Scottish Football League 1946-1947
In 1946 the Scottish Football League opened for business once again. The 16 clubs who had played during the war in the Scottish Southern "A" Division threatened to form a breakaway "Super League" but after much debate, the SFL membership voted by 29 to 8 for restructuring instead. "Division A" (the top level) now consisted of 16 rather than 20 teams. Places were allocated on the basis of crowd potential and facilities so Queen's Park, who had been relegated in 1939, returned to the top flight while several former Division One sides found themselves in Division "B".
The Second Division, now called "Division B" was also reduced, to 14 clubs. A third tier was reinstated (Division C) consisting of ten teams that had formed the wartime Eastern League with reserve sides making up the numbers. Over the following seasons Division C was expanded with the addition of more reserve sides (who could not win promotion) and in 1949 this division was split into two regional sections. To compensate for the reduced number of league fixtures, the Scottish League Cup was introduced, which involved early group rounds until the 1980s.
St Bernard's had gone out of business and the place of King's Park was taken by the new Stirling Albion.
Due to the austerity of the period (clubs had to collect unwanted clothing rations from their supporters to buy playing kits), teams played in whatever they could get hold of. (See Scottish Football Kits after World War Two).
For details of wartime competition visit Brian McColl's excellent Scottish Football History site.
