The Wearside Football League is a non-league football competition based in northern England. It consists of four divisions, the uppermost of which sits at step 7 of the National League System (level 11 of the Football pyramid) and is a feeder to the Northern League Division Two.
Founded in 1892, the Wearside League's level has fluctuated in its history, though it has typically sat below the Northern League. The league's high point was probably during the 1960s and 70s after several teams from the defunct North Eastern League joined it; Wearside League teams won the FA Vase in 1978 and 1981. With the restructuring of the National League System in the early 2000s its place at step 7 became fully established, helped by a merger with the Durham Alliance Combination League in 2017. The league has expanded and contracted its number of divisions over the years, and as of 2021-22 consists of three divisions.
Although centred on Wearside and County Durham, the league has contained teams from Tyneside as well, with some geographical overlap with the Northern Football Alliance at the leagues' borders. Teams from Northern Cumbria and North Yorkshire also compete in the league. The league also operates three cup competitions: the Monkwearmouth Charity Cup and the Shipowners' Charity Cup, both of which have been contested since the 1890s, and the League Challenge Cup, which came into being in the 1930s.
History The Wearside League came into being in 1892 at the instigation of Charles Kirtley, secretary of Sunderland Swifts. In June 1892, a letter written by Kirtley was published in the Sunderland Daily Post and The Herald in which he stated that he had been asked by several club secretaries about the possibility of forming an organisation to play home-and-home matches, so as to find out which was the best amateur team. A similar letter was published in the Sunderland Daily Echo. At a meeting soon afterwards at the Central Coffee Tavern, eleven clubs agreed to form a league, which commenced playing later that year.
During the early years of the league most teams were extremely hard-up, and the league's archive records that one early club had no pitch but instead played on the sands by Sunderland Docks, and another had to play with an old rugby ball as they could not afford an association football ball. By the 20th century, however, the league was better off and was even able to organise matches to benefit local charities during World War I. After the Great War, the league was dominated for many years by colliery welfare teams – in the 1930s every league title was won by a pit team and the mining clubs continued to dominate right through to the 1970s, although an increasing number began to experience financial difficulties from the 1950s onwards due to shrinking workforces at the mines.
In 1964 the North Eastern League was disbanded and a number of its former teams joined the Wearside League. Around this time the team of the 24th Signal Regiment spent one season in the league but then had to withdraw as most of their players were posted overseas. In 1978 Blue Star became the first Wearside League club to reach the final of the FA Vase, and went on to win the trophy, the start of a run of success which would ultimately see them progress much higher up the non-league ranks. Three years later Whickham repeated the feat and also soon moved up to higher leagues. More recently, clubs such as Darlington Railway Athletic, North Shields, Newton Aycliffe, Ryhope Colliery Welfare and Willington have successfully moved up to the Northern League.
Member clubs for 2026–27 season Source:
Premier Division Annfield Plain Barnard Castle Belmont United Brandon United Durham Corinthians Easington Lane Esh Winning & Deerness Valley Ferryhill Athletic Gateshead Leam Rangers Hartlepool Pools Youth Richmond Town Shotton Colliery Silksworth Colliery Welfare South Moor Washington West Auckland Reserves Willington Windscale
First Division Consett Blackfyne Coxhoe Athletic Darlington U23 Darlington Railway Athletic Reserves Durham City Easington Lane Reserves FC Hartlepool Reserves Gateshead Leam Rangers Reserves Hilda Park Jarrow Reserves Middlestone Moor Shildon Railway Wolviston Wynyard Village
Second Division Billingham Synthonia Reserves Boldon Community Association Reserves Consett Reserves Crook Town Youth Durham Corinthians Development Esh Winning & Deerness Valley Reserves Ferryhill Town Youth Gateshead Kurdish Newton Aycliffe YFC Peterlee Town South Moor Reserves Spennymoor Town Youth Sunderland Albion Sunderland RCA Reserves Washington Athletic Washington Reserves Wingate
Third Division Billingham United Brandon Community Youth Chester-le-Street United Deerness Valley Reserves Durham County Colts Durham United Youth East Durham Reds Gateshead Fell Hartlepool St. Francis Heighington New Durham Shotton Colliery Reserves South Tyneside Tees Reserves Waldridge Park Wearside Whitburn & Cleadon
Past champions This is a list of champions since World War II. SeasonChampions1945–46Birtley Town1946–47Seaham Colliery Welfare1947–48Easington Colliery Welfare1948–49Easington Colliery Welfare1949–50South Hetton1950–51Sunderland 'A'1951–52Sunderland 'A'1952–53Boldon Community Association1953–54Shotton Colliery Welfare1954–55Boldon Community Association1955–56Shotton Colliery Welfare1956–57Shotton Colliery Welfare1957–58Silksworth Colliery Welfare1958–59Langley Park Colliery Welfare1959–60Murton Colliery Welfare1960–61Shotton Colliery Welfare1961–62Ryhope Colliery Welfare1962–63Ryhope Colliery Welfare1963–64Ryhope Colliery Welfare1964–65Horden Colliery Welfare1965–66Ryhope Colliery Welfare1966–67Reyrolle1967–68Horden Colliery Welfare1968–69Darlington Reserves1969–70Horden Colliery Welfare1970–71Horden Colliery Welfare1971–72Horden Colliery Welfare1972–73Horden Colliery Welfare1973–74Blue Star Welfare1974–75Boldon Community Association1975–76Blue Star Welfare1976–77South Shields1977–78Whickham1978–79Wallsend Town1979–80Hartlepool United Reserves1980–81Chester-le-Street Town1981–82Seaham Colliery Welfare Red Star1982–83Blue Star1983–84Blue Star1984–85Blue Star1985–86Coundon TT1986–87Annfield Plain1987–88Whickham1988–89Dunston Federation Brewery1989–90Dunston Federation Brewery1990–91Eppleton Colliery Welfare1991–92Eppleton Colliery Welfare1992–93South Shields1993–94Hartlepool Town1994–95South Shields1995–96Marske United1996–97Boldon Community Association1997–98Annfield Plain1998–99North Shields Athletic1999–2000Nissan2000–01Nissan2001–02North Shields2002–03Birtley Town2003–04North Shields2004–05Darlington Railway Athletic2005–06Whitehaven2006–07Birtley Town2007–08New Marske Sports Club 2008–09Newton Aycliffe2009–10Scarborough Town2010–11Ryhope Colliery Welfare2011–12Ryhope Colliery Welfare2012–13Stockton Town2013–14Stockton Town2014–15Stockton Town2015–16Stockton Town2016–17Jarrow2017–18Redcar Athletic2018-19Hebburn Town Reserves2019-20Season expunged due to COVID-19 pandemic2020-21Boldon Community Association2021-22Darlington Town2022-23FC Hartlepool2023-24Darlington Town2024–25Durham United2025-26 Seaton Carew
References
External links Official League site