The Midland Football League was a semi-professional football league in England. It acted as a feeder league to the Football League for many years before merging with the Yorkshire League in 1982 to form the Northern Counties East League.
History Founded in 1889, only one year after the Football League, the Midland League was the second league for professional clubs to be formed. Eleven clubs participated in the first season, 1889–90, four of whom (including the first champions, Lincoln City) would go on to achieve Football League status. The eleven founder members came from six counties.
In the early days of the Midland League, a number of the champion clubs were elected to the Football League, and in return, League clubs who failed to be re-elected were often accepted by the Midland League. Lincoln City and Doncaster Rovers both had a number of spells in both the Football League and Midland League.
With the larger professional clubs becoming stronger, they looked to place their reserve sides in the Midland League, Derby County being the first in 1894–95. Within less than a decade, more than half of the membership of the Midland League was made up of reserve teams.
Along with most other leagues, the Midland League closed down for the duration of World War I. When football resumed in 1919–20, the Midland League began to take on a different look. Three clubs (Chesterfield, Halifax Town and Lincoln City) joined the Football League when that organisation expanded to form a Third Division North, and the reserve sides of Football League clubs gradually left. More Midland League clubs progressed to the Football League, e.g. York City in 1929, and Mansfield Town in 1931.
Again, on the outbreak of World War II, the Midland League closed down, and resumed again in peacetime in 1945. After reaching a constitution of 24 clubs in 1946–47, the league entered a decade of stability. Peterborough United won the title for five consecutive seasons from 1955–56 to 1959–60. With most of the remaining Football League clubs reserve sides leaving in 1958, the league was reduced to a rump of just nine clubs, but was saved when the North Eastern League, a competition which had also suffered from the withdrawal of reserve sides, decided to disband, and the Midland League accepted into membership a number of north eastern sides, well to the north of its usual catchment area.
However, this lifeline was to prove short lived. A new league, the Northern Counties League, was formed in 1960 and all the former North Eastern League clubs moved to the new competition. Peterborough United were elected to the Football League (the last Midland League club to achieve this feat), and the Midland League closed down through lack of numbers.
After a single year without a Midland League, a re-formed competition entitled the Midland Counties League was formed, although common practice was still to refer to it as the "Midland League" and it is usually treated as a continuation of the former competition in reference sources. A few of the previous member clubs re-joined, with a number of new members, principally from the Central Alliance. With the formation of the Northern Premier League in 1968, the Midland League lost four of its most successful clubs, but by now the competition was a strong league again and more clubs were looking to join than the league had vacancies. To cater for this, the league formed a second division in 1975–76. This division became "Division One" while the previous clubs formed the "Premier Division". Clubs had to achieve a high level of facilities to join the Premier Division, and in the seven seasons in which the two division format was used, no clubs were actually able to move from the lower to the upper tier.
When senior football in the north of England was rationalised in 1982, the Midland League was one of those affected. The league closed down, merging with the Yorkshire League to form the Northern Counties East League as a feeder league to the Northern Premier League.
Former member clubs
