The Yorkshire Football League was a football competition founded in 1920 which existed until 1982 when it merged with the Midland League to become the Northern Counties East League.
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There had previously been a short lived Yorkshire League founded in 1898–99, featuring 10 teams, however it only lasted for two seasons and was dissolved by the end of 1899. It is generally not viewed as the same competition as that which emerged in the 1920s.
During the two years of its existence, the original Yorkshire league was won first by Sheffield United reserves and then in 1898–99 Wombwell were champions. The competition took place before many of the more well known clubs of today were formed, for example it featured a team from Leeds, which predated both Leeds City and Leeds United. The same could be said for the Huddersfield, Halifax and Bradford sides.
The teams who participated were;
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The second Yorkshire League was formed in 1920, catering for a mixture of semi-professional and amateur local football teams. Some of the Football League clubs entered their reserve sides and third teams. The league ran until 1981–82, when it merged with the Midland League to form the Northern Counties East League.
Founding members of the 1920 Yorkshire League included;
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There were only six seasons where the title was not competed for, this was during part of the 1940s when, due to World War II, many of the players in football competitions all over the country were called up to fight and thus the leagues were put on hold.
The first champions were Bradford Park Avenue reserves. They were the only reserve outfit in the league during that inaugural season, but their success in the Yorkshire League induced other bigger clubs to sign their reserves up for inclusion for the following seasons.
No club dominated the league in particular before World War II, with Selby Town the only team who managed to win successive titles in 1934–35 and 1935–36. Bradford Park Avenue reserves along with Selby Town remained the overall most successful however, with three titles each to their names.
After the War, the league resumed for the 1945–46 season, and within five years had enough clubs to form two divisions, entitled Division One and Division Two. This pattern continued until 1961, when a third division was formed (although that only lasted three seasons, and then lay dormant until revived for the 1970–71 season).
Stocksbridge Works became the dominant force in the Yorkshire League of the 1950s. They were founder members of Division Two and won that league in its second season, gaining promotion. In their début year in the top division they took the title. After a two-year hiatus, when Selby Town again completed a double, Stocksbridge won the Championship for four consecutive seasons, a record which stood until the league's demise. After their sustained period of success, Stocksbridge became a "yo-yo club," spending short periods in Divisions One and Two, and also dipped down to Division Three for a single season.
During the lifetime of the Yorkshire League, member clubs competed in all four major F.A. competitions. In the now defunct FA Amateur Cup, the best performance was from Yorkshire Amateur, who reached the semi-finals in 1931–32, while in the replacement tournament, the FA Vase, Sheffield went one better, but lost out in the final of 1976–77. In the more senior competitions, the best Yorkshire League performances were Selby Town reaching the second round proper of the FA Cup in 1954–55, and Mexborough Town's place in the third round of the FA Trophy during the 1972–73 season.
No Yorkshire League club progressed directly to the Northern Premier League after that league was founded in 1968 – ambitious clubs could move to the Midland League, but when regional football in the North of England was rationalised in 1982, the Yorkshire League and the Midland League merged to become the Northern Counties East League. Emley won the last ever Yorkshire League. The Northern Counties East Football League continues on today, as a level 9 league in the English football league system.
The league originally consisted of a single section of 13 clubs, and although numbers rose and fell, by 1935 had reached a stable membership of 20 clubs. However, the league ceased operations in 1939 on the outbreak of World War II. For the 1931–32 and 1932–33 seasons, the number of clubs competing was so small that two separate competitions were organised, with the winners of the first competition playing the winners of the second competition for the league championship.
