Amateur Football Combination

The Amateur Football Combination (AFC) is a football league based in and around London and the Home Counties, and is believed to be the biggest adult football league in Europe.[1]

Amateur Football Combination
SportFootball
Founded2002
No. of teams350(31 divisions)
(4 senior divisions)
Country England
Most recent
champion(s)		(Premier) Old Meadonians

History

The Amateur Football Combination is one of the biggest adult football leagues in Europe,[2] with around 100 clubs and 350 sides playing Saturday afternoons in and around London and the Home Counties from September through to May, and comprises more than 1% of adult male 11-a-side football teams in England.

The AFC is an adult male league affiliated to the Amateur Football Alliance (AFA), London FA, Middlesex FA and Surrey FA, and was formed in 2002 by the merger of the Old Boys' Football League (1907) and Southern Olympian League (1911) and subsequently merging with the London Financial Football Association (itself comprising the London Banks Football Association, 1900 and the London Insurance Football Association, 1908) in 2006.

AFC Membership

Clubs and club members include "Old Boys" sides, local authorities and businesses, as well as social and youth clubs.

League Structure

The league is divided into four sections using a pyramid system, but plays outside of the "football pyramid" - the top teams do not progress into semi-professional leagues:

AFC League System
Premier
Senior 1
Senior 2 North Senior 2 South
Senior 3 North Senior 3 South
Inter. North Inter. South
1 North 1 South
2 North 2 South
3 North 3 South
4 North 4 South
5 North 5 South
5 North 5 South
6 North 6 South
7 North 7 South
8 South

Cup Competitions

As well as league competitions, AFC clubs take part in cup competitions. Most clubs enter the Amateur Football Alliance County Cups, but depending on their location clubs also enter Surrey FA, Berkshire & Buckinghamshire FA, London FA and Essex FA Cups. Many clubs also enter the London Old Boys Cups and the Old Boys Cup. In the event of a dry winter, if the league programme finishes early in the spring, the AFC will run its own "Spring Cups".

Recent divisional champions, Senior Section
Season Premier Division Senior Division 1 Senior Division 2
2002-03 Old Meadonians Old Salvatorians Old Tenisonians
2003-04 Old Meadonians Parkfield Glyn Old Boys
2004-05 Old Meadonians Bealonians Wood Green Old Boys
2005-06 Old Meadonians Southgate County Sinjuns Grammarians
2006-07 Old Meadonians Enfield Old Grammarians Old Meadonians Reserves
2007-08 Old Aloysians Parkfield Old Minchendenians
2008-09 Bealonians Old Minchendenians Centymca
2009-10 Albanian Old Suttonians Old Uffingtonians
2010-11 Old Meadonians UCL Academicals Enfield Old Grammarians
2011-12 Old Minchendenians Old Suttonians Honourable Artillery Company Reserves
2012-13 Old Minchendenians Enfield Old Grammarians Shene Old Grammarians
2013-14 Old Hamptonians Old Ignatian Old Pauline
2014-15 Old Hamptonians Old Thorntonians
2015-16 Old Hamptonians Old Wokingians
2016-17 Old Meadonians Park View
2017-18 Old Hamptonians Southgate Olympic

Spirit of Football

In 2006 the AFC launched its "Spirit of Football" campaign, emphasising and promoting fair play and respect for all within the game, a concept later embraced nationally within the Football Association's "Respect" campaign.

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References
  1. "AMATEUR FOOTBALL COMBINATION". www.amateurfotballcombination.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  2. "AMATEUR FOOTBALL COMBINATION". www.amateurfotballcombination.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
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