44-1312: (Redirected from Sfl ) SFL may refer to: Sports leagues [ edit ] Association football [ edit ] Southern Football League , an association football league in England Geo Super Football League , an inter-city football league in Pakistan Scottish Football League , a former association football league Southern Football League (Scotland) , wartime league Sunday Football League (Lithuania) Swiss Football League Australian rules football [ edit ] Southern Football League (South Australia) Southern Football League (Tasmania) , Australia Southern Football League (Victoria) , Australia Sunday Football League , Perth, Western Australia Other sports [ edit ] Spring Football League , former American football league Stars Football League , Grand Rapids, Michigan, US Super Fight League , mixed martial arts league, India Swedish Futsal League Other uses [ edit ] Saskatchewan Federation of Labour , Canada Scandinavian Ferry Lines Sci-Fi-London ,
88-602: 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 to the previous format. At the end of the 1919–20 season, the majority of the clubs in the First Division moved into the new Third Division of the Football League. The Southern League was therefore split into two sections for England and Wales, with
132-628: 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 clubs from the region, but that folded after one incomplete season. Nonetheless, another attempt
176-527: A film festival in England Students for Liberty , American organization System Function Language of the ICL VME operating system Systemic functional linguistics , language as a social semiotic system Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title SFL . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
220-500: A two-year deal for seasons 2019-20 and 2020-21 had been agreed with new sponsor BetVictor . This sponsorship agreement with BetVictor was subsequently terminated early in April 2020 with a replacement, Entain 's Pitching In, announced as the next sponsor for 2020–21. At the time of announcement, Entain went by its former name GVC Holdings. Under this partnership, the NPL is marketed as one of
264-614: The English football league system , and with the then-Conference's addition of regional divisions in 2004 the NPL was demoted by a further tier and there are now two levels between it and the English Football League. From 1992–93 to 1994–95 the league's Division One included two non-English clubs, Caernarfon Town from Wales and Gretna from Scotland , who later joined their countries' league systems. Colwyn Bay , Bangor City , Newtown , and Rhyl have also played in
308-688: The Football League XI and the Scottish Football League XI . They won the inaugural inter-league equivalent of the British Home Championship in 1910, defeating the Football League 3–2, Scottish League 1–0 and the Irish League 4–0. In 1907, it accepted newly converted-to-Association and future Football League club Bradford , a northern club, as a member, reflecting its senior position at
352-798: The National League along with the winners of a playoff between the second to fifth place clubs. Theoretically, clubs from the NPL could be promoted into either of the National League's two regional divisions, but the geographical footprint of the NPL has never overlapped with that of the National League South , so (as of 2015) all promoted NPL clubs have been placed in the National League North . The bottom three teams are usually relegated to Division One North West or South East, but NPL Premier Division clubs in
396-961: The National League System (NLS), and are feeder divisions, mainly to the National League South but also to the National League North . Feeding the Premier Divisions are two regional divisions, Division One Central and Division One South, which are at step 4 of the NLS. These divisions are in turn fed by various regional leagues. The league has its administrative head office at Eastgate House in Gloucester. Professional football (and, indeed, professional sports in general) developed more slowly in Southern England than in Northern England . Professionalism
440-689: The Northern Premier League , and the top Southern clubs of the day joined the new league. In turn, the APL (renamed Football Conference in 1986 and National League in 2015) 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 National League , the Conference South and Conference North . In May 2017,
484-597: The South and Midlands of England, and South Wales . Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system . The structure of the Southern League has changed several times since its formation in 1894 , and currently there are 87 clubs which are divided into four divisions. The Central and South Divisions are at step 3 of
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#1732787208758528-473: The Third Division North . Of the original founder members, six – Gillingham (formerly New Brompton), Luton Town, Millwall, Reading, Southampton and Swindon Town – went on to be Football League clubs. For the next six decades, the Football League and Southern League would occasionally exchange a limited number of clubs as a result of the older league's re-election process . From 1920 onward,
572-435: 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
