Midland Football Alliance

The Midland Football Alliance was an English association football league for semi-professional teams. It covered Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and also southern parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The league consisted of a single division which sat at Step 5 of the National League System, or the ninth level of the overall English football league system.

Midland Football Alliance

Founded	1994
Folded	2014
Country	England
Level on pyramid	Level 8 (1994–04) Level 9 (2004–14)
Feeder to	Southern League Division One Midlands Northern Premier League Division One South
Relegation to	West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division Midland Combination Premier Division
Domestic cup(s)	League Cup Joe McGorian Cup
Last champions	Tividale (2013–14)
Most championships	Rocester, Stourbridge (2)
Website	Midland Alliance

The league was formed in 1994, drawing its initial membership from the strongest clubs in the Midland Football Combination and the West Midlands (Regional) League, both of which became feeder leagues to the new competition. Each season, the champion club of each feeder league was eligible for promotion to the Alliance, and Alliance clubs could in turn be relegated to the feeder leagues. Successful teams in the Alliance were eligible for promotion to a Step 4 league, either the Southern League or Northern Premier League depending on geographical considerations. The league merged with the Midland Combination in 2014 to form the new Midland Football League.

History

The Alliance was formed in 1994, taking its initial member clubs from the West Midlands (Regional) League and the Midland Football Combination, which had existed since before the Second World War, having originally been formed as the Birmingham & District League and the Worcestershire Combination respectively.[1][2] Their catchment areas had gradually converged, and by the early 1990s the standard of play and geographical coverage of the two competitions were considered to be similar enough that a new competition was formed to cater for the best clubs previously split across the two leagues.[3]

The league drew ten member clubs from each of the two leagues for its inaugural season. The clubs selected to join from the Midland Combination were Barwell, Boldmere St Michaels, Bolehall Swifts, Pershore Town, Sandwell Borough, Shepshed Dynamo, Shifnal Town, Stapenhill, Stratford Town and West Midlands Police.[3] Those selected from the West Midlands (Regional) League were Brierley Hill Town, Chasetown, Halesowen Harriers, Hinckley Athletic, Knypersley Victoria, Oldbury United, Paget Rangers, Rocester, Rushall Olympic and Willenhall Town.[3] Paget Rangers won the first league championship by a margin of 12 points from Hinckley Athletic in the 1994–95 season, and gained promotion to the Southern League.[4] The Alliance's status as a feeder to the Southern League was cemented when Armitage 90 were relegated in the opposite direction.[4][5][6] Armitage went on to dominate the league in the 1995–96 season but disbanded midway through the season, with the result that their record was expunged from the table.[4]

Midland Alliance action from 2008, as Boldmere St Michaels (white shirts) take on Barwell

For the 1999–2000 season the league increased in size to 22 clubs when two clubs were promoted into the Alliance but none relegated out of it. One of the promoted clubs was Oadby Town of the Leicestershire Senior League, the first time a team from that league had been promoted into the Alliance.[3] Two years later, the league increased in size to 23 clubs as more teams joined than left,[3] but Stapenhill resigned midway through the 2001–02 season, reverting the number of clubs in the competition back to 22.[7] The league expanded to 24 clubs for the 2003–04 season,[8] at the end of which, for the first time, Alliance clubs were promoted to the Northern Premier League, rather than the Southern League, when Rocester and Willenhall Town joined the more northerly of the two leagues.[3] The following season Coalville Town became the first Alliance team to reach the first round proper of the FA Cup, a feat which was repeated in the 2005–06 season by both Chasetown and Leamington.[9][10][11]

With the creation of the National League System by the Football Association the league was officially defined as a Step 5 league.[12] The champions of the Midland Combination, West Midlands (Regional) League and Leicestershire Senior League continued to gain promotion to the Alliance, although in 2008 the new East Midlands Counties Football League was formed at the Step 6 level and it was anticipated that successful teams from the Leicestershire Senior League, which is officially a Step 7 league, would now move up to the new league and that the champions of the new league would in turn move up to the Alliance if they fell within its coverage area.[13]

In 2014 the Alliance merged with the Midland Combination to form the new Midland Football League. The clubs which had been members of the Alliance formed the Premier Division of the new league.

