The Tayside Junior Football League, originally called the Midlands League, was a football league competition operated in Tayside under the Scottish Junior Football Association which operated as the top league in the territory from 1969 until a merger in 2002; it existed for a further four years as a second-tier league before the name was discontinued in 2006.Tayside Region Junior League, Scottish Football Historical Archive, 4 May 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021
History Junior football had been played in the region since the 1890s, but it was not until a restructuring across Scotland in the late 1960s that all teams in the territory were brought together under one umbrella - previously they had been competing in the local leagues in Angus,Forfarshire Junior Leagues, Scottish Football Historical Archive 23 September 2020 PerthshirePerthshire Junior League, Scottish Football Historical Archive 16 September 2020 and Dundee,Dundee & District Junior Leagues, Scottish Football Historical Archive 10 September 2020 though the membership of these was not always rigidly dependent on geography, and another Midland League also existed from the 1920s to the 1940s involving clubs from all three territories. Due to predicted difficulties in arranging the new format, an extra year was requested for its completion by the local committees, and the Midland (Tayside) leagues began in 1969, a year after the rest of Scotland (the North was the only other of the six new regions which required more than minor adjustment to its structure).
With titles having been shared between clubs from Perthshire and Dundee (the sole Angus champions in 1974 being Kirrie Thistle), the league's balance altered dramatically in 1990 when Tayport joined the setup; their base was actually in the far north of Fife but they were permitted to join the Tayside league as they were closer to many of its teams via the Tay Road Bridge. The Port almost immediately began to dominate and did not finish outside the top two places from 1991 until 2002,Honours, Tayport F.C. when the Tayside leagues were merged with the Fife League and the East (Lothians) league to form a new Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region Superleague. Despite the challenge of facing the strongest clubs from these other two areas, Tayport continued to be among the leading teams for the first six years; Dundee side Lochee United also finished as East Region champions twice in that period. Tayside's setup was retained as a feeder division to the Superleague along with the other historic districts until 2006, when they were fully integrated into the East Region; Tayside's section (minus the Perthshire teams which were placed with the Fife sides) became the North Division below the Super League and a new Premier Division.
In 2018, a large group of East Junior clubs joined the East of Scotland Football League, aspiring to gain entry to the senior Scottish Professional Football League in future years; however, on Tayside the only ones to do so were the Perth teams Jeanfield Swifts and Kinnoull. This led to a North-South reorganisation of the remaining members of the region, with the 2019–20 Superleague North composed entirely of former Tayside clubs; it evolved into the Midlands Football League in 2021.
Champions
Club also won the Scottish Junior Cup (doubles in bold).Club were also runners-up in the Scottish Junior Cup. SeasonTimeline Junior East, Scottish Football Historical Archive (archived version, 2017)WinnerRunner-up 1969–70 Blairgowrie 1970–71 Blairgowrie 1971–72 Blairgowrie 1972–73 Jeanfield Swifts 1973–74 Kirrie Thistle 1974–75 Blairgowrie 1975–76 Carnoustie Panmure 1976–77 Carnoustie Panmure 1977–78 Carnoustie Panmure 1978–79 Carnoustie Panmure Stobswell 1979–80 Lochee United 1980–81 Carnoustie Panmure Lochee United 1981–82 Lochee United Arbroath Victoria 1982–83 Kinnoull Carnoustie Panmure 1983–84 Kinnoull 1984–85 Lochee Harp 1985–86 Lochee Harp Downfield 1986–87 Lochee United Downfield 1987–88 Downfield Forfar West End 1988–89Non League Tables for 1988-1989, NonLeague Matters Downfield Forfar West End 1989–90 Downfield 1990–91 Forfar West End Downfield 1991–92 Tayport Downfield 1992–93 Tayport Forfar West End 1993–94 Tayport Downfield 1994–95 Tayport Dundee St Joseph's 1995–96 Tayport Downfield 1996–97 Dundee St Joseph's Tayport 1997–98 Dundee North End Tayport 1998–99 Tayport Dundee North End 1999–2000 Tayport Dundee North End 2000–01 Tayport Carnoustie Panmure 2001–02 Tayport Carnoustie Panmure Notes
List of winners
Club Winner Runner-up First win Last win Tayport 9 2 1991–92 2001–02 Carnoustie Panmure 5 3 1975–76 1980–81 Blairgowrie 4 0 1969–70 1974–75 Downfield 3 6 1987–88 1989–90 Lochee United 3 1 1979–80 1986–87 Kinnoull 2 0 1982–83 1983–84 Lochee Harp 2 0 1984–85 1985–86 Dundee North End 1 2 1997–98 Forfar West End 1 31990–91 Dundee St Joseph's 1 1 1996–97 Kirrie Thistle 1 0 1973–74 Jeanfield Swifts 1 0 1972–73 Stobswell 0 1 N/A Arbroath Victoria 0 1 N/A Notes
References
Non-League Scotland (archive version), with club progression by season 1990 to 2007) Scottish Junior FA Structure, Scottish Junior Football Association