The East Midlands Counties Football League was 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 that operated from 2008 to 2021, covering the counties 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 ...
,
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
and
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 ...
in the
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...
. The league had one division, which stood at the tenth level 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. ...
.
History
The league was formed in 2008, drawing clubs from 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 ...
(2),
Central Midlands League
The Central Midlands Football League is an English football 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 nam ...
(8) and
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 ...
(8) to create a division at level 10 of 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 ...
.
On 15 May 2008
The FA
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and ...
Leagues Committee placed the new league at Step 6 in the
National League System
The National League System comprises the six levels of the English football league system immediately below the level of the English Football League. It comes under the jurisdiction of The Football Association. The National League System has a h ...
Bardon Hill
Bardon Hill is the highest Hill in Leicestershire and on a clear day the Malvern and Shropshire Hills (approx. 50–60 miles), summits in Derbyshire (approx. 30–40 miles) and Lincoln Cathedral (almost 50 miles away) can be seen. However, ...
Ellistown
Ellistown is a village about south of Coalville in North West Leicestershire, England. It is named after Colonel Joseph Joel Ellis who died in 1885. The population from the 2011 census was included in the civil parish of Ellistown and Battlef ...
Gedling Town
Gedling Town Football Club was a Semi-professional sports#United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, semi-professional Association football, football club based in Stoke Bardolph, Nottinghamshire, England. Founded in 1985 as R & R Sca ...
The league provided a pathway for successful clubs to higher grade football, with clubs moving up to the
Midland League
The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid.
History
Th ...
Premier Division,
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 ...
Premier Division and
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 ...
Premier Division - each at level 9 of the system.
It was not until 2017 that clubs were relegated from the competition, into the
Central Midlands League
The Central Midlands Football League is an English football 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 nam ...
and
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 ...
.
The competition had several feeder leagues at level 11 of the
pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
:
*
Central Midlands League
The Central Midlands Football League is an English football 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 nam ...
South Division
*
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 ...
Premier Division
* Nottinghamshire Senior League Premier Division
Clubs were also liable to be transferred to other leagues if the FA deemed it geographically suitable to do so.
The East Midlands Counties League was disbanded at the end of the 2020–21 season, most of its remaining clubs were assigned to the Northern Counties East and United Counties leagues' Step 6 divisions, as part of reorganising the National League System where the United Counties League added an additional Step 5 division.
Final clubs (2020–21)
Honours
Champions
* As a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, the 2019–20 season's competition was formally abandoned on 26 March 2020, with all results from the season being expunged, and no promotion or relegation taking place to or from the competition. The next season was also abandoned on 24 February 2021 but promotion proceeded after a one-year postponement.
Promoted
* * Based on points-per-game averages obtained by adding the accumulated number of games played between 2019 and 2021, and dividing it by total number of points.
* ** As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 season's competition was formally abandoned on 26 March 2020, with all results from the season being expunged, and no promotion or relegation taking place to or from the competition.
League Cup
The league also ran the East Midlands Counties League Cup, which was contested by every club in the league.
Finals
* * Result after extra-time
* ** As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 season's competition was formally abandoned on 26 March 2020, with all results from the season being expunged.