The league reverted to a two-tier setup for the first time since 2015, featuring a Premier Division of 16 teams and a First Division containing two seeded parallel conferences each with 12 teams.
On 13 March 2020, the league was indefinitely suspended due to the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak[1] before it was officially curtailed on 24 April 2020. Bo'ness United were declared champions of the Premier Division on a 'points per game' method while Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale and Tynecastle were declared winners of their respective First Division conferences.[2]
Teams
The following teams changed division after the 2018–19 season.
The Premier Division contains the top five teams from each of the three Conferences in the 2018–19 season, the best 6th-placed team (Sauchie Juniors) and Whitehill Welfare who were relegated from the Lowland League.
^ abHill of Beath Hawthorn were awarded 2 points and Sauchie Juniors deducted 3 points after Sauchie fielded a suspended player in their match on 27 July 2019.
^Hill of Beath Hawthorn finished second based on the 'points per game' measure, despite accumulating fewer points than Broxburn Athletic.
^Jeanfield Swifts finished sixth based on the 'points per game' measure, despite accumulating fewer points than Dundonald Bluebell, Penicuik Athletic and Musselburgh Athletic.
^Linlithgow Rose finished ninth based on the 'points per game' measure, despite accumulating fewer points than Musselburgh Athletic.
^No teams were relegated from the Premier Division after the season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
The teams who did not qualify for the Premier Division, along with Glenrothes, were ranked according to their position and points in each Conference before being assigned into two seeded First Division Conferences A and B. Kinnoull later took the place of Eyemouth, who withdrew from the league.[20]
^Kinnoull deducted 3 points for fielding suspended player.
^Kinnoull finished third based on the 'points per game' measure, despite accumulating fewer points than Dunipace, Heriot-Watt University and Haddington Athletic.
^Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare finished 9th based on the 'points per game' measure, despite accumulating fewer points than Tweedmouth Rangers and Hawick Royal Albert United.
^Arniston Rangers deducted 6 points for fielding ineligible players.
Results
Teams in each Conference play each other twice, once at home and once away. Teams also play each team from the other Conference once (six home and six away), for a total of 34 games.
Source: [citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
First Division play-offs
Play-offs were due to be held to decide the overall First Division winner, and if necessary the third team to be promoted to the Premier Division. These were subsequently cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[2]
Notes
SFA Club has an SFA Licence (as of July 2019)[45] and are eligible to participate in the Lowland League promotion play-off should they win the Premier Division.
^ abcdThis tally includes 97 cross-conference matches played, with 452 goals scored.
^ abcdeThis result was in a cross-conference match.
^Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale's winning streak included victories of 3–0 over Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts, 1–0 over Easthouses Lily MW, 3–2 over Preston Athletic, 6–1 over Hawick Royal Albert United and 6–0 over Arniston Rangers in cross-conference matches.
^Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale's unbeaten streak included a 5–0 win over Coldstream, a 4–4 draw with Tweedmouth Rangers, a 4–2 win over Glenrothes and a 2–0 win over Dalkeith Thistle in cross-conference matches.
^Craigroyston's winless streak included a 2–2 draw with Arniston Rangers, a 1–4 loss to Dalkeith Thistle, 2–5 losses to Glenrothes and Stirling University, a 1–7 loss to Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts, a 0–4 loss to Tweedmouth Rangers, a 0–10 loss to Edinburgh United and a 1–1 draw with Preston Athletic in cross-conference matches.
^ abTynecastle's winning streak included a 13–0 win over Peebles Rovers, 3–1 wins over Haddington Athletic and Heriot Watt University, and a 2–1 win over Kinnoull in cross-conference matches. Their unbeaten streak was extended in part with a 2–2 draw with Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, a 0–0 draw with Leith Athletic, a 10–3 win over Oakley United and a 4–0 win over St Andrews United in cross-conference matches.
^Tweedmouth Rangers' winless streak included a 3–5 loss to Heriot Watt University, a 4–4 draw with Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, a 1–1 draw with Ormiston and a 0–4 loss to Haddington Athletic in cross-conference matches.
^Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare's losing streak included a 0–3 loss to Kinnoull, a 1–8 loss to Dunipace, a 2–6 loss to Heriot Watt University, a 3–4 loss to Ormiston and a 0–1 loss to Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale in cross-conference matches.