Metropolitan–London League

The Metropolitan–London League was a short-lived football league for clubs in and around London. It was formed in 1971 by a merger of the Greater London League and the Metropolitan League (which had lost several clubs to the Southern League).[1] It ran with two divisions until 1974, reduced to one in 1974–75 season, after which it merged with the Spartan League to form the London Spartan League, which was later renamed the Spartan League.[2] It merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the modern Spartan South Midlands League

Metropolitan–London League
Founded1971
First season1971–72
Folded1975
Country England
DivisionsOne (1974–1975)
Two (1971–1974)
Number of teamsLowest: 20 (1974–1975)
Highest: 25 (1971–1972)
Domestic cup(s)FA Cup
Most championshipsEpping Town (2)

List of champions
SeasonDivision OneDivision Two
1971–72Epping TownMuirhead Sports
1972–73SwanleyEast Thurrock United
1973–74Epping TownAlma Swanley
SeasonChampions
1974–75Cray Wanderers

Seasons

1971–72

Division One

The new Division One was composed of:

  • Eight clubs from the Greater London League (BROB Barnet, Canvey Island, Chingford, Eton Manor, Ford United, Swanley, Ulysses and Willesden)
  • Four clubs from the Metropolitan League (Cray Wanderers, Epping Town, Hatfield Town and Sheppey United)
  • One club from the Kent League (Faversham Town)
  • East Ham United
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
1 Epping Town 26 18 5 3 71 25 +46 41
2 Faversham Town 26 15 5 6 54 30 +24 35
3 East Ham United 26 14 6 6 59 37 +22 34
4 Cray Wanderers 26 15 1 10 59 38 +21 31
5 Ford United 26 12 6 8 47 35 +12 30
6 Swanley 26 12 5 9 56 36 +20 29
7 Eton Manor 26 10 8 8 45 44 +1 28
8 Hatfield Town 26 11 5 10 50 51 −1 27
9 Sheppey United 26 9 6 11 43 47 −4 24 Joined the Kent League at end of season
10 Canvey Island 26 7 8 11 29 52 −23 22
11 Willesden 26 6 8 12 35 51 −16 20
12 Chingford 26 6 6 14 34 52 −18 18
13 BROB Barnet 26 6 4 16 26 78 −52 16
14 Ulysses 26 3 3 20 25 57 −32 9
Source: Non-League Matters

Division Two

All clubs in Division Two except Muirhead Sports had come from the Greater London League

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
1 Muirhead Sports 20 16 3 1 58 19 +39 35
2 279 Chislehurst 20 13 5 2 63 28 +35 31 Left league at end of season
3 Penhill Standard 20 9 6 5 37 31 +6 24 Promoted to Division One
4 Highfield 20 9 4 7 45 28 +17 22
5 Polytechnic 20 8 3 9 36 41 −5 19
6 Bexley 20 6 6 8 37 40 −3 18
7 Thames Polytechnic 20 7 4 9 25 32 −7 18
8 Brentstonians 20 6 6 8 27 43 −16 18
9 Heathside Sports 20 7 3 10 35 44 −9 17
10 Barkingside 20 5 4 11 36 46 −10 14
11 RAS & RA 20 0 4 16 12 59 −47 4
Source: Non-League Matters

1972–73

Division One

Division One featured one new club, Penhill Standard, who had been promoted from Division Two the previous season.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
1 Swanley 26 18 6 2 57 26 +31 42
2 Epping Town 26 16 6 4 54 22 +32 38
3 Canvey Island 26 15 5 6 45 38 +7 35
4 Cray Wanderers 26 16 2 8 46 28 +18 34
5 Willesden 26 14 4 8 48 37 +11 32
6 Hatfield Town 26 14 2 10 43 36 +7 30
7 Faversham Town 26 12 4 10 44 31 +13 28 Joined Athenian League at end of season
8 East Ham United 26 11 4 11 60 43 +17 26
9 Eton Manor 26 9 8 9 30 30 0 26
10 Ford United 26 5 8 13 25 42 −17 18
11 BROB Barnet 26 6 5 15 30 52 −22 17
12 Ulysses 26 4 8 14 22 51 −29 16
13 Chingford 26 4 4 18 24 52 −28 12
14 Penhill Standard 26 3 4 19 24 64 −40 10 Relegated to Division Two
Source: Non-League Matters

