Sunday league football in England
Sunday league football, is a term used in Britain, Ireland and Australia to describe the amateur association football competitions which take place on Sunday rather than the more usual Saturday. The term pub league may also be used, owing to the number of public houses that enter teams. Sunday league football is stereotypically seen as being of far lower quality than Saturday football. As a result, the term "Sunday league" can be used to describe a performance at any level of football which is seen as inept or amateurish. Despite this perception some leagues include players who also play at a high level of semi-professional football on Saturdays.
Most Sunday leagues across England consist of multiple divisions including promotion and relegation, but are not part of the English football league system. Every Sunday League operates under the jurisdiction of the local county association.
Sunday leagues are sanctioned by the local County Football Association. Sunday leagues do not form part of the hierarchical English football league system, but Sunday teams can opt to switch to Saturday play and potentially rise up the levels of the league system. The FA Sunday Cup is a national knock-out competition for English Sunday league football teams administered by the FA, which has been staged since 1964.
The most prominent single location for Sunday league football is Hackney Marshes in east London, which has been called the "spiritual home" of Sunday league. The oldest Sunday League in England is the Edmonton & District Sunday Football League, based in North London, which was formed in 1925.
In March 2012, Wheel Power F.C. won 58–0 against Nova 2010 F.C. in the Torbay Sunday League to record what was believed to be the largest victory ever achieved in British football.
History[edit]
The idea mainly started among young unemployed men in the 1920s in the Greater London area, with kick-abouts taking place in open spaces on Sunday afternoon. Soon, the first matches were organised but under difficult conditions for the players and the clubs: there were no changing rooms, no nets or corner flags and pitch markings. In the early 1930s a large percentage of workers were brought in London from Ireland, Manchester and Wales and these new immigrants formed their own Sunday football clubs.[1]
The first Sunday League to be formed in England was the Edmonton & District Sunday Football League of North London in 1925.[2] The East London Sunday League followed in 1930, the Metropolitan Sunday League in 1934, the West Fulham in 1936 and the Essex Corinthian in 1937.
Despite the fact that businessmen helped the clubs financially the new Leagues could not affiliate to the local County Football Association. Sunday league football was not recognised by any County FA and footballers who were under contract by a Saturday side or referees had to play under assumed names or risk being suspended.
Sunday Football began its popularity in 1958 when Sunday Football leagues started to form around England. In 1959 The Football Association put out a directive that anyone found playing for a Sunday League club, or referees officiating would be banned from taking part in Saturday football. Despite that, the Sunday players at the time decided to carry on, and in 1960 with the interest really taking off a National Sunday Competition, the Sunday Cup, started. The competition even covered by the press with the Daily Herald publishing the results every Monday. By 1964 the FA could no longer ignore the rise of Sunday football and thus it decided to take control. The Sunday Cup was renamed to FA Sunday Cup. Mount Athletic from the Forest Gate had previously won the competition 3 times until FA's taking over, a feat that remained a record for many years.
Hackney Marshes[edit]
The most prominent single location for Sunday league football has been Hackney Marshes in east London, consisted of 80 pitches and is considered the "spiritual home" of Sunday league.[5]The Marshes host the Hackney and Leyton Sunday football league matches - which was founded back in 1946- and also from other Sunday Leagues in the London County.
Clubs that switched to Saturday football[edit]
As it was aforementioned Senrab F.C. is one of the most important clubs in the history of the Sunday league. South East Dons is also a club that has enjoyed a wide success recently in terms of popularity having 175.000 followers on social media, while Monica Star F.C. had signed 4 players with Premier League experience in 2018. However, there have been Sunday clubs that after years of competing in Sunday football they decided to take a step further and convert to semi-professional clubs. New Salamis joined the Spartan South Midlands League after playing in 2 FA Sunday Cup finals, Albion Sports is now part of the Northern Counties East League and F.C. Romania moved to the Isthmian League.
Sunday League records[edit]
- In March 2012, Wheel Power F.C. won 58–0 against Nova 2010 F.C. in the Torbay Sunday League to record what was believed to be the largest victory ever achieved in British football.[3][4]
- On 4 May 2013, Alex Torr scored a hat-trick in world record-breaking 70 seconds in the Rawson Springs - Winn Gardens (7-1), in the Meadowhall Sunday League of Sheffield. Match referee Matt Tyers has confirmed the timings of the goals and admitted he had never seen anything like it before. Torr just three days earlier had notched another treble in just three in a 7–0 win over Penistone Church.[5]
- Simeon Cobourne scored at least 60 goals per season for four consecutive years with Digby Rangers in Birmingham's Coronation League (2015-2019).
- Stan Gittings managed Hackney and Leyton Sunday Football League club, Midfield, for more than 40 years since its conception in 1967.
In the south shields league Whiteleas buzzers beat boldon Wanderers 21-1 on Sunday 18/08/2024
Television coverage[edit]
In 1991, Danny Baker hosted The Game, a TV series focusing on East London Sunday League matches at Hackney Marshes, on Friday nights on LWT. The title of the show was a spoof of The Match, formerly The Big Match, the banner under which major league matches were televised on ITV at the time. The series ran for six episodes, culminating in the final of the Dick Coppock Cup (for Division Four of the league).
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "History of Essex Sunday league=". esfc1937.uk.
- ↑ "Edmonton & District Sunday Football League". www.edmontonsundayfootball.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
- ↑ "Wheel Power FC race to British record 58-0 win". espn.co.uk.
- ↑ "Amateur team Wheel Power FC inflict 'heaviest defeat in British history', 58-0". metro.co.uk. 22 March 2012.
- ↑ "Alex Torr sets new world record". mirror.co.uk. 4 May 2013.
