The Football Combination Explained

Country:
Founded:1915
Folded:2012

The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is not to be confused with the Combination, a league for teams from North West England which existed at the turn of the 20th century).

History

The Combination was inaugurated in 1915 with twelve founder members: Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Clapton Orient, Croydon Common, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford and West Ham United. First team matches were played until 1919, from when Reserve teams took over. Croydon Common and Watford dropped out and were replaced with Charlton Athletic and Southend United.

Up to 1926 it was known as the London Combination, but from the 1926–27 season, ten clubs from outside the London area were admitted and the name became something of a misnomer. The new clubs were: Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City, Coventry City, Leicester City, Luton Town, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Swansea Town and Watford (re-admitted).

From the early 1930s to the outbreak of World War II, 24 clubs were in membership, with Aldershot, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, Bristol City, Northampton Town, Norwich City and Swindon Town joining at various times and others resigning. Following the resumption post-war in 1946, the number of clubs was increased to 32, the title changed to Football Combination and it was re-organised into two Sections A and B, with the winners playing-off for the Championship. A Combination Cup was also inaugurated to increase the number of fixtures played.

A number of changes to the constitution took place in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1952–53 promotion and relegation were introduced, as the Combination was split into two Divisions, 1 and 2, with the top eight from Sections A and B of the previous season forming Division 1, and the bottom eight in each forming Division 2. This was short-lived and in 1955–56 a new format of one Division of 32 clubs was introduced, with teams playing 42 matches on a geographical basis. The Combination Cup was discontinued.

Promotion and relegation returned for 1958–59 in two Divisions, based on the level of the first team of each club in the Football League, i.e. the top two Divisions of the Football League played in Division 1 of the Combination, and Division 3 and 4 teams were placed in Division 2. In 1961–62 things changed again and the Combination was re-organised into a Saturday Section and a Midweek Section, with a play-off for the title.

For 1963–64 the Combination reverted to Divisions 1 and 2, with the Saturday Section becoming Division 1 and the Midweek Section becoming Division 2, and promotion/relegation was reintroduced. The decline in numbers led to the reintroduction of the Combination Cup in 1966–67, and by 1968–69 the Combination was down to one Division of 26 teams.[1]

For a time in the 1990s and early 2000s the league was sponsored by Avon Insurance,[2] a subsidiary of NFU Mutual.

Demise

The Combination originally included reserve teams of top League clubs within the region, but in 1999 the FA Premier Reserve League was founded. The reserve teams of the FA Premier League clubs and some First Division clubs joined that competition, reducing the size of the Combination (however, in 2006, Premier League clubs voted that only the 20 top-tier teams would be able to play in this league, which meant several well-established reserve sides moving to the Combination).

The 2011–12 season was the last in the history of the Combination, with the introduction of the EPPP making the league surplus to requirements.

