The Amateur Football Combination (AFC) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

based in and around

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and the

Home Counties The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often inc ...

, and is believed to be the biggest adult football league in Europe.

History

The Amateur Football Combination is one of the biggest adult football leagues in Europe, with around 75 clubs and 200 teams playing Saturday afternoons in and around London and the Home Counties from September through to May, and comprises more than 1% of adult male 11-a-side football teams in England. The AFC is an adult male league affiliated to the

Amateur Football Alliance The Amateur Football Alliance is a county football association in England. It is unusual among county FAs in not serving a particular geographical area. It was founded in 1906 as the Amateur Football Defence Council, was briefly known as the Ama ...

(AFA), with clubs that also compete from

London FA The London Football Association (LFA) is the regional Football Association for inner areas of London. The London FA was established in 1882 and is affiliated to The Football Association. The London FA administers all levels of men's, women's and ...

Middlesex FA The Middlesex Football Association is an organisation that regulates and promotes football, aiming to increase the quantity and quality of participation in the historic area of Middlesex. History The Middlesex F.A. was founded in 1883 by the Footb ...

and Surrey FA, and was formed in 2002 by the merger of the Old Boys' Football League (1907) and Southern Olympian League (1911) and subsequently merging with the London Financial Football Association (itself comprising the London Banks Football Association, 1900 and the London Insurance Football Association, 1908) in 2006.

AFC Membership

Clubs and club members include "

Old Boys The terms Old Boys and Old Girls are the usual expressions in use in the United Kingdom for former pupils of primary and secondary schools.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While these are traditionally associated with independent schools, they are ...

" sides,

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

and businesses, as well as

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

League Structure

The league is divided into four sections using a pyramid system, but plays outside of the "

football pyramid In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

" - the top teams do not progress into semi-professional leagues:

Cup Competitions

As well as league competitions, AFC clubs take part in

cup competition A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

s. Most clubs enter the Amateur Football Alliance County Cups, but depending on their location clubs also enter Surrey FA, London FA and Middlesex FA Cups. Almost all clubs also enter the London Old Boys Cups. In the event of a dry winter, if the league programme finishes early in the spring, the AFC will run its own "Spring Cups".

Recent divisional champions, Senior Section

Spirit of Football

In 2006 the AFC launched its "Spirit of Football" campaign, emphasising and promoting fair play and respect for all within the game, a concept later embraced nationally within

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

's "Respect" campaign.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Amateur Football Alliance

Amateur Football Combination

Amateur Football Combination Facebook Page
Football leagues in England Football competitions in London Sports leagues established in 2002 2002 establishments in England Amateur association football