The Central Midlands Alliance 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 the Central Midlands League 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 ...

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 ...

and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, although

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, 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 Historic counties o ...

-based teams play in the

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior Football 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 Divis ...

. The league's current sponsor is Abacus Lighting. Upon merging with the Midland Regional Alliance in 2023, the current name was adopted. 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 2021–22: North, South, Division One North, South and Central *2022–23: North, South, Division One North, East and West *2023–24 onwards: North, South, Division One North, South, East and West and Division 2 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 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 ...

(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. One club per season from the North and South Divisions may be promoted (subject to ground standards and a top five finish) to either 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 Th ...

Division One or

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 ...

Division One. 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 Regio ...

Current members

The member clubs of the league for the 2023–24 season are as follows:

North Division

*AFC Bentley * A.F.C. Phoenix * Chesterfield Youth * Dearne and District * Dinnington Town * Doncaster City *Elite FC *

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 Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfie ...

reserves * Rossington Main reserves *St Josephs Rockware of Worksop * Staveley Miners Welfare reserves *Woodhouse Colts * Yorkshire Main

South Division

*AFC Normanton * Arnold Town *Bakewell Town *Cromford & Wirksworth Town *Derby Singh Brothers * Graham Street Prims *Holbrook St Michaels * Linby Colliery Welfare *Mansfield Hosiery Mills *Mayfield *Melbourne Dynamo *

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 * Appleby Frodingham Reserves * Armthorpe Welfare Development *Bessacarr *Bottesford Town Development *Crowle Colts Development *Dearne & District Development *

Reserves *

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 *Streina FC *

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 *Ashland Rovers * Blidworth Welfare *

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 *Kirton Brickworks *

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 * Ollerton Town Development *Pilsley Community *RHP Sports & Social *Shirebrook Rangers *Sleetmoor United *

Reserves Division One West *Bakewell Town Development *Bargate * Belper United Reserves *Cromford & Wirksworth Town reserves * Heanor Town Reserves * Holbrook Sports *Holbrook St Michaels Reserves *Inter Belper *Kilburn *Little Eaton *Mickleover Athletic *Rowsley 86 Division One South *Allenton United *Baobab United *Burton Hornets *Burton United *Castle Donington *FC Sunnyhill *Hemington Hammers *Hilton Harriers *Punjab United *

Stapenhill F.C. Stapenhill Football Club is a football club based in the Stapenhill area of Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Edge Hill. History They were formed in 1947 and ten years after formation they jo ...

reserves Division Two *Ashland Rovers Reserves *Ashover *Aston Village *Bargate Rovers Reserves *Castle Donington Reserves *Little Eaton Reserves *Markeaton *Melbourne Dynamo Reserves *Newhall United CMA *Sherwin *Willington United *Winster Darley Lions *Wirksworth Ivanhoe 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