The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional 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. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels 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. ...

respectively.

History

The league was formed in 1982 following the merger of the Yorkshire League and

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 ...

. For its inaugural season, the league consisted of five divisions. Since then, the league has undergone several changes to the point where since 2018 it has two divisions of 20 teams. The league has maintained promotion and relegation between its divisions since its beginning. In 2015 a series of play-offs were introduced for the first time to determine a third promotee from Division One. The competition has 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 ...

, which may provide new member clubs each year: *

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 ...

North Division *

Humber Premier League The Humber Premier League is a football competition for clubs in the East Riding of Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire areas of England. History The league was formed in 2000. Reckitts won the league five times in the first six seasons of its ex ...

Premier Division *

Lincolnshire League The Lincolnshire Football League is an English football league. The league has one division, which stands at level 11 of the English football league system). History The League runs a representative side that compete in the FA Inter League Cup. ...

Sheffield and 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 Divis ...

Premier Division *

West Yorkshire League The West Yorkshire Association Football League is a football competition based in Yorkshire, England. It was previously known as the Leeds League until the name change in 1939. Although it is named the ''West Yorkshire'' League, clubs from the ...

Premier Division *

York League The York Football League is a football competition based in North Yorkshire, England, founded in 1897. Currently it is known under the terms of a sponsorship agreement as the ''York Minster Engineering Football League''. It is a member of the ...

Premier Division *

Yorkshire Amateur League The Yorkshire Amateur Association Football League is an amateur competitive football league based in West Yorkshire, England. The league has a total of eight divisions, the highest of which is the Yorkshire Amateur League Supreme Division, which ...

Supreme Division Clubs are also liable to be transferred to other leagues if the FA deems it geographically suitable to do so.

Current clubs (2022–23)

Premier Division

Division One

Honours

Champions

Promoted

Since the league's formation in 1982, the following clubs have won promotion to higher levels 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 ...

– normally to the Northern Premier League –

Cup competitions

League Cup

The league currently has just one cup competition, the League Cup, which is contested by every club in the league.

Finals

President's Cup and Trophy

In the past the league has had additional cup competitions. The Trophy was contested by the Division One clubs and the President's Cup which featured the top eight teams in each division from the previous season, provided they remain in the league.

Winners

Member clubs in national competitions

FA Cup First Round

The following NCEL clubs have reached the First Round proper of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

–

FA Vase finalists

The following NCEL clubs have reached the Final of the

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 ...

–

References

External links

Official site

{{Football in England table cells 1982 establishments in England 9 Sports leagues established in 1982 Football competitions in Yorkshire