 All seventh section sides played a full round of fixtures (22), with return games applying for cases of geographical proximity.It was league policy to introduce newly created or newly reformed teams in this bottom section, while existing clubs/teams accepted for membership were placed in a higher division.The final version of the SCL went back to the 1971 season when a group of 10 pioneer clubs – three of which were still in the league in 2011 – operated in a single division alongside (but never against) a small collection of clubs that were to be part of the group that exclusively comprised the top section from 1972–96.