| Midland Football Combination | |
| Founded: | 1927 |
| Folded: | 2014 |
| Feeds: | Midland Football Alliance |
| Divisions: | 3 (not including Reserve Divisions) |
| Level: | Levels 10–12 |
| League Cup: | President's Cup Challenge Vase Challenge Urn Challenge Trophy Jack Mould Trophy Challenge Bowl |
| Champions: | Brocton |
| Season: | 2013–14 |
| Most Champs: | Evesham United (6) |
The Midland Football Combination was an English football league covering parts of the West Midlands. It comprised five divisions, a Premier Division, Divisions One and Two and two Reserves Divisions. The league was one of three official feeder leagues to the Midland Football Alliance.
Prior to 2006, the Premier Division was defined as step 7 in the National League System, even though it fed into the step 5 Midland Alliance.[1] In 2006, it was re-graded as step 6,[2] making teams in the top two divisions eligible to take part in the FA Vase and teams in the top division eligible to enter the FA Cup. The league merged with the Midland Football Alliance in 2014 to form the new Midland Football League.
The league was founded in 1927 as the Worcestershire Combination. The ten founder members were Oldbury Town, Stourbridge Reserves, Kidderminster Harriers Reserves, Bewdley, Blackheath Town, Halesowen Labour, Highley Colliers, Old Carolians, Stewart & Lloyds (Bilston) and Cookley St Peters. By the 1929–30 season four of the founding clubs had dropped out and the league had been reduced to just six teams, with the result that it held two separate competitions within the one season to bulk out the fixture list, but it then gained eight new teams and continued to expand.
The league changed its name to the Midland Combination in 1968 to reflect the drawing of clubs from a wider area.
In the 2007–08 season, the league's representative team, drawn from clubs in Division One, reached the final of the FA National League System Cup.[3]
Initially the league consisted of a single division
| Season | Champions[4] | |
|---|---|---|
| 1927–28 | Blackheath Town | |
| 1928–29 | Blackheath Town |
| Season | First series | Second series | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1929–30 | Halesowen Labour | Dudley Town |
| Season | Champions[5] | |
|---|---|---|
| 1930–31 | Halesowen Labour | |
| 1931–32 | Dudley Town | |
| 1932–33 | Tarmac | |
| 1933–34 | Woodside Wanderers | |
| 1934–35 | Catshill Village Hall | |
| 1935–36 | Lye Town | |
| 1936–37 | Catshill Village Hall | |
| 1937–38 | Catshill Village Hall | |
| 1938–39 | Catshill Village Hall |
| Season | Champions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1948–49 | Jack Mould's Athletic | |
| 1949–50 | Bourneville Athletic | |
| 1950–51 | Jack Mould's Athletic | |
| 1951–52 | Walsall Wood | |
| 1952–53 | Evesham United | |
| 1953–54 | Brierley Hill Alliance Reserves | |
| 1954–55 | Evesham United | |
| 1955–56 | Malvern Town | |
| 1956–57 | Stratford Town | |
| 1957–58 | Wolverhampton Wanderers 'B' | |
| 1958–59 | Shelfield Athletic | |
| 1959–60 | Paget Rangers | |
| 1960–61 | Paget Rangers |
| Season | Division One | Division Two[6] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961–62 | Allens Cross | Allens Cross Reserves | |
| 1962–63 | Alvechurch | Hall Green Amateurs | |
| 1963–64 | Hall Green Amateurs | Castle Rovers | |
| 1964–65 | Alvechurch | Hall Green Amateurs Reserves | |
| 1965–66 | Evesham United | Alvechurch Reserves | |
| 1966–67 | Alvechurch | Highgate United Reserves | |
| 1967–68 | Evesham United | Whitmore Old Boys |
| Season | Division One | Division Two | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968–69 | Evesham United | Highgate United Reserves | |
| 1969–70 | Paget Rangers | Coleshill Town | |
| 1970–71 | Paget Rangers | Solihull Town | |
| 1971–72 | Alvechurch | Highgate United Reserves | |
| 1972–73 | Highgate United | Albion Haden United | |
| 1973–74 | Highgate United | Astwood Bank Rovers | |
| 1974–75 | Highgate United | Whitmore Old Boys | |
| 1975–76 | Northfield Town | Whitmore Old Boys | |
| 1976–77 | Blakenall | Astwood Bank Rovers | |
| 1977–78 | Sutton Coldfield Town | Hurley Daw Mill Welfare | |
| 1978–79 | Sutton Coldfield Town | Stafford |
| Season | Division One | Division Two | Division Three[7] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | Bridgnorth Town | Hurley Daw Mill Welfare | Sheldon Promovere | |
| 1980–81 | Moor Green | Sheldon Promovere | Southam United | |
| 1981–82 | Chipping Norton Town | Bedworth United Reserves | Paget Rangers Reserves | |
| 1982–83 | Bridgnorth Town | Studley Sporting | Bridgnorth Town Reserves |
| Season | Premier Division | Division One[8] | Division Two | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983–84 | Studley Sporting | New World | Kingswinford Town | |
| 1984–85 | Mile Oak Rovers | Cheltenham Town Reserves | Bolehall Swifts | |
| 1985–86 | Boldmere St Michaels | Moor Green Reserves | Stratford Town Reserves | |
| 1986–87 | Stratford Town | Wilmcote | Bromsgrove Athletic | |
| 1987–88 | Racing Club Warwick | West Midlands Fire Service | ||
| 1988–89 | Boldmere St Michaels | Bloxwich | Upton Town | |
| 1989–90 | Boldmere St Michaels | Stapenhill Reserves | Pershore Town | |
| 1990–91 | West Midlands Police | Badsey Rangers | ||
| 1991–92 | Evesham United | Marston Green | ||
| 1992–93 | Armitage 90 | Wellesbourne | Ansells |
For the 1993–94 season Division Three was added.
| Season | Premier Division | Division One | Division Two | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continental Star | Aston | |||
| Walsall Wood | Barnt Green Spartak | |||
| Brocton | Kenilworth Town |
The teams that competed in the Combination's first team divisions in the 2013–14 season were as follows:
Each division other than the Premier had its own knockout competition, Division One competing for the President's Cup, Division Two for the Challenge Vase, Division Three for the Challenge Urn, and the Reserve Division for the Challenge Trophy. There were also other cup competitions run by the Midland Football Combination for its members including the Jack Mould Trophy and the Challenge Bowl.