The Hatchard Football League was an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

History

Founded in 1892, it was originally called the Sheffield & District Alliance, only changing name to the Hatchard Cup League halfway through the 1893–94 season when a local politician called Frank Hatchard donated a trophy to the

Sheffield & Hallamshire FA The Sheffield and Hallamshire Football Association is a County Football Association in England. It was formed in Sheffield in 1867 as the Sheffield Football Association, and is the second-oldest football governing body after the Football Associ ...

. For many years there were numerous divisions, with the top sides from each section proceeding to end of season play-offs that would determine the overall winner. The league was suspended for the duration of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, then disbanded altogether in 1923, but was re-introduced after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In 1983 the league merged with the

Sheffield Association League The Sheffield Association League was an English association football league based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. History The league was founded in 1897 to fill the void left by the disbandment of the Sheffield & District Football League, which ...

to form the

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League The Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior Football League is an English football league that was founded in 1983 by the merger of the former Sheffield Association League and Hatchard League. The league has three divisions – the Premier Div ...

, which (as of 2015) forms a part of the English football league system.

Champions

References

{{reflist Sports leagues established in 1894 Football in South Yorkshire Defunct football leagues in England Defunct football competitions in South Yorkshire