winners and runners-up from the Qualifying Leagues competed in this tournament. *King Cup: Open to the 44 clubs below the Premier Division. Straight knock-out tournament without replays. Previously, this was open to all EoSFL clubs. The King Cup final is traditionally the last game of the season. *Alex Jack Cup (formerly known as the East of Scotland Consolation Cup): Competition for the EoSFL clubs who are not already competing in the Scottish Cup or Scottish Junior Cup, usually played on the same weekends as Scottish Cup matches. Straight knock-out, without replays. The winner goes on to play in the East, South and West of Scotland Cup-Winners Shield against the Southern Counties FA's Alba Cup winner and the West's Strathclyde Cup winner for a place in the following season's Scottish Cup. *East of Scotland Qualifying Cup: Competition for the 68 EoSFA members outwith the SPFL. Straight knock-out tournament without replays. *East of Scotland (City) Cup: The finalists of the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup join Edinburgh City and

in the semi-finals. The 4 EoSFA members in the national leagues (Hearts, Hibernian, Livingston, and formerly Berwick Rangers) used to all enter, but now the Hearts and Hibernian reserve teams contest the East of Scotland Shield - albeit intermittently.

Inactive

* East of Scotland Shield: since the mid-1980s, this tournament has become a one-off match for youth/reserve teams of Hearts and Hibernian, however it was last held in 2015–16. *East of Scotland Qualifying Leagues: Removed for 2019–20 due to the increase in league fixtures. Added in 2011–12, this was a pre-season warm-up competition where clubs were split into ten groups and each played the others within their group once, with the group winners and runners-up progressing to the League Cup.

Holders

''2021–22 winners unless stated.'' *South Region Challenge Cup: Auchinleck Talbot F.C., Auchinleck Talbot *East of Scotland League Cup:

*Alex Jack Cup:

(2022–23) *Cup Winners Shield: Drumchapel United F.C., Drumchapel United *King Cup:

*East of Scotland Qualifying Cup:

*East of Scotland (City) Cup: Edinburgh City (2017–18)

Seasons

* Team promoted to the

Total titles won

Clubs currently playing in the league are shown in bold. Clubs no longer active are shown in ''italics''.

References

External links

Official website

Final tables 1912-date
* * {{UEFA sixth level leagues East of Scotland Football League, Football leagues in Scotland, 6 Sixth level football leagues in Europe, Scot 1923 establishments in Scotland Sports leagues established in 1923 Football in Perth and Kinross Football in Fife Football in East Lothian Football in Edinburgh Football in Midlothian Football in West Lothian Football in Falkirk (council area) Football in Clackmannanshire Football in the Scottish Borders Football in Stirling (council area) Sport in Perth, Scotland Football in Northumberland