Midland_Football_Combination

Midland Football Combination

Midland Football Combination

Football league


The Midland Football Combination was an English football league covering parts of the West Midlands. It comprised five divisions, a Premier Division, Divisions One and Two and two Reserves Divisions. The league was one of three official feeder leagues to the Midland Football Alliance.

Quick Facts Founded, Folded ...

Prior to 2006, the Premier Division was defined as step 7 in the National League System, even though it fed into the step 5 Midland Alliance.[1] In 2006, it was re-graded as step 6,[2] making teams in the top two divisions eligible to take part in the FA Vase and teams in the top division eligible to enter the FA Cup. The league merged with the Midland Football Alliance in 2014 to form the new Midland Football League.

History

The league was founded in 1927 as the Worcestershire Combination. The ten founder members were Oldbury Town, Stourbridge Reserves, Kidderminster Harriers Reserves, Bewdley, Blackheath Town, Halesowen Labour, Highley Colliers, Old Carolians, Stewart & Lloyds (Bilston) and Cookley St Peters. By the 1929–30 season four of the founding clubs had dropped out and the league had been reduced to just six teams, with the result that it held two separate competitions within the one season to bulk out the fixture list, but it then gained eight new teams and continued to expand.[3]

The league changed its name to the Midland Combination in 1968 to reflect the drawing of clubs from a wider area.

In the 2007–08 season, the league's representative team, drawn from clubs in Division One, reached the final of the FA National League System Cup.[4]

League champions

Worcestershire Combination

Initially the league consisted of a single division

More information Season, Champions ...

Due to the number of teams having dropped dramatically, the 1929–30 season consisted of two separate "half-season" leagues.

More information Season, First series ...

For the 1930–31 the league reverted to its standard format.

More information Season, Champions ...

The league closed down in 1939 due to the outbreak of the Second World War and did not begin again until 1948.

More information Season, Champions ...

For the 1960–61 season the league added a second division, with the existing division renamed Division One.

More information Season, Division One ...

Midland Combination

For the 1979–80 season a third division was added.

More information Season, Division One ...

For the 1983–84 season the divisions were renamed to Premier, One and Two.

More information Season, Premier Division ...

For the 1993–94 season Division Three was added.

More information Season, Premier Division ...

For the 2011–12 season Division Three was disbanded.

More information Season, Premier Division ...

Final members

The teams that competed in the Combination's first team divisions in the 2013–14 season were as follows:

Premier Division

Walsall Wood (red shirts) in action against Racing Club Warwick

Division One

Division Two

  • Alcester Town
  • Austrey Rangers
  • Badsey Rangers
  • Barton United
  • Burntwood Town
  • Coventry United
  • Enville Athletic
  • FC Stratford
  • Inkberrow
  • Kenilworth Town
  • Leamington Hibernian
  • Northfield Town
  • Paget Rangers
  • Perrywood
  • Polesworth
  • Rostance Edwards
  • Rugeley Rangers – record expunged

Cup competitions

Each division other than the Premier had its own knockout competition, Division One competing for the President's Cup, Division Two for the Challenge Vase, Division Three for the Challenge Urn, and the Reserve Division for the Challenge Trophy. There were also other cup competitions run by the Midland Football Combination for its members including the Jack Mould Trophy and the Challenge Bowl.


References

  1. Dudley Town at the Football Club History Database
  2. Robinson, Michael (2007). Non-League Football Tables 1889–2007. Soccerdata. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-86223-162-7.
  3. Robinson, Michael. Non-League Football Tables 1889–2007. pp. 81–85.
  4. Robinson, Michael. Non-League Football Tables 1889–2007. pp. 85–91.
  5. Robinson, Michael. Non-League Football Tables 1889–2007. pp. 91–93.
  6. Midland Football Combination at the Football Club History Database
  7. Studley Sporting at the Football Club History Database
  8. Mile Oak Rovers at the Football Club History Database
  9. Boldmere St Michaels at the Football Club History Database
  10. Stratford Town at the Football Club History Database
  11. Racing Club Warwick at the Football Club History Database
  12. West Midlands Police at the Football Club History Database
  13. Evesham United at the Football Club History Database
  14. Armitage 90 at the Football Club History Database
  15. Pershore Town at the Football Club History Database
  16. Northfield Town at the Football Club History Database
  17. Bloxwich Town at the Football Club History Database
  18. Kings Norton Town at the Football Club History Database
  19. Worcester Athletico at the Football Club History Database
  20. Alveston at the Football Club History Database
  21. Nuneaton Griff at the Football Club History Database
  22. Grosvenor Park at the Football Club History Database
  23. Alvechurch at the Football Club History Database
  24. Romulus at the Football Club History Database
  25. Leamington at the Football Club History Database
  26. Atherstone Town at the Football Club History Database
  27. Coventry Sphinx at the Football Club History Database

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