# Lanarkshire Junior Football League

The Lanarkshire Junior Football League was a football league competition operated in Lanarkshire under the Scottish Junior Football Association which operated from 1891, being the oldest-running regional competition of its kind until a merger in 1968.
The league was formed in 1891, at which point six of the ten finalists in the 5-year history of the Scottish Junior Cup had been from Lanarkshire (not counting those in the city of Glasgow under its boundaries of the time) indicating a strong presence at Junior level, with teams forming in many towns and villages involved in the thriving coal mining and steelworking industries. However, by 1895 a rival Glasgow Junior Football League was formed, and that quickly became a superior competition due to the abundance of players, higher attendances and lower costs associated with travelling. The proximity of the big city also caused problems for the Lanarkshire league organisers, with the clubs based in their territory consistently seeking to join the GJL, while the short distances involved made it feasible to do so whenever they were considered a useful addition. Some Lanarkshire clubs also switched between their local league and the Scottish Junior Football League, which had no specific territory but also existed in the shadow of the Glasgow-based league until it folded in the 1940s.
Unlike the GJL and the Western Junior Football League (the equivalent based in Ayrshire), the Lanarkshire league was not involved in the Intermediate dispute relating to compensation payments due to clubs joining Scottish Football League teams, although several of its members defected to the rebel group, some never returning; during those clubs' four-year absence from the Scottish Junior Cup, Lanarkshire's Burnbank Athletic reached the final twice. When then dispute was resolved in 1931, a new regional knockout tournament, the West of Scotland Junior Cup, was carried over from the Intermediate setup, and after a few years the Lanarkshire league clubs were invited to take part, although as in the Scottish Cup, teams were involved in the latter stages only occasionally (5 wins in 34 editions), the competition being dominated by the GJL's successor, the Central League. Unlike most of Junior football, the Lanarkshire league went into abeyance for five years during World War II, with clubs playing in the 'Lanark & Lothians Junior League' during the conflict.
In 1968 the Junior football system across Scotland was reorganised, with Lanarkshire's league (which now only had ten member clubs due to defections, and several clubs folding as traditional industries declined and entire communities dispersed) merging into the Central setup. It was the first Scottish Junior league to be established, at the time of its dissolution it was the longest-running.

## Champions

Key:
* Club also won the Scottish Junior Cup (doubles in bold).
* Club were also runners-up in the Scottish Junior Cup.
| Season | Winner | Runner-up | Other member in Scottish Cup final |
| 1891–92 | Newmains Thistle | Haywood Wanderers | |
| 1892–93 | Blantyre Victoria | Larkhall Thistle | |
| 1893–94 | Blantyre Victoria | Longriggend Wanderers | |
| 1894–95 | Mossend Celtic | Longriggend Wanderers | |
| 1895–96 | Larkhall Thistle | Longriggend Wanderers | |
| 1896–97 | Burnbank Athletic | Dalziel Rovers | |
| 1897–98 | Dalziel Rovers | Mossend Celtic | |
| 1898–99 | Dalziel Rovers | Holytown Thistle | |
| 1899–1900 | Holytown Thistle | Cadzow Oak | |
| 1900–01 | Burnbank Athletic | Cadzow Oak | |
| 1901–02 | Burnbank Athletic | Carluke Rovers | |
| 1902–03 | Burnbank Athletic | Bellshill Athletic | Larkhall Thistle |
| 1903–04 | Burnbank Athletic | Dalziel Rovers | |
| 1904–05 | Dalziel Rovers | Bellshill Athletic | |
| 1905–06 | Blantyre Victoria | Burnbank Athletic | |
| 1906–07 | East Benhar Heatherbell | Quarter Huttonbank | |
| 1907–08 | Quarter Huttonbank | Newton Villa | Larkhall Thistle |
| 1908–09 | Quarter Huttonbank | Mossend Hibernian | |
| 1909–10 | Larkhall United | Cleland Rangers | |
| 1910–11 | Blantyre Victoria | Larkhall United | Burnbank Athletic |
| 1911–12 | Burnbank Athletic | Larkhall United | |
| 1912–13 | Larkhall Thistle | Fauldhouse West Rovers | |
| 1913–14 | Larkhall Thistle | Mossend Hibernian | |
| 1914–15 | Larkhall United | Mossend Hibernian | |
| 1915–16 | Burnbank Athletic | Blantyre Victoria | |
| 1916–17 | Blantyre Celtic | Mossend Hibernian | |
| 1917–18 | Cleland | Newarthill Thistle | |
| 1918–19 | Not played | Not played | Not played |
| 1919–20 | Blantyre Victoria | Blantyre Celtic | |
| 1920–21 | Cleland | Blantyre Celtic | |
| 1921–22 | Cleland | Blantyre Celtic | |
| 1922–23 | Carluke Rovers | Blantyre Victoria | |
| 1923–24 | Shotts United | Fauldhouse United | |
| 1924–25 | Shotts United | Cadzow St Anne's | |
| 1925–26 | Wishaw Juniors | Cadzow St Anne's | |
| 1926–27 | Blantyre Victoria | Fauldhouse United | |
| 1927–28 | Coalburn United | Law Scotia | Burnbank Athletic |
| 1928–29 | Burnbank Athletic | Douglas Water Thistle | |
| 1929–30 | Coalburn United | Shotts Battlefield | |
| 1930–31 | Shotts Battlefield | Larkhall Thistle | Burnbank Athletic |
| 1931–32 | Larkhall Thistle | Forth Wanderers | |
| 1932–33 | Douglas Water Thistle | Larkhall Thistle | |
| 1933–34 | Royal Albert Athletic | Wishaw Juniors | |
| 1934–35 | Wishaw Juniors | Royal Albert Athletic | |
| 1935–36 | Royal Albert Athletic | Larkhall Thistle | |
| 1936–37 | Royal Albert Athletic | Wishaw Juniors | |
| 1937–38 | Holytown United | Newarthill Hearts | |
| 1938–39 | Stonehouse Violet | Coltness United | |
| 1939–40 | New Stevenston United | Carluke Rovers | |
| 1940–41 | Burnbank Athletic | Carluke Rovers | |
| 1941–42 | Not played | Not played | |
| 1942–43 | Not played | Not played | |
| 1943–44 | Not played | Not played | |
| 1944–45 | Not played | Not played | Burnbank Athletic |
| 1945–46 | Wishaw Juniors | Larkhall Thistle | |
| 1946–47 | Burnbank Athletic | Coltness United | |
| 1947–48 | Larkhall Thistle | Mount Ellon United | |
| 1948–49 | Newarthill Hearts | Forth Wanderers | |
| 1949–50 | New Stevenston United | Cleland | |
| 1950–51 | Thorniewood United | Stonehouse Violet | |
| 1951–52 | Larkhall Thistle | Shotts Bon Accord | |
| 1952–53 | Lesmahagow | Carluke Rovers | |
| 1953–54 | Coltness United | Thorniewood United | |
| 1954–55 | Douglas Water Thistle | Stonehouse Violet | |
| 1955–56 | Thorniewood United | Douglas Water Thistle | |
| 1956–57 | Carluke Rovers | Coltness United | |
| 1957–58 | Shotts Bon Accord | Carluke Rovers | |
| 1958–59 | Carluke Rovers | Thorniewood United | |
| 1959–60 | Thorniewood United | Lanark United | |
| 1960–61 | Shotts Bon Accord | Thorniewood United | |
| 1961–62 | Shotts Bon Accord | Thorniewood United | |
| 1962–63 | Shotts Bon Accord | Wishaw Juniors | |
| 1963–64 | Thorniewood United | Shotts Bon Accord | |
| 1964–65 | Shotts Bon Accord | Larkhall Thistle | |
| 1965–66 | Forth Wanderers | Carluke Rovers | |
| 1966–67 | Shotts Bon Accord | Larkhall Thistle | |
| 1967–68 | Shotts Bon Accord | Larkhall Thistle | |
Notes
* ↑ Playing as 'Carluke Milton Rovers'.
* ↑ Playing as 'Bellshill and Clydesdale United'.
* ↑ Playing as 'Blantyre United'.
* ↑ Playing as 'Cleland Rovers'.
* ↑ LJL club playing in wartime 'Lanark & Lothians Junior League'.

