Southern Combination Football League: Difference between revisions

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==Defunct clubs==
==Defunct clubs==
Only clubs with articles are listed
Only clubs with articles are listed
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*[[Royal School of Signals|Corps of Signals]] (1920-1925)
*[[Royal School of Signals|Corps of Signals]] (1920-1925)
*[[Langney Wanderers F.C.|Langney Wanderers]] (2010-2021)
*[[Langney Wanderers F.C.|Langney Wanderers]] (2010-2021)
*[[Littlehampton United F.C.|Littlehampton United]] (2008-2022)
*[[Littlehampton United F.C.|Littlehampton United]] (2008-2022)
*[[Ringmer F.C.|Ringmer]] (1963-2018)
*[[Ringmer F.C.|Ringmer]] (1963-2018)
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*[[St. Leonards F.C.|St Leonards]] (1971-2003)
*[[St. Leonards F.C.|St Leonards]] (1971-2003)
*[[Southwick F.C.|Southwick]] (1882-2020)
*[[Southwick F.C.|Southwick]] (1882-2020)
*[[Rye United F.C.|Rye United]] (1938-2014)
*[[Rye United F.C.|Rye United]] (1938-2014)
*[[Withdean 2000 F.C.|Withdean]] (1989–2000)
{{col-3}}


==Champions==
==Champions==

Revision as of 22:43, 7 January 2023

Southern Combination Football League
Founded1920 (as Sussex County League)
CountryEngland
Divisions3 – first teams
2 – U23 Divisions
3 – U18 Divisions
Number of teams50 (plus Under 23 and Under 18 teams)
Level on pyramidLevels 9–11
Feeder toIsthmian League Division One South
Relegation toEast Sussex Football League
Mid-Sussex Football League
West Sussex Football League
Domestic cup(s)FA Cup
FA Vase
Sussex Senior Challenge Cup
Sussex RUR Cup
League cup(s)The Peter Bentley League Cup
Division One Challenge Cup
Division Two Challenge Cup
The Reserve Section Challenge Cup
Current championsLittlehampton Town (Premier Division)
Roffey (Division One)
Rustington (Division Two)
(2021–22)
Most championshipsHorsham
Peacehaven & Telscombe
and Worthing (8 titles)
WebsiteOfficial
Current: 2022–23 Southern Combination Football League

The Macron Southern Combination Football League is a football league broadly covering the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and South West London, England. The league consists of eight divisions – three for first teams (Premier Division, Division One and Division Two), two for Under 23 teams (East Division and West Division) and three for Under 18 teams (East Division, Central Division and West Division).

History

The area covered by the Sussex County League is coloured in dark blue.

Formed in 1920 as the Sussex County Football League,[1] started with just one league with 12 teams. By the end of the 1929–30 season, six of the original twelve teams remained, having played in every campaign since the competition began. The league saw regular changes in members between 1921 and 1928 and saw 23 clubs taking part. The league closed down during the Second World War and the league ran two competition sections in the 1945–46 season, an Eastern division with eight teams and a Western division with 9 teams. The winners of each competition played in a play-off for a champion. A normal single league practice resumed in 1946 with 14 clubs now playing.

A new division was created in 1952 when Division Two was instituted. Division One remained with 14 teams and Division Two with 12 teams. By 1958 the two leagues had 16 teams each. The 1962–63 season was abandoned due to the atrocious weather conditions, with some clubs playing over 20 games and others with only 13 or 14 games played; an emergency competition was played in a group stage style format with knock-out stages to the final. The 1970s saw the league membership decline.

In 1983 a third division was added for intermediate level teams looking for an easy entry into the football league pyramid system, and a 3-points-for-a-win system was introduced. Divisions One and Two remained at 16 teams each, Division Three started with 13 teams, increasing to 15 two seasons later. Some long term clubs experienced harder times and dropped into Division Two. A "Two Up Two Down" system of promotion and relegation was applied throughout the period but was occasionally affected by departures from the league itself. Division One increased to 18 teams for the 1988–89 season and 20 teams for the 1993–94 season, along with Division One increasing to 18 teams in the same season. Division Three increased to 16 teams in 2000.

The league changed its name to the Southern Combination Football League for the start of the 2015–16 season,[2] keeping the acronym SCFL also attracting teams just across the Sussex border when the Football Association (FA) moved teams across leagues. The divisions were renamed at this time to Premier Division, Division One and Division Two, with the last keeping its intermediate status. Also, for the 2015–16 season the league added two U21s divisions, one in the East, and one in the West, consisting of 7 teams each, which lasted until the end of the 2017–18 season and replaced by two Under–23 divisions (East and West), and three Under–18 divisions (East, Central and West).

The Sin Bin rule was introduced for the 2019–20 season to reduce dissent between the players[3], also during the same season the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic halted all sporting events nationwide; the leagues and the Football Association agreed to end the season early and expunge all results, with no promotion or relegation between the leagues.[4]

The league season was abandoned for a third time after the FA Alliance and Leagues committees announced that the 2020–21 would be curtailed, subject to ratification by The FA Council, with immediate effect.[5]

The first team divisions – Premier, One and Two, sit at Steps 5 and 6, and level 11, formerly Step 7, of the English football league system, below the lower divisions of the Isthmian League and the Southern League. The reserve divisions are not part of the league system.

Sponsorship

In the past, Unijet, Rich City, Matthew Clark and Badger Ales sponsored the Sussex County Football League. But between 2006 and 2014 the league was without a sponsor. Macron Store (Hastings) signed a 4-year deal beginning in the 2014–15 season resulting in the official name being changed to "The Macron Sussex County League" and then to current "The Macron Southern Combination Football League". As of 2020 Macron Store still continue to sponsor the league.

Period Sponsor Brand
1990–2000 Unijet Unijet Sussex County League
2000–2001 No Sponsor Sussex County League
2001–2002 Rich City Rich City Sussex County League
2002–2004 Matthew Clark Matthew Clark Sussex County League
2004–2006 Badger Ales Badger Ales Sussex County League
2006–2014 No Sponsor Sussex County League
2014–2015 Macron Macron Store Sussex County Football League
2015– Macron Store Southern Combination Football League

Current clubs

Former clubs

Following former clubs are now playing in other leagues or levels.

Defunct clubs

Only clubs with articles are listed

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