Scottish Alliance

Page created: 2 August 2020

Updated: 24 March 2024

This page features the Scottish Alliance competitions that were composed mainly of first elevens. For the Alliance competitions that were predominantly reserve leagues, see under the Reserve section on the home page.

The Scottish Alliance was one of a number of leagues set up a year after the Scottish League was formed in 1890.

Founded on 27 February 1891, Clyde and Leith Athletic were among the initial members but they were later elected to the Scottish League. Queen's Park were also approached but declined. Initially to consist of ten clubs, applications were also received from Albion Rovers, Arthurlie, East Stirlingshire, Morton, Hurlford, Port-Glasgow Athletic, St Bernard's, Vale of Leven and Glasgow Wanderers. The clubs which eventually took part in the first season were Airdrieonians, Ayr, East Stirlingshire, Morton, Kilmarnock, King's Park, Linthouse, Northern, Partick Thistle, Port-Glasgow Athletic, St Bernard's and Thistle. The first General Meeting of the league took place on 16 June 1891 at the Religious Institution Rooms in Glasgow.

In 1892, several clubs left and the league was reconstituted with a smaller membership. In 1893 a number of clubs returned, but during the summer, the Alliance was used as the backbone of the new Second Division of the Scottish League. The Alliance was bolstered by a number of clubs that came from the Scottish Federation, which subsequently disbanded.

The second Scottish Alliance was formed in August 1905. The initial membership appears to have also featured Third Lanark 'A' but they were subsequently replaced by Broxburn Shamrock who moved from the Eastern League in October 1905.

On 4 July 1906 all the clubs with the exception of Broxburn Shamrock helped form the Scottish Union and the Alliance disbanded.

The last Scottish Alliance (with a first eleven membership) was formed in August 1939 but disbanded after only one match was played due to the onset of WW2.

Winners

1891-92 Linthouse

1892-93 Cowlairs

1893-94 Royal Albert

1894-95 Wishaw Thistle

1895-96 Wishaw Thistle

1896-97 Third Lanark 'A'

1905-06 Heart of Midlothian 'A'

