The Metropolitan League was 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 in the south-east of England between 1949 and 1971.Metropolitan and District League 1949–1971
Non-League Matters

History

The league was founded in 1949 after several clubs learnt plans for a second division of the Southern League would come to nothing shortly before the start of the season,Cray Wanderers in the Metropolitan League
Cray Wanderers FC and was driven by

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

secretary Dave Thake, whose club were disappointed about being placed in the lower division of the London League. It was initially named the Home Counties League, but the name was rejected by

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 ...

as the name was already in use. By the end of the league's inaugural season it had become known as the Metropolitan & District League, before being renamed the Metropolitan League in 1959. The league started with ten clubs and was largely composed of professional clubs or their reserve or youth teams, and was frequently described as an unofficial lower division of the Southern League. The league added a second division in 1963, but it ran for only a single season, which saw Gillingham Reserves win the title. However, with the league reduced to only 12 clubs in 1970–71 and several of those about to leave to join the Southern League at the end of the season, the league merged with the

Greater London League The Greater London League was a football league for clubs in and around London. It was formed in 1964 by a merger of the London League and the Aetolian League, after the two leagues had run a joint league cup the previous season due to both stru ...

to form the

Metropolitan–London League The Metropolitan–London League was a short-lived football league for clubs in and around London. It was formed in 1971 by a merger of the Greater London League and the Metropolitan League (which had lost several clubs to the Southern League). ...

. This league ceased to exist in 1975 when it merged with the

Spartan League The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League. History The Spartan League was establish ...

to form the London Spartan League, which re-adopted the name Spartan League in 1987. For three seasons an Amateur Cup was contested between the league's amateur teams; in 1951–52 and 1952–53 it was won by Windsor & Eton, whilst

Vickers Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, wi ...

won it in 1953–54. Thereafter it was awarded to the amateur team that finished highest in the league.''Metropolitan League Handbook 1964/65''

Champions

Member clubs

* Arsenal 'A' * Ashford Town Reserves * Barnet Reserves * Bedford Town Reserves * Bexley United Reserves * Bletchley Town * Braintree & Crittall Athletic *

Brentwood Town Brentwood Town Football Club is a football club based in Brentwood, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Brentwood Centre Arena. History A Brentwood Football Club was established in the 19th century, and played ...

* Brentwood Town Reserves * Brighton & Hove Albion ‘A’ * Bury Town * Callender Athletic * Cambridge City Reserves * Canterbury City * Canterbury City Reserves * Charlton Athletic 'A' * Chatham Town * Chelmsford City Reserves * Chelsea ‘A’ * Chertsey Town *

Chingford Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The town is approximately north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow to the ...

* Chingford Town Reserves *

Chipperfield Chipperfield is a village and civil parish in the Dacorum district of Hertfordshire, England, approximately five miles southwest of Hemel Hempstead and five miles north of Watford. It stands on a chalk plateau at the edge of the Chiltern Hills ...

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

* Crawley Town Reserves *

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cr ...

* Croydon Rovers *

* Dartford Reserves * Deal Town Reserves *Dickinsons Athletic * Didcot Town * Dover Reserves * Dunstable Town * Dunstable Town Reserves *

Eastbourne United Eastbourne United A.F.C. is a football club based in Eastbourne, England. They were formed in 2003 after a merger between Eastbourne United F.C. and Shinewater Association. In 2009 they were the Sussex County League champions for the first time i ...

* Epping Town * Folkestone Town Reserves * Fulham ‘A’ * Gillingham Reserves * Gravesend & Northfleet Reserves * Guildford City Reserves *Hammersmith United * Hastings United Reserves * Hatfield Town *

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...

* Hillingdon Borough Reserves *

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

* Hove United * Kettering Town Reserves *

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

* Luton Town 'A' * Margate Reserves *

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

* Millwall 'A' * Newbury Town * Oxford United 'A' * Oxford United Reserves * Rainham Town * Ramsgate Athletic Reserves * Romford Reserves * Sheppey United * Sittingbourne Reserves *Skyways * Southwick * St Neots Town * Stevenage Athletic * Stevenage Town Reserves * Tonbridge Reserves * Tottenham Hotspur 'A' *

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

Wellingborough Town Wellingborough Town F.C. is a football club based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. They play in the United Counties Premier Division. The club was formed in 2004 after the previous club bearing the name had folded. History The ori ...

* West Ham United 'A' * Wimbledon Reserves * Windsor & Eton * Wokingham Town * Woodford Town

References

{{Spartan South Midlands League Defunct football leagues in England 1949 establishments in England

History

Champions

Member clubs

See also

References