| Season | Champions |
|---|---|
| 1920–21 | Bradford Park Avenue reserves |
| 1921–22 | Houghton Main |
| 1922–23 | Bradford Park Avenue reserves |
| 1923–24 | Methley Perseverance |
| 1924–25 | Brodsworth Main |
| 1925–26 | Methley Perseverance |
| 1926–27 | Harrogate |
| 1927–28 | Goole Town |
| 1928–29 | Bradford Park Avenue reserves |
| 1929–30 | Bradford City reserves |
| 1930–31 | Leeds United "A" |
| 1931–32 | Huddersfield Town "A" |
| 1932–33 | Selby Town |
| 1933–34 | Huddersfield Town "A" |
| 1934–35 | Selby Town |
| 1935–36 | Selby Town |
| 1936–37 | Selby Town |
| 1937–38 | York City reserves |
| 1938–39 | Sheffield Wednesday "A" |
On the resumption after the War, 15 teams played in the 1945–46 season. The next year, the league resumed its pre-war 20-team constitution but the numbers of clubs wishing to enter was such that it was decided to form a second division for the 1949–50 season.
| Season | Champions |
|---|---|
| 1945–46 | Thorne Colliery |
| 1946–47 | Goole Town |
| 1947–48 | Sheffield United "A" |
| 1948–49 | Goole Town reserves |
For the next 12 years, the league maintained a two-division structure, always having 18 teams in Division One, but numbers in Division Two varied from 13 to 19 teams.
| Season | Division One | Division Two |
|---|---|---|
| 1949–50 | Goole Town reserves | Retford Town reserves |
| 1950–51 | Sheffield Wednesday "A" | Stocksbridge Works |
| 1951–52 | Stocksbridge Works | Farsley Celtic |
| 1952–53 | Selby Town | Huddersfield Town "A" |
| 1953–54 | Selby Town | Rawmarsh Welfare |
| 1954–55 | Stocksbridge Works | Hull City "A" |
| 1955–56 | Stocksbridge Works | Rawmarsh Welfare |
| 1956–57 | Stocksbridge Works | Retford Town |
| 1957–58 | Stocksbridge Works | East End Park WMC |
| 1958–59 | Retford Town | Yorkshire Amateur |
| 1959–60 | Farsley Celtic | Grimethorpe Miners Welfare |
| 1960–61 | Sheffield Wednesday "A" | Hallam |
With the league membership at an all-time high of 37 clubs in 1960–61, the decision was taken to split the league into three divisions for the 1961–62 season. The third division only lasted three seasons All the members of the third division were reserve or "A" teams in the first two years, but two first teams did join for the 1963–64. The third division was then disbanded and the league resumed with two divisions.
| Season | Division One | Division Two | Division Three |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961–62 | Stocksbridge Works | Bridlington Trinity | Farsley Celtic reserves |
| 1962–63 | Stocksbridge Works | Wombwell Sporting Association | Farsley Celtic reserves |
| 1963–64 | Bridlington Trinity | Rawmarsh Welfare | Keighley Central |
With the three-division experiment over (for now), the league entered a period of consolidation with two divisions for a six-season spell.
| Season | Division One | Division Two |
|---|---|---|
| 1964–65 | Wombwell Sporting Association | Stocksbridge Works |
| 1965–66 | Wombwell Sporting Association | Norton Woodseats |
| 1966–67 | Bridlington Town | Hull Brunswick |
| 1967–68 | Bridlington Trinity | Lincoln United |
| 1968–69 | Farsley Celtic | Rawmarsh Welfare |
| 1969–70 | Rawmarsh Welfare | Dinnington Athletic |
Expansion back to a three-division setup occurred in 1970. This time, the members of the lowest tier were almost all first teams, including the first champions of the division, ex-league winners Stocksbridge Works. In 1982, the 62-year history of the Yorkshire League ended as it merged with Midland League to form the Northern Counties East League
| Season | Division One | Division Two | Division Three |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970–71 | Lincoln United | North Ferriby United | Stocksbridge Works |
| 1971–72 | Winterton Rangers | Barton Town | Leeds Ashley Road |
| 1972–73 | Mexborough Town | Leeds & Carnegie College | Hall Road Rangers |
| 1973–74 | Lincoln United | Thackley | Pickering Town |
| 1974–75 | Ossett Albion | Bridlington Town | Stocksbridge Works |
| 1975–76 | Emley | Guiseley | Rawmarsh Welfare |
| 1976–77 | Winterton Rangers | Sheffield | Bentley Victoria Welfare |
| 1977–78 | Emley | Kiveton Park | