Metropolitan–London League

Metropolitan–London League

Countries	England
Founded	1971
First season	1971–72
Folded	1975
Divisions	One (1974–1975) Two (1971–1974)
Number of teams	Lowest: 20 (1974–1975) Highest: 25 (1971–1972)
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup
Most championships	Epping Town (2)

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

List of champions

Season	Division One	Division Two
1971–72	Epping Town	Muirhead Sports
1972–73	Swanley	East Thurrock United
1973–74	Epping Town	Alma Swanley
Season	Champions
1974–75	Cray 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	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Notes
1	Epping Town	26	18	5	3	71	25	41
2	Faversham Town	26	15	5	6	54	30	35
3	East Ham United	26	14	6	6	59	37	34
4	Cray Wanderers	26	15	1	10	59	38	31
5	Ford United	26	12	6	8	47	35	30
6	Swanley	26	12	5	9	56	36	29
7	Eton Manor	26	10	8	8	45	44	28
8	Hatfield Town	26	11	5	10	50	51	27
9	Sheppey United	26	9	6	11	43	47	24	Joined the Kent League at end of season
10	Canvey Island	26	7	8	11	29	52	22
11	Willesden	26	6	8	12	35	51	20
12	Chingford	26	6	6	14	34	52	18
13	BROB Barnet	26	6	4	16	26	78	16
14	Ulysses	26	3	3	20	25	57	9

Division Two

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

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Notes
1	Muirhead Sports	20	16	3	1	58	19	35
2	279 Chislehurst	20	13	5	2	63	28	31	Left league at end of season
3	Penhill Standard	20	9	6	5	37	31	24	Promoted to Division One
4	Highfield	20	9	4	7	45	28	22
5	Polytechnic	20	8	3	9	36	41	19
6	Bexley	20	6	6	8	37	40	18
7	Thames Polytechnic	20	7	4	9	25	32	18
8	Brentstonians	20	6	6	8	27	43	18
9	Heathside Sports	20	7	3	10	35	44	17
10	Barkingside	20	5	4	11	36	46	14
11	RAS & RA	20	0	4	16	12	59	4

1972–73

Division One

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

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

Division Two

Division Two featured one new club, East Thurrock United.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Notes
1	East Thurrock United	18	11	5	2	36	12	27	Promoted to Division One
2	Highfield	18	11	4	3	37	17	26
3	Muirhead Sports	18	8	7	3	32	21	23
4	Heathside Sports	18	8	6	4	36	25	22
5	Polytechnic	18	10	2	6	37	29	22
6	Bexley	18	6	3	9	34	38	15
7	RAS & RA	18	4	5	9	15	28	13
8	Barkingside	18	3	6	9	23	42	12
9	Thames Polytechnic	18	4	3	11	24	41	11
10	Brentstonians	18	3	3	12	17	38	9

1973–74

Division One

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

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

Division One

Division Two featured two new clubs:

• Alma Swanley
• Penhill Standard (relegated from Division One)

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Notes
1	Alma Swanley	18	15	3	0	51	14	33
2	Heathside Sports	18	12	4	2	42	15	28
3	Muirhead Sports	18	10	3	5	38	30	23
4	Penhill Standard	18	7	6	5	32	25	20
5	Thames Polytechnic	18	7	2	9	22	33	16
6	Polytechnic	18	6	3	9	21	31	15	Left league at end of season
7	Bexley	18	6	2	10	20	28	14
8	RAS & RA	18	5	3	10	18	28	13
9	Barkingside	18	4	2	12	20	38	10
10	Brentstonians	18	2	4	12	16	38	8

1975–75

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

Member clubs

Twenty-seven clubs played in the league during its existence:

279 Chislehurst Alma Swanley Barkingside Bexley Brentstonians BROB Barnet Canvey Island Chingford

Cray Wanderers East Ham United East Thurrock United Epping Town Eton Manor Faversham Town Ford United

Hatfield Town Heathside Sports Highfield Muirhead Sports Penhill Standard Polytechnic RAS & RA

Sheppey United Swanley Town Thames Polytechnic Ulysses Willesden

References

1. ^ Cray Wanderers in the Metropolitan League Cray Wanderers FC
2. ^ Penhill Standard at the Football Club History Database
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} London Spartan League Non League Matters