Country England First season 1912–13 | Founded 1912 Folded 1984 | |
Divisions One (1912–1963, 1977–1984)
Two (1973–1977)
Three (1963–1973) Number of teams Lowest: 10 (1912–1913)
Highest: 48 (1964–1972) | ||
The Athenian League was an English amateur football league for clubs in and around London. The league was formed in 1912 with ten clubs, but had to close down in 1914 due to the onset of World War I. When it reformed in 1920, only three of the previous teams rejoined. Clubs left and joined the league at a rate of about one a year, with a number leaving to join the Isthmian League, the strongest amateur league in the London area. Total membership remained fairly stable at between twelve and sixteen clubs until 1963, when it absorbed most of the clubs from two rival leagues, the Corinthian League (most of whose former clubs formed Division One) and the Delphian League (most of whose former clubs formed Division Two). The existing division was renamed the Premier Division.
Contents
Over the following years it lost many clubs to stronger leagues, particularly the Isthmian League and Southern League, and successive waves of Isthmian League expansion in 1973, 1977 and 1984 finally forced the league to disband. The league was amongst the first in England to be sponsored by an external company when, in the late 1970s, it was billed as the Kingsmead Athenian League.
Champions
The champion clubs were as follows:
In 1963 the league expanded to three divisions
In 1973 the league was reduced to two divisions
In 1977 the league was reduced to a single division
Member clubs
The league had 113 member clubs during its existence: