- The Combination
The Combination was a minor league during the early days of
English football . It had two incarnations; the first ran only for the 1888-89 season for teams across theNorth of England and theMidlands , and was wound up before completion. The second was created for the 1890-91 season, but disbanded in 1911. The league comprised teams primarily fromNorth West England and laterWales .The league should not be confused with the current
Football Combination , a competition for reserve teams from the South of England, or with theLancashire Combination , another minor league running around the same time.First incarnation
The first Combination was set up in 1888, the same year the
Football League was founded. It consisted of 20 teams, although this proved too many teams for each one to play the other once, let alone twice. Instead each club was to play eight others home and away, making 16 games in total. However unlike the League the Combination was not centrally organised, but left to individual clubs; as a result confusion ensued, as it was not clear whether many matches between clubs were friendlies or Combination matches. Many fixtures were left unfulfilled, and the Combination was wound up in April 1889. [cite book |last=Shury |first=Alan |coauthors=Brian Landamore |others=with Allen Kristensen and Tony Brown |title=The Definitive Newton Heath F.C. |origyear=2002 |edition=2nd edition |series='Definitive' Club Histories |year=2005 |publisher=SoccerData |location=Nottingham |isbn=1899468161 |pages=pp11 |chapter=History of Newton Heath F.C. ]Participating teams included Newton Heath, Grimsby Town, Lincoln City, Burslem Port Vale, Crewe Alexandra, Bootle, Small Heath and Blackburn Olympic.
econd incarnation
The second incarnation was founded in 1890. The twelve founder members were:cite web | url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engcombinationhist.html | title=England - The Combination | work=RSSSF ]
*Burton Swifts
*Chester City
*Denton
*Derby St Luke's
*Gorton Villa
*Hyde (not related to the current Hyde United)
*Leek (not related to the current Leek Town)
*Macclesfield Town
*Northwich Victoria
*Stafford County
*Witton (not related to the current Witton Albion)
*WrexhamFive of the founding teams would eventually go on to play in
the Football League , although in the case of Macclesfield, this would not happen until 1997-98. Glossop North End, who joined in1894 , were also elected to the League (in1898 ).As the competition evolved, the nature of the teams changed, with many more Welsh teams being involved, as well as the reserve teams of
Football League clubs such as Everton and Crewe Alexandra. By the time the competition folded in 1911 none of the original members still participated, with the exception of Wrexham, who fielded their reserve team. It was succeeded by theCheshire County League and later by theNorth West Counties League .Champions
The champions of the league were as follows:
References
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