Scottish Football Alliance

The Scottish Football Alliance was a league football competition in Scotland.

First formed in 1891, the Scottish Alliance was one of a number of leagues set up a year after the Scottish Football League was formed. The original members were Airdrieonians, Ayr, East Stirlingshire, Morton F.C., Kilmarnock, King's Park, Linthouse F.C., Northern, Partick Thistle, Port Glasgow Athletic, St Bernard's F.C. and Thistle. 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 league, bolstered by the inclusion of a number of clubs from the Scottish Football Federation, continued for four more years.

The Scottish Alliance was reformed for a season in 1905–06. However it was unfinished and was eventually superseded by the creation of the Scottish Football Union.

In 1919, the Scottish Alliance was re-formed, this time principally as a reserve team league for Scottish Football League First Division clubs. Not all of the First Division clubs fielded a reserve team due to the additional costs involved. From 1920, it had a policy of including at least one non-reserve team. On the collapse of the Scottish Football League Third Division in 1926, a large number of clubs found a place in the Alliance. So much so that for one season the competition was split into regional sections. This split lasted only one season, after which the Alliance was re-formed as one division. In 1938, the First Division clubs decided to create a formal reserve team league, which meant that Beith and Galston were expelled from the league. This also meant that Dundee's reserve team were also expelled, as the club had been relegated from the First Division but had still maintained a reserve team in the Alliance.

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