1939-40 unfinished

1891-92 Scottish Alliance

Aird

Ayr

ES

Kilm

KP

Lint

Mort

North

PT

PGA

StB

This

Airdrieonians

10 Oct 6-1

9 Apr 3-3

7 May 5-2

7 Nov 7-2

26 Dec 4-5

12 Mar 6-3

21 May 2-2

17 Oct 5-1

15 Aug 1-1

29 Aug 4-3

19 Dec 5-3

Ayr

19 Mar 3-2

27 Feb 7-0

14 May 1-1

7 May 4-2

29 Aug 5-5

13 Feb 5-3

24 Oct 4-1

21 Nov 2-3

12 Sep 5-1

15 Aug 6-2

6 Feb 5-1

East Stirlingshire

6 Feb 4-1

19 Sep 5-2

29 Aug 3-4

5 Dec 2-4

19 Dec 6-6

16 Apr 5-2

23 Apr 6-5

15 Aug 1-2

9 Jan 3-2

24 Oct 3-3

19 Mar 6-2

Kilmarnock

12 Sep 6-1

5 Dec 7-0

26 Mar 5-0

27 Feb 4-1

24 Oct 2-0

6 Feb 8-1

26 Sep 5-2

30 Apr 5-0

10 Oct 0-0

9 Apr 1-0

15 Aug 5-1

King's Park

19 Sep 5-1

20 Feb 4-2

10 Oct 2-3

2 Apr 5-3

12 Mar 1-2

19 Mar 3-5

15 Aug 3-8

23 Apr 2-3

30 Jan 6-3

26 Dec 0-2

29 Aug 3-4

Linthouse

23 Apr 4-1

30 Jan 6-0

23 Jan 5-1

5 Mar 3-1

22 Aug 6-4

3 Oct 6-0

5 Dec 1-3

9 Apr 3-1

7 May 3-1

12 Sep 1-2

30 Apr 7-0

Morton

24 Oct 4-1

26 Mar 3-1

30 Apr 3-1

23 Apr 3-3

9 Apr 3-2

27 Feb 5-3

29 Aug 4-3

30 Jan 3-1

7 Nov 1-2

10 Oct 3-1

5 Dec 5-2

Northern

22 Aug 5-3

5 Mar 4-4

12 Sep 6-4

19 Mar 2-0

6 Feb 4-4

8 Aug 1-4

14 Nov 6-0

12 Dec 9-4

27 Feb 3-0

30 Apr 4-3

3 Oct 0-1

Partick Thistle

14 Nov 2-2

8 Aug 3-2

5 Mar 5-0

13 Feb 3-2

24 Oct 0-1

6 Feb 3-5

22 Aug 1-2

12 Mar 7-3

5 Dec 2-1

7 Nov 0-7

12 Sep 2-4

Port-Glasgow Athletic

5 Mar 3-3

2 Apr 2-0

13 Feb 4-1

22 Aug 3-6

30 Apr 4-1

14 Nov 2-4

19 Sep 5-5

16 Apr 4-0

23 Jan 2-2

6 Feb 4-2

23 Apr 4-0

St Bernard's

16 Apr 4-1

14 Nov 2-2

22 Aug 4-1

19 Sep 3-2

8 Aug 2-4

26 Mar 3-3

2 Apr 1-1

19 Dec 4-1

19 Mar 3-1

12 Mar 4-2

30 Jan 6-0

Thistle

8 Aug 0-2

22 Aug 7-4

14 Nov 4-4

16 Apr 2-3

17 May 7-1

13 Feb 5-6

24 May 1-3

21 Nov 4-4

27 Feb 2-2

24 Oct 4-4

5 Mar 1-2

5 Dec St Bernard's v Airdrieonians 3-2 friendly played as referee hadn't appeared

12 Dec Thistle v Linthouse 3-2 replayed on 13 Feb

26 Mar Kilmarnock v East Stirlingshire 5-0 East Stirlingshire refused to compete after half time due to sleet and Kilmarnock were awarded the tie

26 Mar Thistle v King's Park 1-3 demoted to friendly owing to Stark of Thistle breaking his leg

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Linthouse	22	15	3	4	88	51	33
Kilmarnock	22	13	3	6	75	39	29
Morton	22	12	3	7	62	67	27
St Bernard's	22	11	4	7	63	45	26
Northern	22	9	4	9	76	71	22
Airdrieonians	22	8	5	9	66	66	21
Port-Glasgow Athletic	22	7	6	9	54	56	20
Ayr	22	8	4	10	65	70	20
Partick Thistle	22	8	3	11	48	66	19
East Stirlingshire	22	7	4	11	62	81	18
King's Park	22	7	1	14	60	79	15
Thistle	22	5	4	13	55	83	14
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1892-93 Scottish Alliance

	Aird	Camb	Cowl	Kilm	Lint	North	PT	StB	This	VoL
Airdrieonians		22 Oct 2-2	22 Apr 4-1	10 Sep 4-0	11 Feb 2-5	28 Jan 3-1	11 Mar 2-2	15 Apr 5-3	8 Apr 4-3	20 Aug 7-1
Cambuslang	27 Aug 2-6		25 Feb 0-4	11 Feb 2-2	22 Apr 4-2	3 Dec 4-4	10 Sep 1-2	12 Nov 1-3	21 Jan 1-3	1 Oct 4-2
Cowlairs	4 Feb 2-3	15 Apr 1-1		1 Oct 3-1	11 Mar 1-0	18 Feb 6-0	8 Oct 8-3	13 Aug 7-3	27 Aug 4-2	12 Nov 3-0
Kilmarnock	13 May 1-6	25 Mar 3-3	29 Apr 3-3		22 Oct 2-3	22 Apr 2-3	20 Aug 6-2	24 Sep 1-3	18 Feb 2-3	17 Sep 2-2
Linthouse	25 Mar 2-1	5 Nov 2-1	28 Jan 4-7	27 Aug 6-4		10 Sep 1-0	29 Apr 3-2	1 Oct 3-1	4 Feb 5-3	25 Feb 5-1
Northern	29 Apr 9-3	24 Sep 1-2	5 Nov 2-5	3 Sep 3-5	15 Oct 4-3		13 May 6-1	6 May 3-0	18 Mar 3-3	21 Jan 2-5
Partick Thistle	21 Jan 6-3	8 Apr 2-1	25 Mar 3-5	25 Feb 2-0	18 Feb 5-2	4 Feb 1-2		27 Aug 3-4	22 Apr 4-0	4 Mar 1-3
St Bernard's	17 Sep 4-2	3 Sep 7-0	10 Sep 2-3	1 Apr 0-0	20 Aug 5-1	8 Apr 5-0	18 Mar 7-0		15 Oct 7-3	22 Apr 3-2
Thistle	4 Mar 1-3	20 Aug 3-0	11 Feb 2-3	15 Apr 2-1	24 Sep 1-2	22 Oct 4-2	1 Oct 6-2	25 Mar 5-0		6 May 4-2
Vale of Leven	18 Feb 3-2	24 Dec 2-0	18 Mar 0-2	13 Aug 1-6	8 Apr 3-3	27 Aug 4-1	11 Feb 1-3	22 Oct 1-3	11 Mar 0-2