Honours SeasonChampions1889–90Lincoln City1890–91Gainsborough Trinity1891–92Rotherham Town1892–93Rotherham Town1893–94Burton Wanderers1894–95Loughborough1895–96Kettering1896–97Doncaster Rovers1897–98Mexborough1898–99Doncaster Rovers1899–1900Kettering1900–01Sheffield United reserves1901–02Barnsley reserves1902–03Sheffield Wednesday reserves1903–04Sheffield United reserves1904–05Sheffield United reserves1905–06Sheffield Wednesday reserves1906–07Sheffield United reserves1907–08Sheffield Wednesday reserves1908–09Lincoln City1909–10Chesterfield Town1910–11Grimsby Town1911–12Rotherham County1912–13Rotherham County1913–14Rotherham County1914–15Rotherham County1915–16No competition due to World War I1916–17No competition due to World War I1917–18No competition due to World War I1918–19No competition due to World War I1919–20Chesterfield Municipal1920–21Lincoln City1921–22Worksop Town1922–23Sheffield Wednesday reserves1923–24Mansfield Town1924–25Mansfield Town1925–26Mexborough Athletic1926–27Scunthorpe & Lindsey United1927–28Gainsborough Trinity1928–29Mansfield Town1929–30Scarborough1930–31Grimsby Town reserves1931–32Bradford Park Avenue reserves1932–33Grimsby Town reserves1933–34Grimsby Town reserves1934–35Barnsley reserves1935–36Barnsley reserves1936–37Barnsley reserves1937–38Shrewsbury Town1938–39Scunthorpe & Lindsey United1939–40Not finished due to outbreak of World War II1940–41Not played due to World War II1941–42Not played due to World War II1942–43Not played due to World War II1943–44Not played due to World War II1944–45Not played due to World War II1945–46Shrewsbury Town1946–47Grimsby Town reserves1947–48Shrewsbury Town1948–49Gainsborough Trinity1949–50Nottingham Forest reserves1950–51Nottingham Forest reserves1951–52Nottingham Forest reserves1952–53Nottingham Forest reserves1953–54Nottingham Forest reserves1954–55Notts County reserves1955–56Peterborough United1956–57Peterborough United1957–58Peterborough United1958–59Peterborough United1959–60Peterborough United1960–61Not played due to financial problems1961–62Matlock Town1962–83Loughborough United1963–64Grantham1964–65Lockheed Leamington1965–66Worksop Town1966–67Gainsborough Trinity1967–68Ilkeston Town1968–69Matlock Town1969–70Alfreton Town1970–71Grantham1971–72Grantham1972–73Worksop Town1973–74Alfreton Town1974–75Boston SeasonPremier DivisionFirst Division1975–76Eastwood TownBrimington1976–77Alfreton TownLong Eaton Grange1977–78Brigg TownStaveley Works1978–79BostonLong Eaton Grange1979–80Belper TownArnold Kingswell1980–81BostonBorrowash Victoria1981–82Shepshed CharterhouseStaveley Works
Election to the Football League The following clubs (with their league position in brackets) were elected from the Midland League to the Football League - 1891–92 – Burslem Port Vale (3rd) 1892–93 – Rotherham Town (1st) 1893–94 – Burton Wanderers (1st) and Leicester Fosse (2nd) 1894–95 – Loughborough Town (1st) 1895–96 – Gainsborough Trinity (2nd) and Walsall (3rd) 1897–98 – Barnsley (2nd), Burslem Port Vale (5th) and Glossop North End (9th) 1898–99 – Chesterfield (4th) 1900–01 – Doncaster Rovers (2nd) 1903–04 – Doncaster Rovers (11th) 1904–05 – Stockport County (11th) 1908–09 – Lincoln City (1st) 1909–10 – Huddersfield Town (5th) 1910–11 – Grimsby Town (1st) 1914–15 – Rotherham County (1st) 1919–20 – Leeds United (12th) 1920–21 – Lincoln City (1st), Chesterfield (3rd) and Halifax Town (11th) 1922–23 – Doncaster Rovers (2nd) 1928–29 – York City (9th) 1930–31 – Mansfield Town (10th) 1949–50 – Scunthorpe & Lindsey United (3rd) and Shrewsbury Town (10th) 1959–60 – Peterborough United (1st)
League Cup finals
Premier Division Note - from 1968–69 to 1974–75, this competition was simply called the Midland League Cup. SeasonWinnersResultRunners-upVenue1968–69Grantham3 – 2 (agg)ArnoldTwo legs1969–70Warley3 – 2 (agg)Heanor TownTwo legs1970–71Grantham4 – 2 (agg)ArnoldTwo legs1971–72Alfreton Town3 – 0 (agg)Worksop TownTwo legs1972–73Alfreton Town5 – 1 (agg)Eastwood TownTwo legs1973–74Alfreton Town3 – 1 (agg)Worksop TownTwo legs1974–75Arnold2 – 1 (agg)Eastwood TownTwo legs1975–76Frickley Athletic6 – 5 (agg)BostonTwo legs1976–77Boston2 – 1 (agg)Alfreton TownTwo legs1977–78Eastwood Town4 – 1 (agg)Alfreton TownTwo legs1978–79Appleby Frodingham5 – 4 (agg)Skegness TownTwo legs1979–80Eastwood Town6 – 2 (agg)Brigg TownTwo legs1980–81Bridlington Trinity9 – 1 (agg)ArnoldTwo legs1981–82Shepshed Charterhouse5 – 2 (agg)BostonTwo legs
Division One SeasonWinnersResultRunners-upVenue1975–76Brimington1976–77Staveley Works1977–78T.I. Chesterfield1978–791979–80Oakham United1980–81Borrowash Victoria1981–82Creswell Colliery6 – 5 (agg)Graham Street PrimsTwo legs
References