Editing Scottish Football League (section)

===Division Three===

In 1923, the League decided to introduce a third tier. The [[Western Football League (Scotland)|Western League]] was used as its backbone<ref name="cdiv">{{Cite web |title=Scottish Football League - C Division |url=http://www.oocities.org/br1anmccoll/cdiv.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731122524/http://www.oocities.org/br1anmccoll/cdiv.htm |archive-date=Jul 31, 2023 |website=Scottish Football Historical Archive |publisher=OoCities.org}}</ref> but the new set-up lasted only three years before it collapsed under heavy financial losses. From 1926 until 1946, the League reverted to two divisions with many of the third tier clubs joining the second iteration of Scottish Football Alliance.<ref>[http://www.oocities.org/br1anmccoll/scottishalliance3.htm Scottish Football Alliance (Third version 1919-1938)], Scottish Football Historical Archive</ref>

Post-[[World War II]] reforms saw the League resume with three divisions, renamed 'A', 'B' and 'C' with the last section also including [[reserve team|reserve sides]].<ref>[http://sfha.org.uk/scottishreservelg2.htm Scottish Reserve League Competitions Part 2 1945-1955], Scottish Football Historical Archive 1 November 2020</ref><ref>[http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/CDivision.html The C Division – the "other clubs" division], Alan Bell, via Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database</ref>  In 1947, league championship trophies were introduced for the first time for the top two divisions, until then only flags had been presented to the winners. The new trophies were engraved with the names of all previous winners. <ref>{{Cite news |date=1 October 1947 |title=Scottish League Chief Honoured |pages=3 |work=[[Dundee Courier]] |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19471001/050/0003 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]}}</ref> 

In 1949, the 'C' Division was expanded to two sections&nbsp;– South-East (North-East from 1950) and South-West. The withdrawal of the reserves from 'C' Division in 1955 saw a return to two divisions with the 5 first teams in Division C being given automatic promotion.<ref name="cdiv"/><ref>[https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/scot3hist.html Scotland - Final Tables Third Level 1924-2004], [[RSSSF]]</ref> There were then 18 clubs in Division A and 19 in Division B. In 1956 the divisions were renamed Division 1 and Division 2.

[[Clydebank F.C. (1965)|Clydebank]] were elected to Division Two as the 20th club in 1966, but following the demise of [[Third Lanark A.C.|Third Lanark]] in 1967, Division Two kept operating with just 19 clubs; the situation would not be corrected until the next change of format, which happened in 1975.

This change of structure split the league into three divisions, Premier, First, and Second Divisions. This permitted more frequent fixtures between the top clubs; the expectation was that meant greater revenue for them, and it was hoped it would stimulate greater interest, at a time when attendance at league matches had dropped alarmingly. One year before the restructuring, a new club entered the league, [[Meadowbank Thistle]] (which would eventually become [[Livingston F.C.|Livingston]]). This three-divisional structure of 38 clubs continued until 1994.