Structure

The Alliance was known under various sponsored names following deals with companies including Baker-Joiner,[14] Polymac Services, Harvey World Travel,[15] Travel Factory,[16] and Aspire.[17] In July 2008, it was announced that 23 teams would compete in the Alliance in the 2008–09 season, however the following week it was announced that Stapenhill had folded, leaving 22 teams in the league.[18] The league was contested on a double round-robin basis, with each team playing each of the other teams in the division once at home and once away.[19] Three points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a defeat. Goal difference was used to separate teams on the same points.[20]

As the Alliance was a Step 5 league, its member clubs were eligible to take part in the FA Cup and FA Vase as long as their grounds met the required standards.[21] The league also operated two cup competitions of its own, the knock-out League Cup,[22][23] which was staged every season, and the Joe McGorian Cup, which was contested between the previous season's League Cup winners and league champions and which was first contested in 1996.[22][24]

According to official FA regulations, clubs from the Alliance were eligible for promotion to a Step 4 league, provided their grounds met the required standard. Clubs promoted from Step 5 leagues were placed in the most geographically appropriate Step 4 leagues as determined by the FA's Leagues Committee. The number of clubs promoted from the Alliance each season could vary, as regulations stated that the "ten most suitable clubs from the leagues at Step 5" will gain promotion.[12] All clubs gaining promotion from the Alliance were placed in either the Southern League or the Northern Premier League.[3] Teams finishing at the bottom of the Alliance table could be relegated to an appropriate feeder league, depending on the number of teams remaining in the division after other promotion and relegation issues have been resolved.[3]

Attendance

The Beehive, home of Studley, where the average attendance in the 2007–08 season was 79

Attendances at Midland Alliance matches were generally small, with many matches attracting fewer than 100 spectators. In the 2006–07 season the average attendance across the league was 124, but in the 2007–08 season this fell to 87. The best supported team in that season was Atherstone Town, whose average home attendance was 162. The worst supported team was Oldbury United whose matches drew an average of only 39 spectators. The highest attendance for a single match was 411, for the match between Stratford Town and Barwell. Barwell also took part in the match with the lowest attendance, when their game away to Oldbury United drew only 20 spectators.[25]

The largest crowd ever registered for an Alliance match was 1,280, for the match between Racing Club Warwick and local rivals Leamington on 26 December 2005. The smallest crowd recorded was 10, for a match between Wednesfield and Biddulph Victoria on 19 April 2003.[22]

Champions and cup-winners

The area covered by the Midland Alliance is coloured mid blue.

The league champions and clubs promoted from the league were as follows:[26]

Season	Champions	Promoted
		Club	League
1994–95	Paget Rangers	Paget Rangers	SFL Midland Division
1995–96	Shepshed Dynamo	Shepshed Dynamo	SFL Midland Division
1996–97	Blakenall	Blakenall	SFL Midland Division
1997–98	Bloxwich Town	Bloxwich Town	SFL Midland Division
1998–99	Rocester	Rocester	SFL Division One West
1999–2000	Oadby Town	–
2000–01	Stourport Swifts	Stourport Swifts	SFL Division One West
2001–02	Stourbridge	Bromsgrove Rovers	SFL Division One West
2002–03	Stourbridge	–
2003–04	Rocester	Rocester Willenhall Town	NPL Division One
2004–05	Rushall Olympic	Rushall Olympic	SFL Division One West
2005–06	Chasetown	Chasetown Stourbridge Malvern Town	SFL Division One Midlands
2006–07	Leamington	Leamington Romulus Quorn	SFL Division One Midlands SFL Division One Midlands NPL Division One South
2007–08	Atherstone Town	Atherstone Town Loughborough Dynamo	SFL Division One Midlands NPL Division One South
2008–09	Market Drayton Town	Market Drayton Town	NPL Division One South
2009–10	Barwell	Barwell	NPL Division One South
2010–11	Coalville Town	Coalville Town	NPL Division One South
2011–12	Gresley	Gresley	NPL Division One South
2012–13	Stratford Town	Stratford Town	SFL Division One South & West
2013–14	Tividale	Tividale	NPL Division One South

The winners of the Alliance's two cup competitions were as follows:[27]

Season	League Cup	Joe McGorian Cup
1994–95	Sandwell Borough	Not contested
1995–96	Blakenall	Not contested
1996–97	Willenhall Town	Shepshed Dynamo
1997–98	Knypersley Victoria	Willenhall Town
1998–99	Oldbury United	Knypersley Victoria
1999–2000	Willenhall Town	Oldbury United
2000–01	Stourbridge	Oadby Town
2001–02	Rushall Olympic	Stourbridge
2002–03	Stratford Town	Stourbridge
2003–04	Stratford Town	Stratford Town
2004–05	Racing Club Warwick	Not contested
2005–06	Barwell	Racing Club Warwick
2006–07	Leamington	Chasetown
2007–08	Shifnal Town	Leamington
2008–09	Market Drayton Town	Atherstone Town
2009–10	Coventry Sphinx	Barwell
2010–11	Stratford Town	Barwell
2011–12	Loughborough University	Stratford Town
2012–13	Loughborough University	Gresley
2013–14	Quorn	Loughborough University

