Hampshire League

Football league The Hampshire League was a long running amateur football league in Hampshire, England. The competition ran for 108 years, until it was absorbed the expanding Wessex League in 2004. It has since been succeeded by the Hampshire Premier League with a recognised place on the FA Pyramid system. History The Hampshire Football League was formed in 1896 to provide an organised fixture schedule for clubs within the county. The inaugural campaign saw eight teams taking part with the first ever fixture being played on Saturday 5th September 1896 between Eastleigh Athletic and Freemantle, who won a thrilling match 5–4 with a player called Inglefield scoring the first ever goal! The first-ever league champions were Cowes. Originally administered by the Hampshire Football Association, the fledgling competition was initially split into regional sections with an end of season play off to decide the champions, but numbers grew and eventually the league formed three larger divisions with straight forward promotion/relegation. The post-war era saw the Hampshire League at its prime, consisting of many strong clubs destined to later progress further up the pyramid whilst the Reserve a