The Football Combination

The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is not to be confused with the Combination, a league for teams from North West England which existed at the turn of the 20th century).

The Football Combination
Founded1915
Folded2012
Country England
 Wales

History

The Combination was inauguratedd in 1915 with twelve founder members: Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Clapton Orient, Croydon Common, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford and West Ham United. First team matches were played until 1919, from when Reserve teams took over. Croydon Common and Watford dropped out and were replaced with Charlton Athletic and Southend United.

Up to 1926 it was known as the London Combination, but from the 1926–27 season, ten clubs from outside the London area were admitted and the name became something of a misnomer. The new clubs were: Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City, Coventry City, Leicester City, Luton Town, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Swansea Town and Watford (re-admitted).

From the early 1930s to the outbreak of World War II, 24 clubs were in membership, with Aldershot, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, Bristol City, Northampton Town, Norwich City and Swindon Town joining at various times and others resigning. Following the resumption post-war in 1946, the number of clubs was increased to 32, the title changed to Football Combination and it was re-organised into two Sections A and B, with the winners playing-off for the Championship. A Combination Cup was also inaugurated to increase the number of fixtures played.

A number of changes to the constitution took place in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1952–53 promotion and relegation were introduced, as the Combination was split into two Divisions, 1 and 2, with the top eight from Sections A and B of the previous season forming Division 1, and the bottom eight in each forming Division 2. This was short-lived and in 1955–56 a new format of one Division of 32 clubs was introduced, with teams playing 42 matches on a geographical basis. The Combination Cup was discontinued.

Promotion and relegation returned for 1958–59 in two Divisions, based on the level of the first team of each club in the Football League, i.e. the top two Divisions of the Football League played in Division 1 of the Combination, and Division 3 and 4 teams were placed in Division 2. In 1961–62 things changed again and the Combination was re-organised into a Saturday Section and a Midweek Section, with a play-off for the title.

For 1963–64 the Combination reverted to Divisions 1 and 2, with the Saturday Section becoming Division 1 and the Midweek Section becoming Division 2, and promotion/relegation was reintroduced. The decline in numbers led to the reintroduction of the Combination Cup in 1966–67, and by 1968–69 the Combination was down to one Division of 26 teams.[1]

For a time in the 1990s and early 2000s the league was sponsored by Avon Insurance,[2] a subsidiary of NFU Mutual.

Demise

The Combination originally included reserve teams of top League clubs within the region, but in 1999 the FA Premier Reserve League was founded. The reserve teams of the FA Premier League clubs and some First Division clubs joined that competition, reducing the size of the Combination (however, in 2006, Premier League clubs voted that only the 20 top-tier teams would be able to play in this league, which meant several well-established reserve sides moving to the Combination).

The 2011–12 season was the last in the history of the Combination, with the introduction of the EPPP making the league surplus to requirements.