Division Two

Division Two featured one new club, East Thurrock United.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
1 East Thurrock United 18 11 5 2 36 12 +24 27 Promoted to Division One
2 Highfield 18 11 4 3 37 17 +20 26
3 Muirhead Sports 18 8 7 3 32 21 +11 23
4 Heathside Sports 18 8 6 4 36 25 +11 22
5 Polytechnic 18 10 2 6 37 29 +8 22
6 Bexley 18 6 3 9 34 38 −4 15
7 RAS & RA 18 4 5 9 15 28 −13 13
8 Barkingside 18 3 6 9 23 42 −19 12
9 Thames Polytechnic 18 4 3 11 24 41 −17 11
10 Brentstonians 18 3 3 12 17 38 −21 9
Source: Non-League Matters

1973–74

Division One

Division One featured two new clubs, East Thurrock United and Highfield, both promoted from Division Two the previous season.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
1 Epping Town 26 19 2 5 75 24 +51 40 Joined Athenian League at end of season
2 East Ham United 26 15 7 4 34 19 +15 37
3 Eton Manor 26 13 7 6 41 25 +16 33
4 Cray Wanderers 26 14 5 7 62 42 +20 33
5 Canvey Island 26 13 6 7 40 29 +11 32
6 Hatfield Town 26 12 7 7 45 42 +3 31
7 Swanley Town 26 9 7 10 44 45 −1 25
8 Willesden 26 11 2 13 46 45 +1 24 Joined Athenian League at end of season
9 Highfield 26 9 4 13 36 58 −22 22
10 Chingford 26 5 9 12 30 48 −18 19
11 East Thurrock United 26 7 4 15 39 52 −13 18
12 Ford United 26 5 8 13 18 45 −27 18 Joined Essex Senior League at end of season
13 BROB Barnet 26 4 9 13 26 51 −25 17
14 Ulysses 26 5 5 16 23 39 −16 15
Source: Non-League Matters

Division One

Division Two featured two new clubs:

  • Alma Swanley
  • Penhill Standard (relegated from Division One)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
1 Alma Swanley 18 15 3 0 51 14 +37 33
2 Heathside Sports 18 12 4 2 42 15 +27 28
3 Muirhead Sports 18 10 3 5 38 30 +8 23
4 Penhill Standard 18 7 6 5 32 25 +7 20
5 Thames Polytechnic 18 7 2 9 22 33 −11 16
6 Polytechnic 18 6 3 9 21 31 −10 15 Left league at end of season
7 Bexley 18 6 2 10 20 28 −8 14
8 RAS & RA 18 5 3 10 18 28 −10 13
9 Barkingside 18 4 2 12 20 38 −18 10
10 Brentstonians 18 2 4 12 16 38 −22 8
Source: Non-League Matters

1974–75
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Result
1 Cray Wanderers 38 32 4 2 128 36 +92 68 Placed in Division One of London Spartan League
2 Alma Swanley 38 26 7 5 91 41 +50 59
3 Canvey Island 38 24 7 7 78 30 +48 55 Joined Essex Senior League
4 Swanley Town 38 23 6 9 81 40 +41 52 Placed in Division One of London Spartan League
5 Eton Manor 38 21 6 11 72 39 +33 48 Joined Essex Senior League
6 Penhill Standard 38 20 8 10 70 55 +15 48 Placed in Division One of London Spartan League
7 Hatfield Town 38 16 12 10 57 35 +22 44
8 Chingford 38 19 6 13 62 44 +18 44
9 Heathside Sports 38 16 10 12 54 41 +13 42
10 East Ham United 38 14 13 11 57 39 +18 41
11 Highfield 38 13 10 15 47 58 −11 36 Placed in Division Two of London Spartan League[3]
12 East Thurrock United 38 14 6 18 58 64 −6 34
13 BROB Barnet 38 12 7 19 46 61 −15 31
14 Muirhead Sports 38 12 6 20 54 77 −23 30
15 Bexley 38 9 11 18 46 88 −42 29
16 Barkingside 38 8 8 22 45 80 −35 24
17 Thames Polytechnic 38 7 9 22 33 82 −49 23
18 Ulysses 38 4 14 20 40 72 −32 22
19 Brentstonians 38 6 4 28 34 107 −73 16
20 RAS & RA 38 3 8 27 42 106 −64 14
Source: Non-League Matters

Member clubs

Member clubs during the league's existence included:

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References
  1. "Cray Wanderers in the Metropolitan League" (PDF). Cray Wanderers FC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-28.
  2. Penhill Standard at the Football Club History Database
  3. London Spartan League Non League Matters
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