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League History (2) - Western League

13/8/2021

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The Western League, which currently has two divisions at Step 5 & 6 of the pyramid, started life as the Bristol & District League back in 1892. In those days there was just one division and, in the first season, only 9 clubs competed for the title. The league was won by Warmley who went on to almost dominate the league for the first 5 seasons, winning it four times with just a break in 1895 when Hereford Thistle took the title with Warmley finishing third. Their reserves also won the newly formed Division Two in its first two seasons. 
In 1898 the league took in some clubs from the Southern League and for ten years the league champions reads like a who's who of future Football League and Premier League clubs. Swindon Town, Bristol Rovers (founder members of the Western League as Eastville Rovers), Portsmouth on three occasions, Tottenham Hotspur (more about them later), Plymouth Argyle, QPR, Fulham, Southampton and Brighton all won the Western League between 1899 and 1909.

In all 59 different teams have won the Western League top division to date. Of that 59 only one team has managed to reach double figures when it comes to league titles and that team is Bideford (10), currently of the Southern League Division One South. Other notable numbers of titles are Bristol City Reserves with 7 (two more than Rovers Reserves), Taunton Town with 6 (all in the space of a decade), and Welton Rovers who have 5.

Eleven Western League champions have gone on to play in the Football League, Yeovil & Petters United (4) (Yeovil Town), Portsmouth (3), Millwall (2), Bristol City (1), Bristol Rovers (1), Cardiff City (1), Plymouth Argyle (1), Queens Park Rangers (1), Swindon Town (1), Tottenham Hotspur (1). Merthyr Town did it the other way around. They won the Western League in 2012, 82 years after losing their Football League place. Tottenham Hotspur's title came in 1904, three years after famously becoming the first (and currently only) non-league team to win the FA Cup. Although the club was officially a member of the Southern League at the time, they also played in the Western League at the same time.
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League History (1) - Hellenic League

13/8/2021

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The Hellenic League was established in 1953, the first season being the 1953-54 season. The boundaries covering the league have always been a little hazy but, essentially, the league serves clubs in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Buckinghamshire, Herefordshire and parts of Wiltshire, with the Southern borders extending into the London area and Hampshire. Teams from Berkshire and Northamptonshire have also participated in the league over the years.

The original league was a single division comprising of 16 clubs, many of which exist to this day, some still playing in the Hellenic structure. The inaugural winners were Didcot Town with two now defunct clubs, Witney Town and Pressed Steel, following them in second and third. Amongst the original members, aside from the first champions, who have gone on to higher leagues are Staines Town (who made it into Step 2 for 6 seasons earlier this century), Leighton United (now Leighton Town) and Thatcham, now Thatcham Town. Bottom of the pile in that first season were Princes Risborough Town who had an awful time of it, losing all thirty of their games scoring 33 and conceding 160. Although the club disappeared after the 1973-74 season, the town's current footballing representative, Risborough Rangers, have played in the Hellenic League structure for the past couple of seasons after spending most of their life in the South Midlands League.
Despite winning the league and breaking the 100 goal mark, Didcot were not top scorers that first season. This accolade went to runners-up Witney Town who clocked up 123 goals in 30 games, averaging over 4 goals per game over the season. Remarkable.
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Over the years 38 different teams have won the top flight title and only 15 sides have won it more than once. Witney Town hold the record for the most titles with 8, twice as many as their nearest rivals Abingdon Town and Moreton Town who both have 4 to their names. Only two clubs have won the Hellenic League and then gone on to play in the Football League. Forest Green Rovers were the first, winning the title in the 1981-82 season and then gaining promotion to League 2 in 2017. The second was Newport AFC in the 1989-90 season. The newly formed exiles, who had already played in the Football League, began their rise back up the leagues in the Hellenic League. They managed to re-join the Football League, after a 25 year absence, in 2013.
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