1939–40 Scottish War Emergency League

The Scottish War Emergency League was an football league competition set up in the 1939–40 season of Scottish football, after the usual official competitions were suspended due to the outbreak of World War II.[1]

The Scottish Football League officially suspended its competition on 13 September 1939 and set up a committee to investigate the possibility of regional league competitions. These were rubber-stamped on 26 September after the Home Secretary had granted permission, they commenced a month later. There were two divisions; Eastern and Western; each consisting of 16 clubs. This left six of the previous league clubs; Montrose, Brechin City, Forfar Athletic, Leith Athletic, Edinburgh City and East Stirlingshire.

Cowdenbeath resigned halfway through the season, they had played all the other clubs once and so their record was allowed to stand. The competition was completed by a play-off between the two divisional winners, who were Rangers and Falkirk; Rangers won 2–1 at Hampden Park.

For the following season, competitions were organised separately in different parts of the country: the Southern Football League and the North Eastern Football League, which lasted until the resumption of official competitions in 1946 (although the Southern League 'absorbed' the North Eastern League in the 1945–46 season).

Western division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Rangers 30 22 4 4 72 36 +36 48
2 Queen of the South 30 17 6 7 77 55 +22 40
3 Hamilton Academical 30 15 8 7 78 55 +23 38
4 Motherwell 30 15 8 7 64 56 +8 38
5 Morton 30 14 5 11 64 46 +18 33
6 Albion Rovers 30 15 2 13 62 60 +2 32
7 Clyde 30 11 9 10 68 51 +17 31
8 Kilmarnock 30 13 5 12 63 63 0 31
9 Airdrieonians 30 14 2 14 63 61 +2 30
10 St Mirren 30 11 4 15 59 66 −7 26
11 Partick Thistle 30 10 6 14 57 74 −17 26
12 Third Lanark 30 10 5 15 53 78 −25 25
13 Celtic 30 9 6 15 55 61 −6 24
14 Queen's Park 30 7 7 16 55 82 −27 21
15 Ayr United 30 7 5 18 50 66 −16 19
16 Dumbarton 30 7 4 19 48 78 −30 18
Source:

Eastern division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Falkirk 29 20 5 4 106 47 +59 45
2 Dunfermline Athletic 29 19 2 8 80 55 +25 40
3 Heart of Midlothian 29 18 4 7 104 66 +38 40
4 Aberdeen 29 16 4 9 86 50 +36 36
5 St Johnstone 29 13 8 8 84 69 +15 34
6 Alloa Athletic 29 13 4 12 56 60 −4 30
7 Dundee 29 11 8 10 70 62 +8 30
8 Hibernian 29 12 5 12 82 65 +17 29
9 Dundee United 29 12 2 15 68 77 −9 26
10 East Fife 29 11 3 15 80 91 −11 25
11 Raith Rovers 29 10 3 16 69 85 −16 23
12 King's Park 29 9 4 16 62 88 −26 22
13 St Bernard's 29 8 5 16 44 77 −33 21
14 Arbroath 29 6 5 18 44 91 −47 17
15 Stenhousemuir 29 7 3 19 52 98 −46 17
16 Cowdenbeath 15 7 1 7 38 44 −6 15
Source:

Play-off
Rangers2–1Falkirk
Venters  25'
Little  84'		 Napier  60'
Attendance: 15,000[3]

Teams
Falkirk:
GKGibby McKie
RBJim McPhie
LBAlex Peat
RHArchie Miller
CHBob Shankly
LHHugh Murray
ORBobby Keyes
IRWillie Miller
CFDavid McCulloch
ILCharlie Napier
OLKenny Dawson
Rangers:
GKJerry Dawson
RBDougie Gray
LBJock Shaw
RHTom McKillop
CHWillie Woodburn
LHScot Symon
ORWillie Waddell
IRIan McPherson
CFJimmy Smith
ILAlex Venters
OLAdam Little

References
  1. Emergency competition 1939–40, Scottish Football Historical Archive (archived version, 2009)
  2. Disputed Ibrox Goal | Falkirk Reasonably Annoyed, The Glasgow Herald, 3 June 1940
  3. 2–1 Vs Falkirk in Championship Decider, 01/06/1940, FitbaStats Rangers
  4. Match Details | Scottish League Championship Decider, Better Meddle
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