The East Midlands Counties Football League was an English football 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 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 trad ...

in the East Midlands. 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. 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 an ...

Leagues Committee placed the new league at Step 6 in the National League System.National League structure
The FA, 15 May 2008 Eighteen clubs were invited to form the new league; *From the Central Midlands League: Blackwell Miners Welfare, Dunkirk, Gedling Miners Welfare, Graham Street Prims, Greenwood Meadows, Heanor Town, Holbrook Miners Welfare, Radford; *From the Leicestershire Senior League:

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 ...

, Barrow Town, Ellistown, Hinckley Downes, Holwell Sports, Ibstock United, Kirby Muxloe SC, St. Andrews; *From the Northern Counties East League: Borrowash Victoria, Gedling Town 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 T ...

Premier Division,

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

and

. 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 ...

: *

South Division *

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 identi ...

, 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.

References

{{East Midlands Counties Football League 2008 establishments in England East Midlands Defunct football leagues in England Sports leagues established in 2008 Sports leagues disestablished in 2021 2021 disestablishments in England