Both Kilmarnock v Airdrieonians games were played at Airdrie

12 Nov Airdrieonians v Linthouse 2-3 was stopped after 80 mins due to darkness and re-played on 11 Feb

12 Nov Thistle v Kilmarnock 0-2 was re-played on 15 Apr

24 Dec Northern v Thistle 2-2 was declared a friendly due to the weather and a game of 2x30 mins played

24 Dec Partick Thistle v Linthouse 0-2 was declared a friendly due to the frost

21 Jan Cambuslang v Thistle also reported as 1-1

4 Mar Northern v St Bernard's 6-4 was declared a friendly due to state of the ground

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Cowlairs	18	14	2	2	68	31	30
St Bernard's	18	11	1	6	60	40	23
Linthouse	18	11	1	6	52	46	23
Airdrieonians	18	10	2	6	62	48	22
Thistle	18	9	1	8	49	44	19
Partick Thistle	18	7	1	10	44	61	15
Northern	18	6	2	10	46	57	14
Vale of Leven	18	5	2	11	33	53	12
Kilmarnock	18	3	5	10	41	51	11
Cambuslang	18	3	5	10	30	52	11
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16 Jun at the Alliance's AGM in Glasgow, the bottom three clubs had to apply for re-election. Cambuslang and Kilmarnock were re-elected. Morton and Port-Glasgow Athletic were elected in place of St Bernard's who were elected to Scottish League and Vale of Leven who failed to be re-elected

The league's line up for 1893-94 was therefore to have been Airdrieonians, Cambuslang, Cowlairs, Kilmarnock, Linthouse, Morton, Northern, Partick Thistle, Port-Glasgow and Thistle. However, this would soon be ripped apart as the clubs were divided by arguments. In the end up, the Scottish League pro-actively settled matters by creating their own Second Division which was duly formed by an election process. All ten of the would-be 1893-94 Alliance line-up were involved in this process. Of these, Cowlairs, Partick Thistle, Port-Glasgow Athletic, Morton, Northern and Thistle were elected as Scottish League clubs. This left the Alliance with only four remaining members; Linthouse, Airdrieonians, Kilmarnock and Cambuslang, the former three being the last of the eleven founding members. Kilmarnock and Linthouse dropped out, leaving Airdrieonians as the sole original member to continue into a third season.

1893-94 Scottish Alliance

	Aird	AR	Arth	Camb	RA	Wish
Airdrieonians		1 Jan 4-0	5 May 1-4	13 Jan 1-0	21 Apr 2-3	7 Oct 3-3
Albion Rovers	19 May 2-1		15 Sep 1-0	19 Aug 2-3	13 Jan 5-4	5 May 2-1
Arthurlie	30 Sep 4-4	3 Mar 5-1		28 Apr 2-1	9 Sep 2-4	N/P
Cambuslang	26 Aug 2-0	24 Feb 2-2	31 Mar 5-1		30 Sep 2-2	10 Mar 3-0
Royal Albert	16 Sep 4-3	26 Aug 3-4	12 May 3-2	14 Apr 2-1		24 Mar 6-2
Wishaw Thistle	31 Mar 3-1	30 Sep 4-3	26 Aug 2-3	9 Sep 3-3	19 Aug 1-3

3 Mar Wishaw Thistle v Airdrieonians 6-3 was protested and replayed

17 Mar Wishaw Thistle were due to meet Arthurlie, however the former played a Lanarkshire Consolation Cup tie instead

26 Aug Cambuslang v Airdrieonians 2-0 Johnstone of Airdrie was ordered off for abusive language, but refused to leave resulting in the referee awarding the game to Cambuslang

5 May Arthurlie v Airdrieonians played at Airdrie

Arthurlie v Wishaw was due on 19 May but not played, Arthurlie were awarded 2 points

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Royal Albert	10	7	1	2	34	24	15
Cambuslang	10	4	3	3	22	15	11
Arthurlie	10	5	1	4	23	22	11
Albion Rovers	10	5	1	4	22	27	11
Airdrieonians	10	2	2	6	20	25	6
Wishaw Thistle	10	2	2	6	19	27	6
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1894-95 Scottish Alliance

	AR	Arth	Camb	Dyke	Ham	John	RA	Wish
Albion Rovers		30 Mar 4-1	29 Sep 4-4	29 Dec 3-2	20 Oct 5-0	13 Apr 5-2	18 May 4-0	18 Aug 2-6
Arthurlie	13 Oct 1-3		8 Sep 1-1	N/P	16 Mar 0-1	15 Sep 7-1	29 Sep 3-2	13 Apr 2-4
Cambuslang	25 May 2-12	6 Apr 2-4		25 Aug 0-1	30 Mar 4-4	9 Mar 3-1	3 Nov 5-3	6 Oct 1-2
Dykehead	11 May 0-4	20 Oct 5-3	23 Mar 4-0		27 Apr 2-0	6 Apr 6-0	2 Mar 7-1	25 May 0-6
Hamilton Academical	6 Apr 1-6	10 Nov 6-3	18 Aug 2-0	29 Sep 2-2		23 Mar 4-3	25 Aug 2-2	4 May 0-3
Johnstone	25 Aug 0-4	2 Mar 1-2	20 Oct 4-0	16 Mar 2-1	8 Sep 4-6		20 Apr 0-3	29 Sep 2-3
Royal Albert	N/P	23 Mar 5-1	16 Mar 1-2	18 Aug 6-3	9 Mar 4-2	1 Dec 5-2		6 Apr 3-2
Wishaw Thistle	23 Mar 3-3	3 Nov 3-2	20 Apr 6-1	24 Nov 4-1	13 Oct 3-2	30 Mar 10-0	20 Oct 7-2

8 Sep Royal Albert v Albion Rovers 5-4 was abandoned after a riot. It was due to be replayed on 12 Jan, but was postponed due to the weather and was never re-played

16 Nov Johnstone v Dykehead 3-1 stopped due to poor light

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Wishaw Thistle	14	12	1	1	62	21	25
Albion Rovers	13	10	2	1	59	22	22
Royal Albert	13	6	1	6	37	40	13
Dykehead	13	6	1	6	34	31	13
Hamilton Academical	14	5	3	6	32	41	13
Arthurlie	13	4	1	8	30	38	9
Cambuslang	14	3	3	8	25	49	9
Johnstone	14	2	0	12	22	59	4
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1895-96 Scottish Alliance

	AR	Arth	Blant	Burnb	Camb	Ham	Neil	North	RA	Wish
Albion Rovers		14 Mar 1-0	7 Mar 2-2	16 May 2-0	16 Nov 5-2	17 Aug 5-0	25 Jan 8-0	30 Nov 10-2	11 Apr 3-1	25 Apr 4-1
Arthurlie	7 Sep 3-2		1 Feb 1-0	7 Mar 4-1	15 Feb 3-0	11 Apr 1-0	21 Mar 2-2	N/P	26 Oct 3-3	23 Nov 2-3
Blantyre	21 Sep 4-4	18 Apr 2-2		19 Oct 2-1	8 Feb 2-2	9 Nov 1-1	21 Dec 6-4	N/P	24 Aug 1-2	29 Feb 2-4
Burnbank Swifts	24 Aug 2-1	5 Oct 1-3	25 Apr 5-2		12 May 2-0	29 Feb 3-6	15 Feb 6-1	N/P	15 Nov 3-4	23 May 2-3
Cambuslang	1 Feb 0-2	30 Nov 2-2	5 Oct 4-1	14 Dec 3-0		18 Jan 5-1	7 Mar 4-1	24 Aug 5-1	22 Feb 1-1	21 Dec 1-3
Hamilton Academical	22 Feb 1-2	8 Feb 3-0	28 Mar 2-1	25 Jan 2-1	14 Mar 2-1		24 Aug 4-2	N/P	30 Nov 2-0	19 Oct 2-4
Neilston	28 Mar 5-2	2 Nov 2-2	11 Apr 0-2	12 Oct 4-3	17 Aug 4-3	5 Oct 3-2		7 Sep 2-2	14 Mar 0-3	18 Jan 3-7
Northern	N/P	N/P	N/P	17 Aug 6-3	N/P	14 Sep 0-4	N/P		21 Dec 1-8	N/P
Royal Albert	19 Oct 7-1	17 Aug 4-4	15 Feb 5-0	28 Mar 6-2	7 Sep 2-1	2 May 0-0	21 Sep 3-2	N/P		18 Apr 3-1
Wishaw Thistle	9 Nov 6-3	28 Mar 6-2	16 Nov 1-1	14 Mar 9-3	25 Jan 3-2	15 Feb 3-0	26 Oct 5-2	N/P	7 Mar 2-1