Member clubs

A total of 65 clubs played in the Midland Football Alliance:

Club Years No AFC Wulfrunians 2013–14 1 Alvechurch 2003–14 11 Armitage 1995–96 1 Atherstone Town 2006–08 2011–12 3 Barwell 1994–2010 16 Biddulph Victoria 1994–2011 17 Blakenall 1995–97 2 Bloxwich Town 1996–98 1999–2001 4 Boldmere St. Michaels 1994–2014 20 Bolehall Swifts 1994–96 2 Bridgnorth Town 1996–2005 2008–13 14 Brierley Hill Town 1994–95 1 Bromsgrove Rovers 2001–02 1 Causeway United 2002–14 12 Chasetown 1994–2006 12 Coalville Town 2003–11 8 Coleshill Town 2008–14 6 Continental Star 2012–14 2 Coventry Sphinx 2007–14 7 Cradley Town 1999–2010 11 Dunkirk 2010–14 4 Ellesmere Rangers 2010–13 3 Friar Lane & Epworth 2006–11 5

Club Years No Gornal Athletic 2012–14 2 Gresley 2011–12 1 Grosvenor Park 2002–04 2 Halesowen Harriers 1994–2003 9 Heath Hayes 2010–14 4 Heather St Johns 2011–14 3 Highgate United 2008–14 6 Hinckley Athletic 1994–97 3 Kings Norton Town 1997–2000 3 Kirby Muxloe 2009–14 5 Leamington 2005–07 2 Loughborough Dynamo 2004–08 4 Loughborough University 2009–14 5 Ludlow Town 2001–05 4 Malvern Town 2004–06 2009–11 4 Market Drayton Town 2006–09 3 Oadby Town 1999–2011 12 Oldbury United 1994–2009 15 Paget Rangers 1994–95 2001–02 2 Pelsall Villa 1996–2004 8 Pershore Town 1994–2000 6 Quorn 2001–07 2013–14 7 Racing Club Warwick 2003–09 6

Club Years No Rocester 1994–99 2003–04 2005–14 15 Romulus 2004–07 3 Rushall Olympic 1994–2005 11 Sandwell Borough 1994–2001 7 Shepshed Dynamo 1994–96 2013–14 3 Shifnal Town 1994–2003 2007–10 12 Stafford Town 2000–04 4 Stapenhill 1994–2002 2007–08 9 Stratford Town 1994–2013 19 Stourbridge 2000–06 6 Stourport Swifts 1998–2001 2012–14 5 Studley 2001–13 12 Tipton Town 2005–14 9 Tividale 2011–14 3 Walsall Wood 2013–14 1 Wednesfield 1997–2003 6 West Midlands Police 1994–2001 7 Westfields 2003–14 1 Willenhall 1994–2004 2010–12 12

References

1. Robinson, Michael (2005). Non-League Football Tables 1889–2005. Soccer Books Limited. p. 88. ISBN 1-86223-125-7.
2. "History". Worcestershire County FA. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
3. Robinson, Michael. Non-League Football Tables 1889–2005. p. 123.
4. Robinson, Michael. Non-League Football Tables 1889–2005. p. 124.
5. "Paget Rangers". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
6. "Armitage '90". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
7. "Stapenhill". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
8. Robinson, Michael. Non-League Football Tables 1889–2005. p. 125.
9. "Coalville". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
10. "Chasetown". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
11. "Leamington". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
12. "National League System" (pdf). The Football Association. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
13. "New Era for Vics". Non-League Daily. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
14. "Midland Football Alliance 2010–11". Rocester F.C. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
15. Nick Pullen (29 June 2006). "Lycett to rescue for the Midland Alliance". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
16. "Jefferson Taps in for Point". Hereford Times. 6 January 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
17. Nick Pullen (13 June 2008). "Sponsorship boost for Midland Football Alliance". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
18. "News Items". Tipton Town F.C. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
19. "Fixtures & Results Grid: Midland Football Alliance". Tony's English Football Site. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
20. "Table: Midland Football Alliance". Tony's English Football Site. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
21. "FA Competition Administration". The Football Association. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
22. "League stats". Midland Football Alliance. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
23. "Hungry Wolf". Worcester News. 22 December 2004. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
24. "Barwell swoop to cup win over Sphinx". The Hinckley Times. 10 August 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
25. "Attendances: Midland Alliance". Tony's English Football Site. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
26. Robinson, Michael. Non-League Football Tables 1889–2005. pp. 124–125.
27. "League Stats". Midland Football Alliance. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.

External links

• Official website