The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of 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 ...
between 1975 and 2013.
History
The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction 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 ...
(SFL). Prior to 1975, the SFL had been split into two divisions (Division One and Division Two). The effect of the reconstruction was to split these two divisions into three, with the top flight named the
Premier Division, second tier the
First Division, and a new third tier was created known as the Second Division. A fourth tier, known as the
Third Division, was created in 1994.
In 1998, the Premier Division clubs broke away from the SFL to form the
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
(SPL). The Second Division continued as before, but it was now the second level of the SFL. In 2013, the SFL and SPL merged to form the
Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). The SPFL named its third tier as
Scottish League One
The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...
, which effectively replaced the Second Division.
Competition
From 1994 until 2013, the Second Division consisted of ten teams. From 1994 to 2006, the top two teams were promoted to the
First Division and the bottom two were relegated to the
Third Division. From 2006 to 2013, the top team in the Second Division was promoted to the
First Division, while the clubs in 2nd through 4th places entered an end of season
play-off
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
with the 9th placed side in the First Division. The bottom club was automatically relegated to the
Third Division and the 9th placed club entered an end of season play-off with the second, third and fourth placed clubs from the Third Division.
The teams played each other four times with three points for a victory and one point each for a drawn game. In the event of two teams finishing with the same number of points, the respective teams' position is decided on
goal difference
Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...
. If goal difference is equal too, the team who has scored the most goals is placed higher.
Most players in the Second Division were part-time professionals.
Winners of the Second Division
b.Team failed to gain promotion via play-offs
Notes
* 1.
Airdrie United lost in the play-offs, but were promoted due to
Gretna's demotion to the
Third Division, and subsequent resignation from 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 ...
.
References
External links
Official SiteScottish Football League (Archived 16 June 2012)
Scottish Football League Second Division clubs' locationsFootiemap.com (Archived 15 October 2008)
{{UEFA third level leagues
3
1975 establishments in Scotland
2013 disestablishments in Scotland
Sco
Sports leagues established in 1975
Sports leagues disestablished in 2013