616-611: The 2009–10 season, Division One Midlands was renamed Division One Central. For the 2017–18 season, the Central and South & West divisions were renamed back into East and West respectively. For the following season, the Premier Division was regionalised, becoming the South Division, and a Central Division was added. The East and West divisions were realigned into Central and South again. The 2019–20 season
660-414: The 2020–21 season the league has been sponsored by Pitching In, Entain 's grassroots sports investment programme. At the time of announcement, Entain went by its former name GVC Holdings. Under this partnership, the Southern League is marketed as one of the three Trident Leagues, alongside its Isthmian and Northern Premier counterparts. This section lists
704-624: The FA chose the Southern League to add an additional division at step 3 as part of another restructuring in the NLS; the two Premier Divisions were set at 22 clubs each. The new Central Division started playing in the 2018–19 season. The first sponsor of the Southern League was Beazer Homes who sponsored the league from 1987 to 1996. The sponsors after Beazer Homes to the present day are: Dr Martens (1996–2004), British Gas (2006–2009), Zamaretto (2009–2011), Evo-Stik (2011–2013), Calor Gas (2013–2014), Evo-Stik (2014–2019) and BetVictor (2019–2020). From
748-516: The FA restructured the non-League football pyramid and created Division One East, West, and Midlands. Successful teams at the top of the NPL Premier Division are promoted to level 6 of the pyramid (either National League North or National League South ), and at the bottom end of the competition, teams are relegated down to level 9, where several regional feeder leagues promote clubs into the league. The Northern Premier League (NPL)
792-562: The NLS, the NPL's additional division was created in 2021 instead. Owing to title sponsorship deals, the league has been billed under various names, including a sixteen-year spell as the Unibond League, the longest such deal in world football. When this deal ended in 2010, a new deal was announced which saw the competition billed as the Evo-Stik League until the 2017–18 season. The League announced on 8 July 2019 that
836-570: The South are now enrolled in the ranks of the Southern League". Two Southern League clubs, Southampton (in 1900 and 1902 ) and Tottenham Hotspur (in 1901 ) reached the final of the FA Cup around the turn of the twentieth century. Tottenham Hotspur remain the only club from outside the Football League (and since its inception, also the Premier League) to have won the FA Cup. Several of
880-549: The Southern League sides began to seriously rival the Football League in the FA Cup. A preview of the 1900–01 season in the Daily News described the league as "now, without a doubt, second only in importance and the strength of its clubs to the Football League itself. With the exception of Woolwich Arsenal, who prefer to remain members of the Second Division of the Football League, all the best professional teams in
924-401: The Southern League's status as a semi-professional league was firmly established. In 1977, Wimbledon became the last Southern League club to successfully achieve election into the Football League. 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 Alliance Premier League along with the Isthmian League and
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#1732787208758968-668: The best players in England moved from the Football League to the Southern League around this time, due to the restrictions on their freedom of movement and wages implemented by the Football League between 1893 and 1901, and the failed efforts of the Association Footballers' Union (the AFU) to relax the restrictions. This ended in 1910 when the League came to a reciprocal agreement with the Football League. The champions of
1012-663: The first round of Qualification. The league currently runs one cup competition, with all member clubs competing in the League Challenge Cup. In the past, the league has run other competitions, such as the Chairman's Cup, the President's Cup and the Peter Swales Shield. The 2019–20 season was terminated on 26 March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic ; the teams listed here were in first place in
1056-455: 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 due to the club's existing membership of The Football League. The Southern League soon became the dominant competition below The Football League in Southern and Central England, and by the turn of the century a few of
1100-525: The league covers all of Northern England and the northern, central areas of the Midlands , and western parts of East Anglia. Originally a single-division competition, a second division was added in 1987 : Division One , and in 2007 a third was added when Division One split into two geographic sections - Division One North and Division One South. In 2018 Division One was re-aligned as East and West Divisions, then North West and South East in 2019. In 2021,
1144-469: The league's formation in 1894, the following clubs have won promotion to higher levels of the English football league system - Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system . Geographically,
1188-537: The league. In 2018, the NPL's member clubs voted 37–27, with one abstention and three clubs' absence, to split Step 4 (level 8) divisions from east to west starting from the 2018–19 season, and one year later, the league published its successful bid to add another division at Step 4 initially in 2020, further altering Division One into northwest and southeast for travel reasons. After the Football Association (FA) deferred its implementation of changes to
