Central Midlands Football League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Central Midlands Football League | |
|---|---|
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| Sport | Football |
| Founded | 1983 |
| No. of teams | 39 (two divisions) |
| Country |  England |
| Current champions | Barton Town Old Boys |
The Central Midlands League is an English association football league covering the northeast-central part of England. Founded in 1983 covering mainly Derbyshire, they now take in clubs from Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and other counties in the region. Since the 2004/05 season, their principal sponsor has been Abacus Lighting.
Within the English football league system, the CML's top division, called the Central Midlands League Supreme Division, is considered part of the National League System while the lower Central Midlands League Premier Division (at the twelfth overall tier of the pyramid) and two reserve divisions are not. Four clubs from the Premier Division have the distinction of being the lowest-ranked clubs, and only ones outside the NLS, accepted for the 2006-07 FA Vase.
Buckingham Insurance sponsor the Supreme Division, Vipond Fire Protection the Premier Division, and "Lee's" sponsor the Reserve Premier Division and 15-team Reserve Division One.
Champions of the Supreme Division are eligible (if they meet ground standards) for promotion to the Northern Counties East League, and some clubs have progressed from the CML to the Football Conference North and Northern Premier League. A representative side from the league takes part in the FA National League System Cup.
Six local leagues, often not recognized as playing senior football, are below the CML on the pyramid. These are the Midlands Regional Alliance, the Humber Premier League, the Nottinghamshire Senior League, the Doncaster and District Senior League, the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League, and the Chesterfield and District Amateur League. In most cases these have multiple divisions or feeder leagues of their own.
