Edinburgh Football League

1894-1896

See also Main index Club directory East of Scotland League Glasgow League Inter City League North Eastern Cup Additional dates and results supplied by Stuart Robertson and Robert Mitchell

In the mid 1890s, the Scottish League fixture list ran to only 18 games. Because of this several clubs banded together to form supplementary competitions. One of these was the Edinburgh League which was formed in 1894 by Hibernian, Heart of Midlothian, Leith Athletic and St Bernards. At the end of 1895-96 St Bernards finished bottom and had to apply for re-election. Hearts and Leith voted to accept Dundee's application rather than re-elect St. Bernards, Hibernian moved for a five team league including both Dundee and St Bernards but when this was defeated, Hibernian resigned from the league and East Stirlingshire were admitted in their place. Around six months later, in December 1896, the East of Scotland League (Hearts, Leith, Dundee, and East Stirling) met to discuss applications from St Bernards and Hibernian, both were unanimously accepted and it was decided to go forward with six clubs (despite five previously having been thought too many). East Stirlingshire only lasted for one season and weren’t replaced. Raith Rovers entered in 1898 and when they left in 1903, Aberdeen and Falkirk took their place. The last change in the membership was when St Bernards left in 1906. Like all the other supplementary leagues, this one was also plagued by a lack of dates. Many fixtures doubled up as Scottish League matches, and many more were played in the following season. The East of Scotland League eventually disbanded in 1908. It was replaced the following season by the North Eastern Cup, a straight knockout tournament.

Champions (For the McRae Cup)

1894-95 Heart of Midlothian

1895-96 Heart of Midlothian

Membership Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Leith Athletic St Bernards

1894-1896 1894-1896 1894-1896 1894-1896

1894-95	Hearts	Hibs	Leith	St Bern
Heart of Midlothian	X	Apr 20 1-2	Apr 13 3-2*	May 25 6-0
Hibernian	Dec 8 1-2	X	Mar 23 1-1	Apr 15 1-1
Leith Athletic	May 11 1-5**	Jan 19 3-6	X	27 Oct 2-5
St Bernards	May 4 0-5	Mar 30 1-5	18 May 0-2	X

*at Beechwood (not Leith’s ground at the time)

**at Tynecastle

	1894-95	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4	Heart of Midlothian Hibernian St Bernards Leith Athletic	6 6 6 6	5 3 1 0	0 2 1 1	1 1 4 5	22 16 7 11	6 9 21 20	10 8 3 1

1895-96	Hearts	Hibs	Leith	St Bern
Heart of Midlothian	X	Apr 20 7-1	May 16 2-2	Apr 4 4-2
Hibernian	Mar 21 0-1	X	Apr 11 2-2	Feb 29 5-0
Leith Athletic	Apr 25 1-5	May 2 3-3	X	May 9 3-0
St Bernards	Mar 7 1-2	Mar 20 1-3	18 Apr 1-1	X

	1895-96	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1 2 3 4	Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Leith Athletic St Bernards	6 6 6 6	5 2 1 0	1 2 4 1	0 2 1 5	21 14 12 5	7 14 13 18	11 6 6 1