Champions
Season Ref
1915–16 Chelsea [3]
1916–17 West Ham United
1917–18 Chelsea
1918–19 Brentford
1919–20 Tottenham Hotspur
1920–21 West Ham United
1921–22 Tottenham Hotspur
1922–23 Arsenal
1923–24 West Ham United
1924–25 West Ham United
1925–26 Tottenham Hotspur
1926–27 Arsenal
1927–28 Arsenal
1928–29 Arsenal
1929–30 Arsenal
1930–31 Arsenal
1931–32 Brentford
1932–33 Brentford [4]
1933–34 Arsenal
1934–35 Arsenal
1935–36 Portsmouth
1936–37 Arsenal
1937–38 Arsenal
1938–39 Arsenal
1939–46 Not held
1946–47 Arsenal
1947–48 West Ham United
1948–49 Chelsea
1949–50 Charlton Athletic
1950–51 Arsenal
1951–52 Reading
1952–53 Tottenham Hotspur
1953–54 West Ham United
1954–55 Chelsea
1955–56 Tottenham Hotspur
1956–57 Tottenham Hotspur
1957–58 Chelsea
1958–59 Leicester City
1959–60 Chelsea
1960–61 Chelsea
1961–62 Tottenham Hotspur
1962–63 Arsenal
1963–64 Tottenham Hotspur
1964–65 Chelsea
1965–66 Tottenham Hotspur
1966–67 Tottenham Hotspur
1967–68 Tottenham Hotspur
1968–69 Arsenal
1969–70 Arsenal
1970–71 Tottenham Hotspur
1971–72 Tottenham Hotspur
1972–73 Ipswich Town [5]
1973–74 AFC Bournemouth [6]
1974–75 Chelsea [6]
1975–76 Ipswich Town [6]
1976–77 Chelsea [6]
1977–78 West Ham United [6]
1978–79 Tottenham Hotspur [6]
1979–80 Tottenham Hotspur [6]
1980–81 Southampton
1981–82 Queens Park Rangers
1982–83 Queens Park Rangers
1983–84 Arsenal
1984–85 Chelsea
1985–86 West Ham United
1986–87 Tottenham Hotspur
1987–88 Tottenham Hotspur
1988–89 Tottenham Hotspur
1989–90 Arsenal
1990–91 Chelsea
1991–92 Southampton
1992–93 Millwall
1993–94 Chelsea
1994–95 Tottenham Hotspur [7]
1995–96 Queens Park Rangers
1996–97 Wimbledon
1997–98 Charlton Athletic
1998–99 Charlton Athletic
1999–2000 Millwall
2000–01 Fulham
2001–02 Queens Park Rangers
2002–03 Crystal Palace
Season Central & East Division Wales & West Division
2003–04 Reading Cardiff City
2004–05 Luton Town Cardiff City
Season Central Division East Division Wales & West Division
2005–06 Reading Luton Town Cheltenham Town
2006–07 Brighton & Hove Albion Ipswich Town Cheltenham Town
2007–08 Southampton Ipswich Town Bristol City
2008–09 Reading Luton Town Plymouth Argyle
2009–10 Brighton & Hove Albion Watford Exeter City

Other Divisions

Various other Divisions were utilised in the 1940s to 1960s to accommodate the number of member clubs.

SeasonSection ASection B
1946–47ArsenalPortsmouth
1947–48ArsenalWest Ham United
1948–49ArsenalChelsea
1949–50Fulham[8]Charlton Athletic
1950–51ArsenalChelsea
1951–52ReadingTottenham Hotspur
SeasonDivision 2
1952–53N/A
1953–54N/A
1954–55N/A
1955–58Not held
1958–59Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
1959–60Watford
1960–61Swansea Town
1961–63Not held
1963–64Chelsea
1964–65Southampton
1965–66Reading
1966–67Walsall
1967–68Bristol City
SeasonSaturdayMidweek
1961–62Tottenham HotspurLeyton Orient
1962–63ArsenalChelsea

Combination Cup

The Combination also operated a cup competition in various seasons to give the member clubs extra fixtures.

Winners
Season Winners
1946–47 Swansea Town
1947–48 Leicester City
1948–49 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
1949–50 Swansea Town
1950–51 Charlton Athletic
1951–52 Southampton
1952–53 Arsenal
1953–54 West Ham United
1954–55 Southampton
1966–67 Leicester/Tottenham jointly
1967–68 Arsenal
1968–69 Southampton
1969–70 Arsenal
2008–09 Crystal Palace, Reading

See also

References
  1. Information above comes from Chelsea Handbook 1951-52, and various Tottenham Hotspur programmes and handbooks from the 1950s and 1960s.
  2. "Avon strikes footie deal". Insurance Times. 2000-08-03. Retrieved 2019-05-11.
  3. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 363. ISBN 0951526200.
  4. Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopedia. Harefield, Middlesex: Yore Publications. p. 83. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.
  5. The Football Combination Handbook 1973-74 lists all the winners noted above.
  6. Tottenham Hotspur Handbooks 1974-75 to 1980-81.
  7. http://thechels.info/wiki/Football_Combination. The Chelsea wiki lists all the winners from 1980-1995 and has league tables for all the years Chelsea were involved in.
  8. Arsenal Handbook 1950/51 at https://thearsenalcollection.org.uk/?page_id=40594
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