Champions

SeasonRef
1915–16Chelsea[3]
1916–17West Ham United
1917–18Chelsea
1918–19Brentford
1919–20Tottenham Hotspur
1920–21West Ham United
1921–22Tottenham Hotspur
1922–23Arsenal
1923–24West Ham United
1924–25West Ham United
1925–26Tottenham Hotspur
1926–27Arsenal
1927–28Arsenal
1928–29Arsenal
1929–30Arsenal
1930–31Arsenal
1931–32Brentford
1932–33Brentford[4]
1933–34Arsenal
1934–35Arsenal
1935–36Portsmouth
1936–37Arsenal
1937–38Arsenal
1938–39Arsenal
1939–46Not held
1946–47Arsenal
1947–48West Ham United
1948–49Chelsea
1949–50Charlton Athletic
1950–51Arsenal
1951–52Reading
1952–53Tottenham Hotspur
1953–54West Ham United
1954–55Chelsea
1955–56Tottenham Hotspur
1956–57Tottenham Hotspur
1957–58Chelsea
1958–59Leicester City
1959–60Chelsea
1960–61Chelsea
1961–62Tottenham Hotspur
1962–63Arsenal
1963–64Tottenham Hotspur
1964–65Chelsea
1965–66Tottenham Hotspur
1966–67Tottenham Hotspur
1967–68Tottenham Hotspur
1968–69Arsenal
1969–70Arsenal
1970–71Tottenham Hotspur
1971–72Tottenham Hotspur
1972–73Ipswich Town[5]
1973–74AFC Bournemouth[6]
1974–75Chelsea
1975–76Ipswich Town
1976–77Chelsea
1977–78West Ham United
1978–79Tottenham Hotspur
1979–80Tottenham Hotspur
1980–81Southampton
1981–82Queens Park Rangers
1982–83Queens Park Rangers
1983–84Arsenal
1984–85Chelsea
1985–86West Ham United
1986–87Tottenham Hotspur
1987–88Tottenham Hotspur
1988–89Tottenham Hotspur
1989–90Arsenal
1990–91Chelsea
1991–92Southampton
1992–93Millwall
1993–94Chelsea
1994–95Tottenham Hotspur[7]
1995–96Queens Park Rangers
1996–97Wimbledon
1997–98Charlton Athletic
1998–99Charlton Athletic
1999–2000Millwall
2000–01Fulham
2001–02Queens Park Rangers
2002–03Crystal Palace
SeasonCentral & East DivisionWales & West Division
2003–04ReadingCardiff City
2004–05Luton TownCardiff City
SeasonCentral DivisionEast DivisionWales & West Division
2005–06ReadingLuton TownCheltenham Town
2006–07Brighton & Hove AlbionIpswich TownCheltenham Town
2007–08SouthamptonIpswich TownBristol City
2008–09ReadingLuton TownPlymouth Argyle
2009–10Brighton & Hove AlbionWatfordExeter City

Other Divisions

Various other Divisions were utilised in the 1940s to 1960s to accommodate the number of member clubs.

Season Section A Section B
1946–47Portsmouth
1947–48Arsenal West Ham United
1948–49Arsenal Chelsea
1949–50Fulham[8] Charlton Athletic
1950–51Arsenal Chelsea
1951–52ReadingTottenham Hotspur
Season Division 2
1952–53N/A
1953–54N/A
1954–55N/A
1955–58Not held
1958–59Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
1959–60Watford
1960–61Swansea Town
1961–63Not held
1963–64Chelsea
1964–65Southampton
1965–66Reading
1966–67Walsall
1967–68Bristol City
Season Saturday Midweek
1961–62Tottenham HotspurLeyton Orient
1962–63ArsenalChelsea

Combination Cup

The Combination also operated a cup competition in various seasons to give the member clubs extra fixtures.

Winners

SeasonWinners
1946–47Swansea Town
1947–48Leicester City
1948–49Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
1949–50Swansea Town
1950–51Charlton Athletic
1951–52Southampton
1952–53Arsenal
1953–54West Ham United
1954–55Southampton
1966–67Leicester/Tottenham jointly
1967–68Arsenal
1968–69Southampton
1969–70Arsenal
2008–09Crystal Palace, Reading

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Information above comes from Chelsea Handbook 1951-52, and various Tottenham Hotspur programmes and handbooks from the 1950s and 1960s.
  2. Web site: Avon strikes footie deal. 2000-08-03. Insurance Times. en. 2019-05-11.
  3. Book: 100 Years Of Brentford . Brentford FC . 1989 . 0951526200 . White . Eric . 363.
  4. Book: Haynes, Graham. A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopedia. 1998. Yore Publications. 1-874427-57-7. Harefield, Middlesex. 83.
  5. The Football Combination Handbook 1973-74 lists all the winners noted above.
  6. [Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]
  7. http://thechels.info/wiki/Football_Combination. The Chelsea wiki lists all the winners from 1980-1995 and has league tables for all the years Chelsea were involved in.
  8. Arsenal Handbook 1950/51 at https://thearsenalcollection.org.uk/?page_id=40594