7 Dec Cambuslang v Wishaw Thistle 4-2 was played as friendly due to the state of the pitch

21 Dec Burnbank v Hamilton 2-0 played as a friendly

28 Dec Wishaw Thistle v Northern; Northern couldn't raise a team so didn't appear. The game kicked off without them and Wishaw ran the ball through to claim the match and the 2 points

28 Dec Hamilton v Cambuslang 2-2 played as a friendly

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Wishaw Thistle	16	13	1	2	61	33	29
Royal Albert	17	10	4	3	53	27	24
Albion Rovers	17	10	2	5	57	36	22
Arthurlie	16	6	6	4	34	32	18
Hamilton Academical	17	8	2	7	32	32	18
Cambuslang	17	5	3	9	36	35	13
Blantyre	16	3	6	7	29	40	12
Neilston	17	4	3	10	37	64	11
Burnbank Swifts	17	4	0	13	38	58	8
Northern	6	1	1	4	12	32	3
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1896-97 Scottish Alliance

	Blant	Camb	Camer	Clyd	3LRV
Blantyre		23 Apr 4-3	10 Oct 3-1	28 Feb 1-3	28 Nov 2-4
Cambuslang	7 Nov 5-2		12 Dec 5-0	13 Feb 4-3	10 Oct 2-0
Cameronians	5 Dec 4-1	16 Jan 2-2		24 Oct 0-5	7 Nov 1-2
Clyde 'A'	3 May 3-1	30 Jan 2-0	14 Nov 4-2		26 Sep 1-2
3rd Lanark RV 'A'	28 Apr 4-2	3 Apr 3-1	27 Feb 8-0	10 May 1-0

16 Jan Blantyre v Clyde 4-4 friendly played due to state of pitch

27 Feb Clyde v Blantyre was played at Blantyre

19 Dec 3rd LRV v Cambuslang 0-0 declared a friendly?

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
3rd Lanark RV 'A'	8	7	0	1	24	9	14
Clyde 'A'	8	5	0	3	21	11	10
Cambuslang	8	4	1	3	22	16	9
Blantyre	8	2	0	6	16	30	4
Cameronians	8	1	1	6	10	27	3
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1897-1905 Scottish Alliance

No competition

1905-06 Scottish Alliance

	Bo'n	Brox	BroxSh	Heart	KP	Rang	SM	Clyde
Bo'ness		30 Dec 3-0	20 Jan 4-1	17 Feb 2-2	9 Sep 4-1	11 Nov 2-1	3 Mar 3-1
Broxburn	N/P		16 Dec 2-2	14 Apr 0-2	30 Sep 0-0	14 Oct 4-1	28 Oct 0-5
Broxburn Shamrock	N/P	27 Jan 3-5		4 Nov 0-5	14 Apr 0-1	17 Feb 4-2	N/P
Heart of Midlothian 'A'	16 Dec 1-0	4 May 1-0	2 Dec 4-0		10 Feb 4-1	30 Dec 0-2	31 Mar 2-0
King's Park	N/P	2 Jan 3-0	3 Feb 3-2	16 Sep 0-1		2 Dec 2-2	N/P	7 Oct 2-0
Rangers 'A'	9 Dec 1-1	N/P	5 May 10-0	2 Sep 0-1	18 Nov 2-2		7 Oct 1-0
St Mirren 'A'	7 Apr 1-3	N/P	25 Nov 6-0	14 Oct 1-3	21 Oct 0-1	4 Nov 1-5		2 Sep 2-1
Clyde 'A'	99 Mix 9-

Clyde 'A' withdrew in October 1905

28 Oct Rangers 'A' v King's Park 3-1 stopped in the second half due to poor light

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Heart of Midlothian 'A'	12	10	1	1	26	6	21
Bo'ness	9	6	2	1	22	9	14
King's Park	10	4	3	3	14	15	11
Rangers 'A'	11	4	3	4	27	17	11
Broxburn	9	2	2	5	11	20	6
St Mirren 'A'	9	2	0	7	15	18	4
Broxburn Shamrock	10	1	1	8	12	42	3
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1939-40 Scottish Alliance

At the Scottish Alliance's AGM in 1938, a motion by Hamilton Academical to remove the two remaining non-League sides - Beith and Galston - for financial reasons was approved by 15 votes to 5. The Alliance was then effectively reformed as the Scottish Reserve League, and was to be an exclusively First Division reserve body. After a year the Scottish Alliance was re-formed in 1939 but disbanded after only one game because of the War.

26 Aug Vale of Leven v Queen's Park Strollers 4-1

Membership

Babcock & Wilcox

Galston

Girvan Athletic

Nithsdale Wanderers

Queen's Park Strollers

Stranraer

Vale of Leven