Scottish Junior Football Association, North Region

The Scottish Junior Football Association, North Region is one of the three regions of the Scottish Junior Football Association. Its area covers Grampian and Moray as well as part of the Highland and Angus council areas – from Montrose in the south to Inverness in the west. The North Region previously had three region-wide divisions from 2003 onwards, however from 2013 the decision was taken to revert to two regional divisions below the North Superleague.^[1]

It consists of three divisions at two levels:

• North Superleague
• North First Division (West)
• North First Division (East)

Member clubs

There are 35 clubs playing in the North Region in season 2016–17.

Superleague

First Division (West) & First Division (East)

Cup competitions

There are seven cup competitions in the North Region:

• The Jim McPherson Trophy This is a pre-season charity match, similar to the FA Community Shield, played between the previous seasons North Superleague champions and North Regional Cup winners. First played for in 2015, it is named after the late Assistant Secretary and Treasurer of the North Region.^[2]
• The North Regional Cup. Known as the Dominos Pizza North Regional Cup under a sponsorship arrangement, this is a knockout tournament for all North Region clubs.
• Grill League Cup. This is the opening tournament of the season. Clubs are drawn in eight groups with the group winners advancing to a knockout competition.
• McLeman Cup. Known as the PMAC Group McLeman Cup under a sponsorship arrangement, this is a knockout tournament for clubs in the North Superleague.
• Morrison Cup. Known as the AM Property Maintenance Morrison Cup under a sponsorship arrangement, this is a knockout tournament for clubs in the North First Division (East).
• Elginshire Cup. This is a tournament for clubs in the North First Division (West). Clubs are drawn in two groups with winners and runners-up advancing to the semi-final stage.
• North and Tayside Inter-Regional Cup. Known as the GA Engineering Cup for sponsorship purposes, this is a knockout tournament involving North Region clubs and current East Region clubs who played in the former Tayside Region. First played for in 1988, the cup is administered by a joint committee and clubs play early rounds in their own region with eight sides from each area progressing to the last sixteen.

In addition, a further tournament, The Archibald Cup, was added for North First Division (West) clubs in 2015–16 to bolster their fixture programme after the withdrawal of clubs from the league. The tournament is played in two groups with winners and runners-up progressing to the semi-finals.^[3]

Roll of Honour

Season	North Premier Division	North Division One (East)	North Division One (West)
2001–02	Formartine United	Aberdeen Lads Club	Strathspey Thistle
2002–03	Sunnybank	Turriff United	Forres Thistle

Season	North Premier Division	North Division One	North Division Two
2003–04	Culter	Maud	Islavale
2004–05	Culter	Parkvale	New Elgin
2005–06	Culter	Dyce Juniors	New Elgin
2006–07	Culter	East End	Fochabers
2007–08	Banks O' Dee	Banchory St. Ternan	Bishopmill United
2008–09	Banks O' Dee	Buchanhaven Hearts	Inverness City
2009–10	Sunnybank	Fraserburgh United	Burghead Thistle

Season	North Superleague	North Division One	North Division Two
2010–11	Culter	Inverness City	Parkvale
2011–12	Hermes	Inverness City	Portgordon Victoria
2012–13	Culter	New Elgin	Colony Park

Season	North Superleague	North First Division (West)	North First Division (East)
2013–14	Culter	Inverness City	Cruden Bay
2014–15	Hermes	Grantown	Bridge of Don Thistle
2015–16	Banks O' Dee	Buckie Rovers	Colony Park

Current cup holders

• Jim McPherson Trophy - Hermes ^[4] (2016–17 competition)
• North Regional Cup - Islavale ^[5]
• Grill League Cup - Banks O' Dee ^[6] (2016–17 competition)
• McLeman Cup - Banks O' Dee ^[7]
• Morrison Cup - Fraserburgh United ^[8]
• Elginshire Cup - Forres Thistle ^[9]
• GA Engineering Cup - Lochee United ^[10]
• Archibald Cup - Forres Thistle ^[11]

References

1. Easton, Richard (9 June 2013). "Clubs agree to league reconstruction". SJFA, North Region. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
2. Crossan, Derek. "Jim McPherson Trophy". North Region JFA. The Juniors.Info. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
3. "Junior tourney kicks off". Northern Scot. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
4. Easton, Richard. "Hermes win Jim McPherson Trophy". SJFA North Region. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
5. "Vale defy odds to lift cup". Northern Scot. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
6. "Dee put the seal on good week with Grill success". Evening Express. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
7. Allan, Charlie (31 May 2016). "Facing Celtic in Europe would be a dream for Banks o' Dee hero Odmar". Evening Express. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
8. Easton, Richard. "Fraserburgh United win AM Property Maintenance Morrison Cup". www.northregionjfa.co.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
9. Christie, Craig (1 May 2016). "Ten man Forres claim cup triumph". Northern Scot. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
10. "Leahy critics were answered in style". Evening Telegraph. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
11. "Currie strike nets cup for Jags". Forres Gazette. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.

External links

• The North Region Scottish Junior Football Association
• Stewart Davidson, Scottish Non-League Review, issues 15–24.