## List of winners

| Club | Winners | Runners-up | First win | Last win |
| Burnbank Athletic | 10 | 1 | 1896–97 | 1946–47 |
| Shotts Bon Accord | 7 | 2 | 1957–58 | 1967–68 |
| Larkhall Thistle | 6 | '8 | 1895–96 | 1951–52 |
| Blantyre Victoria | 6 | 2 | 1892–93 | 1926–27 |
| Thorniewood United | 4 | 4 | 1950–51 | 1963–64 |
| Carluke Rovers | 3 | 6 | 1922–23 | 1958–59 |
| Wishaw Juniors | 3 | 3 | 1925–26 | 1945–46 |
| Dalziel Rovers | 3 | 2 | 1897–98 | 1904–05 |
| Royal Albert Athletic | 3 | 1 | 1933–34 | 1936–37 |
| Cleland | 3 | 1 | 1917–18 | 1921–22 |
| Larkhall United | 2 | 2 | 1909–10 | 1914–15 |
| Douglas Water Thistle | 2 | 2 | 1932–33 | 1954–55 |
| Quarter Huttonbank | 2 | 1 | 1907–08 | 1908–09 |
| New Stevenston | 2 | 0 | 1939–40 | 1949–50 |
| Shotts United | 2 | 0 | 1923–24 | 1924–25 |
| Coalburn United | 2 | 0 | 1927–28 | 1929–30 |
| Blantyre Celtic | 1 | 3 | 1916–17 | 1916–17 |
| Coltness United | 1 | 3 | 1953–54 | 1953–54 |
| Forth Wanderers | 1 | 2 | 1965–66 | 1965–66 |
| Stonehouse Violet | 1 | 2 | 1938–39 | 1938–39 |
| Mossend Celtic | 1 | 1 | 1894–95 | 1894–95 |
| Newarthill Hearts | 1 | 1 | 1948–49 | 1948–49 |
| Shotts Battlefield | 1 | 1 | 1978–79 | 1978–79 |
| Holytown Thistle | 1 | 1 | 1899–1900 | 1899–1900 |
| Lesmahagow | 1 | 0 | 1952–53 | 1952–53 |
| East Benhar Heatherbell | 1 | 0 | 1906–07 | 1906–07 |
| Newmains Thistle | 1 | 0 | 1891–92 | 1891–92 |
| Holytown United | 1 | 0 | 1937–38 | 1937–38 |
| Mossend Hibernian | 0 | 4 | N/A | N/A |
| Longriggend Wanderers | 0 | 3 | N/A | N/A |
| Bellshill Athletic | 0 | 2 | N/A | N/A |
| Fauldhouse United | 0 | 2 | N/A | N/A |
| Cadzow Oak | 0 | 2 | N/A | N/A |
| Cadzow St Anne's | 0 | 2 | N/A | N/A |
| Lanark United | 0 | 1 | N/A | N/A |
| Cleland Rangers | 0 | 1 | N/A | N/A |
| Fauldhouse West Rovers | 0 | 1 | N/A | N/A |
| Haywood Wanderers | 0 | 1 | N/A | N/A |
| Mount Ellon United | 0 | 1 | N/A | N/A |
| Newton Villa | 0 | 1 | N/A | N/A |
Notes