The Essex and Suffolk Border Football League is 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 ...

competition based in England. The league has a total of four divisions headed by the Premier Division which sits at step 7 (or level 11) 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 ...

. The top club may apply for promotion to Division One of the Eastern Counties League. All member clubs compete in the Border League Knock-Out Cup. The league is affiliated to the Essex County FA and

Suffolk County FA The Suffolk County Football Association is the governing body for football in the county of Suffolk, England. Football in Suffolk before formation Before the formation of the Suffolk County football Association, the county lacked both a footbal ...

History

The league was officially founded in 1911,2016–2017 Official Handbook
Essex & Suffolk Border League although the league includes records of the Colchester Borough League (founded 1893) and Colchester & District League (founded 1903) in its history. Founder members of the Border League in the inaugural 1911–12 season included Clacton Town, Colchester Town, West Bergholt and West Mersea. Over the last 100 years the league has seen many changes in its status with many clubs progressing to a higher level. The overlying trend has been the migration of the larger clubs and their replacement by smaller clubs with more basic facilities. For much of the last 20 years the Border League has run 4 divisions which included a significant proportion of reserve teams. The league lost several members in 2005–06 when the reserve teams of the Eastern Counties League clubs left for their own competition. There is a high representation of village teams but a new trend has emerged with the acceptance of Barnston from Division Three of the Essex Olympian League and Newbury Forest from the Romford and District Football League in the

London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough established in 1965. The borough shares boundaries with the Epping Forest District and the ceremonial county of Essex to the north, with the London Borough of Waltham Forest to the west, the ...

Member clubs 2021–22

The league has 87 teams spread over six divisions for the 2021–22 season:

Former clubs

Among the clubs that have left the Essex & Suffolk Border Football League to compete at a higher level are: * Brantham Athletic * Brightlingsea Regent *

Bury Town Bury Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Ram Meadow. History Early history The club was established by William Lake at a meetin ...

* Clacton Town * Coggeshall Town * Colchester Town * Cornard United * Crittall Athletic * Felixstowe Town * Haverhill Rovers * Halstead Town *

Harwich & Parkeston Harwich & Parkeston Football Club is an English football club based in Harwich, Essex. The club are currently members of the and play at the Royal Oak ground. History The club was established in 1877, and reached their first cup final in 1891, ...

Heybridge Swifts Heybridge Swifts Football Club is a football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Scraley Road. History The club was established in 1880 as Heybridge Football Club. After joining ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

* Little Oakley *

Long Melford Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, ...

* Maldon Town * Saffron Walden Town * Stanway Rovers * Stowmarket Town * Sudbury Town * Sudbury Wanderers * Team Bury * Tiptree United * Whitton United * Witham Town *

Wivenhoe Town Wivenhoe Town F.C. is an English football club based in Wivenhoe, Essex. The club are currently members of the and play at Broad Lane. History The club was established as Wivenhoe Rangers by Frank Slaughter and students from Colchester Gram ...

List of champions and cup winners

Gallery

References

External links

Official website
{{Football in England table cells Football leagues in England Football in Essex Football in Suffolk Sports leagues established in 1911 1911 establishments in England