Leicestershire Senior League
Founded1896
CountryEngland
DivisionsPremier Division
Division One
Division Two
Number of teams40
Level on pyramidLevels 11 (Premier Division)
Feeder toUnited Counties League
Promotion toUnited Counties League Division One
Domestic cup(s)FA Vase
Current championsRugby Borough (Premier Division)
FC Wymeswold (Division One)
North Kilworth Sports (Division Two)
(2018–19)
WebsiteFA Full-Time

The Leicestershire Senior League (currently sponsored by Everards Brewery) is a football competition based in Leicestershire, England.

History

The league was formed in 1896,[1] had a two-year hiatus between 1901 and 1903, and has run continuously since 1903 apart from during the two world wars and a four-year spell in the 1930s.[2] A second division was added in 1948.[1]

The longest serving team in the league was Holwell Sports, who completed 76 seasons in the league, 60 of them in the top division[3] but left in 2008 to join the new East Midlands Counties Football League.

Current structure

The league currently has three divisions, the Premier Division, Division One and Division Two (increased from 2 divisions ahead of the 2018–19 season), and is a feeder to the United Counties League. It fed the East Midlands Counties Football League until its dissolution in 2021. The Football Association classified the Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division as Step 7, due to the quality of football played and the standard of the grounds on which teams play. The First Division is therefore not part of the NLS, meaning that clubs in that division are not eligible to take part in the FA Vase. An application to re-grade the Premier Division to Step 6 was turned down by the FA in 2006. Step 7 was later abolished and the Premier Division was re-classified as an NLS county feeder.

For the 2008–09 season, eight of the leading sides left the league to join forces with eight clubs from the Central Midlands League to form a new league, the East Midlands Counties Football League, at Step 6 of the National League System. That league is now defunct.

Champions

The champions of the league's top division since its creation have been as follows:[4]

2022–23 members

Premier Division (17 teams)

Division One (15 teams)

  • AFC North Kilworth
  • Anstey Town
  • Ashby Ivanhoe Knights
  • Aylestone Park Reserves
  • Barlestone St Giles
  • Barrow Town Reserves
  • Birstall United Social Reserves
  • Dunton & Broughton United
  • Earl Shilton Albion
  • Fleckney Athletic
  • Holwell Sports Reserves
  • Ingles Reserves
  • Kibworth Town
  • Kirby Muxloe Reserves
  • Sporting Markfield

Division Two (13 teams)

  • Anstey Nomads Reserves
  • Blaby & Whetstone Reserves
  • Bottesford
  • Desford & Caterpillar Reserves
  • Hinckley LRFC Reserves
  • Leicester Atletico
  • Loughborough
  • Lutterworth Town Reserves
  • Rothley Imperial
  • Rugby Borough Development
  • Sileby Town Reserves
  • St Andrews Reserves
  • Sutton Bonington

References

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