Scottish Junior FA Structure

2018 Junior Cup Final

The Scottish Junior Football Association was founded in Glasgow on 2 October 1886. We are responsible for organising the Scottish Junior Cup as well as managing disciplinary, registration and various administrative matters within the Junior football. Other league and cup competitions are organised by our three regional bodies, East, North and West. The association headquarters are at Scotland's national stadium, Hampden Park, Glasgow.

Junior football has existed since the early 1880s, initially as separate local associations across Scotland for clubs not in membership of the Scottish FA. SJFA was formed as a new national association acting as an umbrella for these local associations, as well as establishing the Scottish Junior Cup, our national cup competition. The first three winners of the Scottish Junior Cup all went on to join the Scottish FA and stepped up to senior level. Gradually, a number of junior leagues grew in strength — particularly in Glasgow, where leading clubs drew large crowds. The Glasgow Junior FA, having seen a number of its proposals rejected at SJFA meetings, seceded from the SJFA in 1907 but returned a year later. Further disputes occurred in 1922 over "poaching" clubs and, in 1927, the GJFA was instrumental in the Intermediate dispute which split the SJFA for four seasons.

The local associations continued to run their leagues until 1968, when the SJFA instituted major reforms. This first phase of regionalisation removed the need for the many local associations, replacing them instead with six regional committees. The last major league reform took place in 2002, with the six regions "merging" to create the three regions. Each region contains several league divisions some of which are split into geographical sections in the lower divisions. This is a remnant of the pre–2002 system in which there were six districts that comprised the leagues. As well as leagues, there are a number of regional cup competitions as well as an inter-regional cup.

From the 2007–08 season, four Junior sides have been able to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The four teams are the three Superleague winners (West, East and North) and the Scottish Junior Cup winners, all from the previous season. In the 2015–16 season, Linlithgow Rose became the first junior team to reach the last 16 of the Scottish Cup after beating Forfar Athletic.

Juniors also play internationally, with the best players being picked to play for the Scottish Junior international team against other countries' non-league select teams. The Junior International Quadrangular Tournament takes place every two years and is contested between teams from Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. The tournament is hosted in turn by each country and was last held in Scotland in 2017. The team have been led since 2008 by former Glenrothes, Tayport and Kelty manager, Keith Burgess

In 2011, the Scottish Football Association created two new operational boards, Professional and Non-Professional, to provide more focused governance in these differing areas of the game. Junior football is represented on the Non-Professional Game Board alongside other organisations such as the East of Scotland Football League, South of Scotland Football League and Scottish Amateur Football Association.