The
Southern League is an English
football competition featuring
semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South
Central and Midlands of England and South Wales.
The structure of the Southern League has changed several times
since its formation in 1894, and currently there are 66 clubs which
are divided into three divisions. The
Premier Division
is at Level 3 of the
National
League System (NLS), and is a feeder division, mainly to the
Conference South but also to the
Conference North. Feeding the
Premier Division are two regional divisions,
Division
One South & West and
Division One
Midlands, which are at Level 4 of the NLS. These divisions are
in turn fed by various regional leagues.
For sponsorship reasons, from 1 July 2009, the Southern League will
be known as the
Zamaretto Football League
following a sponsorship deal with
ICB Ltd. In addition, the League Cup
competition will be known as the
Red Insure
Cup.
History
Professional football (and
professional sport in general) developed
more slowly in
Southern England
than in
Northern England.
Professionalism was sanctioned by the
The Football Association as
early as 1885, but when The Football
League was founded in 1888 it was based entirely in the North
and Midlands
with the
establishment of County
Football Association's in the South being firmly opposed to
professionalism.
Woolwich Arsenal (nowadays simply
Arsenal) were the first club in London to turn professional in 1891
and were one of the prime motivators behind an attempt to set up a
Southern League to mirror the existing Northern and Midlands based
Football League. However, this venture failed in the face of
opposition from the
London
Football Association and Woolwich Arsenal instead joined the
Football League as its only representative south of Birmingham in
1893. Additionally, an amateur league, the
Southern Alliance was founded in 1892,
with seven teams from the region, but that folded after one
incomplete season.
Nonetheless, another attempt was made to form the Southern League,
and this time it was successful. A competition for both
professional and amateur clubs was founded in 1894 under the
initiative of
Millwall Athletic (now
simply Millwall). Initially only one division was envisaged, but
such was the enthusiasm, that eventually two divisions were formed.
The sixteen founder members were:
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2nd Scots Guards withdrew before the first season started and were
replaced by
Southampton St Mary's.
Woolwich Arsenal attempted to add their reserve side to the second
division but this application was refused.
The Southern League soon became the dominant competition outside
The Football League in Southern and Central England. In 1907, it
accepted
Bradford Park
Avenue, a northern club, as a member, reflecting its senior
position at the time. Of all the original founder members, six –
Gillingham (as New Brompton were renamed), Luton Town, Millwall,
Reading, Southampton and Swindon Town – are now Football League
clubs.
Whilst still a Southern League club,
Tottenham Hotspur became the first
and so far only team to win the
FA Cup after
the establishment of the league as a
non-League club. This happened in 1901,
although Southampton reached the final in 1900 and 1902 showing the
strength of the Southern League. The relative strengths of the two
leagues was during this period elucidated through the annual
Charity Shield. Out of the six
meetings the respective league champions had in the Shield,
however, only one was won by the Southern League champions -
Brighton & Hove
Albion, in 1910, and this remains their only national honour to
date.
In 1920, virtually the entire top division of the Southern League
was absorbed by the Football League to become that league's new
Third Division. A
year later the Third Division was expanded and regionalised. The
Third Division clubs from the previous season became the
Third Division South,
with the addition of the
Third Division
North.
For the next six decades, the Football League and Southern League
would exchange a limited number of clubs as a result of the older
league's re-election process. From 1920 onward, the Southern
League's status as a semi-professional league was firmly
established.
With its clubs seeking a more regular means of advancing to the
Football League, in 1979 the Southern League became a feeder to the
new
Football Conference along
with the
Isthmian League and the
Northern Premier League, and
the top Southern clubs of the day joined the new league. In turn,
the Conference would eventually succeed in becoming a feeder to the
Football League. The league lost more of its top clubs in 2004 when
the Conference added two regional divisions below the existing
Conference National, the
Conference South and
Conference North.
Southern League clubs
Listed below are the clubs currently competing in the three
divisions of the Southern League, for the 2008–09 season.
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Past Southern League winners
For the 1898-99 season, Division Two was divided into London
and South-West sections, with a playoff contested between the
winners of each section.
For the 1899-00 season, the league reverted to the old
format.
For the 1909-10 season, Division Two was split into an 'A'
section and a 'B' section, with the winners of each section
contesting a play-off for the Division Two championship.
For the 1910-11 season, the league again reverted back to the
previous format.
At the end of the 1919-20 season, the majority of the teams in
the First Division moved into the new Third Division of the
Football League. The Southern League was therefore split
into two national sections for England and Wales, with the winners
of each section contesting a playoff for the Southern League
championship.
For the 1923-24 season, the league was split into two regional
sections, with the winners of each section contesting a playoff for
the Southern League championship.
For the 1933-34 season an extra section, the Central Section
was introduced to provide additional fixtures. The Central
included teams from the other two sections and did not contribute
to the overall championship.
For the 1936-37 season, the Eastern and Western sections were
merged into a single division. Additional fixtures were
obtained through the Midweek Section which did not contribute to
the overall championship.
For the 1945-46 season, the Midweek Section was not played due
to power restrictions after the Second
World War.
For the 1958-59 season the Southern League was again divided
into two sections: North-Western and South-Eastern. The
winners of each section contested a playoff for the Southern League
championship
The following season saw the two sections merged to form a
Premier Division, and a new Division One introduced.
For the 1971-72 season Division One was
regionalised.
For the 1979-80 season, thirteen Premier Division clubs joined
the newly-formed Alliance Premier League. The Premier
Division and Division One were subsequently merged, and two
regional divisions formed.
For the 1982-83 season, the Premier Division was re-introduced,
above the regional divisions.
For the 2000-01 season, the regional divisions were renamed the
Western and Eastern divisions.
For the 2006-07 season, the two regional divisions were renamed
Division One Midlands and Division One South & West.
League structure
The league structure has changed several times over the years, and
currently consists of a Premier Division at step 3 of the pyramid,
with Division One South & West and Division One Midlands at
step 4. The winners of the Premier Division, together with the
winners of a playoff, are promoted to the Conference North or
Conference South, depending on their location.
Clubs relegated from the Southern League can be placed in any of
the fourteen leagues below, but in practice it is likely to be one
of the following (based on geography):
From time to time, clubs outside the promotion and relegation
positions based at the geographical edges of the Southern League
will be compelled to leave the League by the NLS Committee, should
it be necessary for them to compete in the Northern Premier or
Isthmian Leagues so as to correct any imbalances brought on by the
geographical distribution of the teams promoted and relegated to
this level. Teams in the Northern Premier or Isthmian Leagues have
also been entered into the Southern League for the same
reason.
References
External links
(D1 South & West)
(D1 Midlands)
Wikis
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