The

Scottish Junior Football Association The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football (soccer), football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the ...

, West Region was one of three regions of the SJFA which organised its own distinct league and cup competitions. The SJFA used to be split into six regions, but in 2002 they decided to reform into three (

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and West) to try to ensure more games between the top clubs and hence increase their revenues. The region covered an area from

Girvan Girvan (, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ayr, and north of St ...

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

to Denny in Central Scotland. In 2020, the region was abolished, as all 63 clubs in the region decided to depart and join the newly-founded

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 20 ...

History

Foundation

Although the West Region was formed by the amalgamation of the Central and

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

regions in 2002, a West of Scotland Junior FA had existed since the end of the Intermediate dispute in 1931 and administered the West of Scotland Cup since that time. The first phase of rationalisation in 1968 saw the

Central Junior Football League The Central Junior Football League was a football league competition operated under the Scottish Junior Football Association between 1931 and 2002, with an expansion of its membership in 1968.greater Glasgow Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

and essentially a continuation of the Glasgow Junior Football League from 1895) merge with the even older Lanarkshire Junior Football League (1891) to create the Central region. The Western Junior League became the Ayrshire region, with Neilston Juniors and Dunoon Athletic transferring to the Central region.

Structure

From 2002 to 2018, the league set-up in the region was a combined top division, officially known as the ''SJFA West of Scotland Region Super League Premier Division'' (12 teams), with the West of Scotland Region Super League First Division (14 teams) below. There were two district leagues below that provided the First Division with two clubs each at the end of the season. These corresponded to the former two regions that combined to create the new West region: there was a Central District League (with two divisions) and an Ayrshire District League, with the four teams relegated from the First Division assigned to their historic region. Although Ayrshire only had one division, clubs were also promoted between the two divisions of the Central District League. In 2017 West Region clubs voted to organise all leagues on a regionwide basis and as a result, the Super League Premier Division was rebranded as the West Region Premiership for the 2018–19 season and featured 16 clubs. Clubs were relegated to a rebranded Championship also made up of 16 teams. The Ayrshire and Central district leagues were scrapped and replaced by League One and Two consisting of 16 and 15 teams respectively.

End of an era

In 2020, as part of a long process of negotiation to form an integrated footballing pyramid structure, all 63 West Region Junior clubs decided to depart and join the newly-founded

, a feeder to the

Lowland Football League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) and the Park’s Motor Group Scottish Lowland League for sponsorship reasons is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits a ...

Member clubs

Towards the end of the 2019–20 campaign, the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

interrupted the season and caused the West Region leagues to be curtailed, with champions later declared on a 'points per game' basis by the West Region management committee. At that time there were 63 member clubs in the setup.

SJFA West Region Premiership

; Notes

SJFA West Region Championship

SJFA West Region League One

SJFA West Region League Two

Cup competitions

The West Region organised several cup competitions for member clubs: * West of Scotland Cup: This was a

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

tournament for all West Region clubs. The competition originated as the Scottish Intermediate Cup in 1927–28 and was renamed The West of Scotland Cup following the ending of the Intermediate dispute in 1931. *Sectional League Cup: Introduced for the 2018–19 season as a combination of the Central and Ayrshire sectional league cups, clubs competed in eight regional groups with the group winners progressing to the knockout stages. *Evening Times Champions Cup: This was a knockout tournament played at the end of the season between the winners of the four or five West Region league competitions during the preceding season. The champions of the Ayrshire District League and Central District Second Division played in a preliminary round tie with the winners of that game joining the other three clubs at the semi-final stage. The ''Evening Times'' trophy was first presented in 1896–97 to the winners of the

Glasgow Junior League The Glasgow Junior Football League (GJL) was a football league competition operated under the Scottish Junior Football Association between 1895 and 1927.

and has been awarded to the winners of various competitions over the years. Between 2003 and 2012, the competition involved all ten league and cup winners in the West Region and was known as the ''Evening Times Cup Winners Cup''. Pre-2018 competitions *Central League Cup. This was a knockout tournament for former Central Region clubs in the West Region. It was first played for in 1921–22 when known as the ''Glasgow Junior League Cup''. *Ayrshire Cup. This was a knockout tournament for former Ayrshire Region clubs in the West Region. The tournament originated in 1889–90 as the ''Ayrshire Junior Challenge Cup'' and was won for the first three seasons by Glenbuck Cherrypickers. *Central Sectional League Cup. This tournament was for former Central Region clubs and was the opening competition of the season. Clubs initially competed in eight groups (sections) with the group winners advancing to a knockout competition. Based geographically, the groups comprised the same clubs each season. Matches in the group stages were played under league rules so a player was not

cup-tied In association football, a player who has appeared for a football club during a knockout cup but subsequently transfers to another club is ineligible to play for the new club in the remainder of that season's cup competition. Such a player is sa ...

by turning out for a particular club. *Ayrshire Sectional League Cup. This tournament was for former Ayrshire Region clubs. Clubs initially competed in four groups (sections) with group winners and runners up advancing to the knockout stages, otherwise the format was the same as that of the Central Sectional League Cup

Holders

''2018–19 winners unless stated.'' *West of Scotland Cup: - Beith Juniors *Sectional League Cup: Auchinleck Talbot (2019–20) *Evening Times Champions Cup: (2017–18) *Central League Cup:

Pollok Pollok (, ) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,000 at its peak, its population ha ...

(2017–18) *Ayrshire Cup: Kilwinning Rangers (2017–18) *Central Sectional League Cup:

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

(2017–18) *Ayrshire Sectional League Cup: Auchinleck Talbot (2017–18) *Clydesdale Cup:

Lesmahagow Lesmahagow ( ; or ''Lesmahagae'', ) is a small town in the historic county of Lanarkshire on the edge of moorland, near Lanark in the central belt of Scotland. Lesmahagow was also a civil parish. It lies west of the M74 motorway, M74, and sout ...

Roll of Honour

References

External links

SJFA, West Region
{{SJFA West Region 2002 establishments in Scotland Sports organizations established in 2002 Sports organizations disestablished in 2020 2020 disestablishments in Scotland