St. Edmundsbury Football League

St. Edmundsbury Football League
Country England
Founded 1907 (as the Bury & District Football League)
Divisions Division One
Division Two
Division Three
Number of teams 19
7 (Division One)
7 (Division Two)
5 (Division Three)
Level on pyramid Levels 18–20
Feeder to Suffolk and Ipswich Football League
Promotion to Suffolk and Ipswich Football League
Division decided by SIFL Committee
League cup(s) Mick McNeil Cup
Bill Utting Cup
Division 1 KO Cup
Division 2 KO Cup
St Edmunds Fair Play Cup
Current champions Home Guard (Division One)
Ram Meadow (Division Two)
Cedars Park 'A'
(2014–15)
Website http://www.stedmundsburyfootballleague.co.uk/

The St. Edmundsbury Football League is a football competition based around the town of Bury St Edmunds in England. It has three divisions: One, Two and Three. Its top division sits at level 18 of the English football league system. It is a feeder to the Suffolk and Ipswich Football League and is currently sponsored by Glasswells World of Furniture.

The league is affiliated to the Suffolk County FA.

History

The league was founded in 1907 and for most of its history has been known as the Bury & District Football League. In its early years the league had a much higher status and served a good standard of football in the West Suffolk area. However in the last 25 years those clubs with better facilities have left the league for higher standard competitions with Bacton Utd 89, Bartons, Cockfield Utd, Elmswell, Sporting 87, Stanton, St.Edmunds 65 (now returned), Thurston, Walsham-le-Willows moving to the Suffolk and Ipswich Football League and Barton Mills, Exning Athletic, Lakenheath, Tuddenham Rovers and West Row Gunners moving to the Cambridgeshire League. A consequence has been a reduction in the number of divisions from three in the 1990s to two over the last decade (with the exception of 2006–07). At the same time the number of teams participating in the league has halved from around 40 teams in the 1990s to 20 teams in the 2011/12 season. The league re-added Division Three for the 2014-15 season though.

In 2007 the Bury & District Football League celebrated its centenary and in the same year made the decision to rename the league as the St. Edmundsbury Football League.

Among the clubs that at one time played in the Bury & District Football League and now compete at a higher level are:

Current clubs in the St. Edmundsbury Football League have very basic facilities and in recent years the champion club has not taken advantage of seeking promotion to the Suffolk and Ipswich League competition. This trend has been broken by Bartons, the 2011-12 champions, who moved up to Division Three of the Suffolk & Ipswich League for the 2012-13 season. Bartons subsequently gained promotion from Division Three to the Suffolk and Ipswich League Division Two in their first season.

Member clubs 2015–16

Division One

  • Bedrick's Worth
  • Bury Town Rams
  • St. Edmund's
  • Stanton Reserves
  • Westbury United
  • Wortham

Division Two

  • AFC Black Boy
  • Bury Town Rams Reserves
  • Bury Wanderers
  • Elmswell Reserves
  • RF Saints
  • Thurston
  • Trunk

Division Three

Recent divisional champions

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
SeasonDivision OneDivision TwoDivision Three
2004–05Fornham St. MartinBarons
2005–06Black EaglesWestbury United
2006–07Black EaglesPriors InnElephant & Castle
2007–08Ixworth PykkerellElveden Phoenix
2008–09PriorsHaughley United Reserves
2009–10Ixworth PykkerellElephant & Castle
2010–11St. Edmund's Garboldisham
2011–12Bartons Tollgate Inn
2012–13Home Guard RF Saints
2013–14St. Edmund's AFC Hoxne 'A'
2014–15Home Guard Ram Meadow Cedars Park 'A'

References

External links

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