The majority of emerging clubs within Edinburgh and those in the Scottish Borders joined the EoSFL rather than the East Juniors, who were unable to successfully agree on a new format in this lopsided geography, with the predominant Midlothian clubs and those in East Lothian breaking away to form a new Midlothian Junior League in 1928.
Those in West Lothian found themselves with little option but to apply for this 'rebel' setup, which retained the Midlothian name until its suspension during World War II.
The pattern of local appearances in the Scottish Cup final continued at a similar rate, with 3 of 8 finalists lifting the trophy over a 12-year period.
In 2018, a large group of East Junior clubs (18 from the old Lothians) joined the East of Scotland (EoSFL) association en masse, aspiring to gain entry to the senior Scottish Professional Football League in future years;[3] This would mean the traditional EoSFL teams and East Juniors could finally be playing together, although with so many teams moving at once, there was not immediate parity, as the new members were placed in a multi-conference system with only one promotion place made available to the Lowland League (where the likes of Spartans had established themselves) and the majority facing some years of battling with their old rivals to make it to the next level.
Back in the East Juniors, the remaining teams formed the majority of a new Super League South in 2019 along with those from Fife who had chosen not to switch.