The Central Midlands Football League is an English

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 covering the northeast-central part of England. Formed in 1971 as the South Derbyshire League, changing name initially to the Derbyshire League before changing to its current name in 1983, it covers parts of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

and

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

. The league's current sponsor is Abacus Lighting. The number of divisions has varied over time as follows *1983–84: Premier, Premier First, Senior and First *1984–85 to 1985–86: Premier, Central, Senior and First *1986–87 to 1987–88: Supreme, Premier, First and Second *1988–89 to 1990–91: Supreme, Premier and First *1991–92: Supreme, Premier North and Premier South *1992–93 to 2010–11: Supreme and Premier *2011–12 to 2012-13: North and South *2012–13 to 2014-15: North, South, Reserve Supreme and Reserve Premier *2015-16 to 2016-17: North, South, Reserve Division *2017-18 to 2018-19: North, South, Reserve Supreme and Division One *2018–19 to 2019-20: North, South, Division One North and South *2019-20 to Present: North, South, Division One North, South and Central Within the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

, the Central Midlands League's top two divisions, called the ''North Division'' and ''South Division'', were considered part of the National League System (at Step 7) until 2020, when they were redesignated as NLS county feeders. Four clubs from the previously-named Premier Division had the distinction of being the lowest-ranked clubs, and only ones outside the NLS, accepted for the 2006–07

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

. For the 2008–09 season, eight of the leading sides left the Central Midlands League to join forces with eight clubs from the

Leicestershire Senior League The Leicestershire Senior League (currently sponsored by Everards Brewery) is a football competition based in Leicestershire, England. History The league was formed in 1896, had a two-year hiatus between 1901 and 1903, and has run continuously ...

to form a new league, the

East Midlands Counties League The East Midlands Counties Football League was an English football league that operated from 2008 to 2021, covering the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands. The league had one division, which stood a ...

, at Step 6 of the National League System. For the 2015–16 season reserve teams of clubs who play higher up the pyramid were allowed to participate in the league for the first time. Champions of the North Division are eligible (if they meet ground standards) for promotion to the

Northern Counties East League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively. History T ...

Division One and champions of the South Division are eligible for promotion to the

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckinghamshi ...

and until 2019,

, and some clubs have progressed from the CML to the

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

and

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

. A representative side from the league takes part in the

FA Inter-League Cup The FA Inter-League Cup (formerly known as the FA National League System Cup or FA NLS Cup) is a football competition run by The Football Association. It was created in the 2003–04 season to provide an English representative in the UEFA Reg ...

. Local leagues below the Central Midlands League on the pyramid include the Midlands Regional Alliance. In most cases these have multiple divisions or feeder leagues of their own. At the 2017 AGM it was agreed for the Reserve Division to become Division One and confirmed the new teams which would join the league for the forthcoming season. The North Division welcomed Lincoln Moorlands Railway, Staveley Miners Welfare Reserves (promoted from Reserve Division), and Renishaw Rangers, the South Division welcomed Hilton Harriers, AFC Kilburn and Aslockton & Orston.

Current members

The member clubs of the league for the 2022–23 season are as follows:

North Division

*AFC Bentley *AFC

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

*Bakewell Town *Club Thorne Colliery * Collingham *Dearne and District * Dinnington Town *

Glapwell Glapwell is a village and civil parish on the A617 road in the Bolsover District of north east Derbyshire, between the towns of Chesterfield (7 miles) and Mansfield (5 miles) and Bolsover (3 miles to the north). With 1,467 residents, increasing ...

Harworth Colliery Harworth Colliery was a colliery near the town of Harworth Bircotes in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, England. It was abandoned in 2006 due to troubles at the seam. UK Coal, who owned and maintained the mine, were waiting for a contract to make ...

*Hatfield Town *Kiveton Miners Welfare *

Retford United Retford United Football Club (also known as the Badgers) are an England, English association football, football club based at Cannon Park in Retford, Nottinghamshire. They currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1987 by Retfor ...

*St Josephs Rockware of Worksop * Staveley Miners Welfare Reserves * Yorkshire Main

South Division

* Arnold Town *Ashland Rovers * Clay Cross Town *Cromford & Wirksworth Town *Derby Singh Brothers * Graham Street Prims *Holbrook St Michaels * Linby Colliery Welfare *Mansfield Hosiery Mills *

Mickleover Mickleover is a large suburban village of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. It is west of Derby city centre, northeast of Burton-upon-Trent, west of Nottingham city centre, southeast of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Ashbourne and northeast of Uttoxete ...

reserves * Mickleover Royal British Legion *Nottingham FC *

Pinxton Pinxton is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire on the eastern boundary of Nottinghamshire, England, just south of the Pinxton Interchange at Junction 28 of the M1 motorway where the A38 road meets the M1. Pinxton is part of the Bolsover ...

* South Normanton Athletic *

Teversal Teversal is a small village in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, west of Mansfield, close to Sutton-in-Ashfield and the boundary with Derbyshire. Former names include ''Tevershalt'', ''Teversholt'', ''Tyversholtee'', ''Teve ...

*Wirksworth Ivanhoe Division One North *780 JLC *Bessacarr *Bottesford Town Development *Crowle Colts Development *Dearne & District Development *Doncaster Elite *

Reserves *Hatfield Town Development *North of England Academy * Retford FC Development *

Sheffield FC Sheffield Football Club is an English football club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, although now based in nearby Dronfield, across the county boundary in Derbyshire. They currently compete in the . Founded in October 1857,

Development *

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

Reserves Division One East *AFC Normanton *Ashland Rovers Reserves * Blidworth Welfare Reserves *

Clipstone Clipstone in north Nottinghamshire is a small ex-coal mining village built on the site of an old army base and close to the site of a medieval royal palace. The population of the civil parish was 3,469 at the 2001 census, increasing to 4,665 a ...

Reserves *

Linby Colliery Linby is a small village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. The nearest town is Hucknall which is immediately to the south-west. The village grew up around the mills on the River Leen, from which Linby's name is derived. Small stre ...

Reserves *Long Bennington *Mansfield Hosiery Mills Reserves *Nottingham FC Reserves * Ollerton Town Development *Pass Move Grin *RHP Newark *

Reserves *Woodhouse Colts Division One West * Belper United Reserves *Castle Donington * Heanor Town Reserves *Holbrook Angels *Holbrook St Michaels Reserves *Kilburn *Little Eaton *Mayfield *Melbourne Dynamo * Mickleover RBL Reserves *Rowsley 86 * South Normanton Athletic Reserves

League champions

League Challenge Cup

The league also runs the Central Midlands League Challenge Cup, which is contested by every club in the league. Since 2001 every final has been played at

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

's North Street stadium.

Current members

North Division

South Division

League champions

League Challenge Cup

Finals

References

External links