1232-399: The level of the NPL from Northern England , the National League System (NLS) Committee can order one or more of the NPL's southernmost clubs to transfer to the Southern League (or vice versa) to maintain numerical balance between the leagues. Division One North West and South East teams receive a bye to the preliminary round of FA Cup Qualification. Premier Division teams receive a bye to
1276-471: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SFL&oldid=1232123203 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia,
1320-567: The most southerly locales could be relegated to the Southern League Division One Central. From the 2019–20 season, Division One North West and South East have 20 clubs each. In each division, the champions are promoted to the Premier Division, along with the winners of a divisional playoff. The bottom two clubs in each division are relegated to one of the feeder leagues below provided there are enough suitable promotion candidates from those leagues. The champions of
1364-527: 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 1999–2000 season, the regional divisions were renamed the Eastern and Western divisions. For the 2006–07 season, the two regional divisions were renamed Division One Midlands and Division One South & West. For
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1408-683: The next two decades, the NPL successfully displaced its older rival to become the pre-eminent regional competition in Northern England, with the Northern League eventually forced to accept status as feeder league to the NPL. In 1979, upon the creation of the Alliance Premier League (which later became the Conference and is now the National League), the NPL became a feeder league and fell down one level in
1452-471: 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 World War II . For
1496-479: The past winners of the Southern League. Winners to 1993 source: 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 1899–1900 season, the league reverted to the old format, after all the members of the South-West section resigned. For the 1909–10 season, Division Two was split into an 'A' section and
1540-408: The standings at the time of the termination, but were not recognised as champions. The 2020–21 season was also terminated on 24 February 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic; the teams listed here were in first place in the standings at the time of the termination, but were not recognised as champions. Since the league's formation in 1968, the following clubs have won promotion to higher levels of
1584-419: The three Trident Leagues, alongside its Isthmian and Southern counterparts. Since 2021, the NPL has had four divisions: the Premier Division, Division One Midlands, Division One West and Division One East. Prior to 2007 there was just a single Division One, and from 2018 to 2021 Division One was arranged on a north-south, then east-west basis. The Premier Division has 22 clubs, with the champions promoted to
1628-857: The three feeder leagues covering the NPL area are promoted each season. These are the Northern League , the Northern Counties East League , and the North West Counties League . Clubs in the northern extremities of the Midland League and the United Counties League may also be promoted to the Northern Premier League. Should there be an unusually large or small number of clubs relegated to and/or promoted to
1672-602: The time. Stalybridge Celtic and Stoke also joined before the First World War. 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
1716-461: The two leagues during this period met in 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 top level national honour. Up until World War I , the league also organised several representative 'inter-league' matches, against
1760-464: 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 clubs from
1804-552: Was first sanctioned by The Football Association as early as 1885, but when The Football League was founded in 1888 its member clubs were based entirely in the North and Midlands , as the county football associations in the South were 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
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1848-493: Was founded in 1968 , as the northern equivalent of the Southern League , decades after the other two leagues at what is now the seventh tier of the English football league system , the Isthmian League and the Southern League. At that time they were the highest level non-League division below the English Football League , the same level as the other league in Northern England, the Northern League . Over
1892-418: 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 for the idea, that eventually two divisions were formed. The sixteen original founder members were: 2nd Scots Guards withdrew before
1936-429: Was terminated on 26 March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic ; the teams listed here were in first place in the standings at the time of the termination, but were not recognised as champions. The 2020–21 season was also terminated on 24 February 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic; the teams listed here were in first place in the standings at the time of the termination, but were not recognised as champions. Since
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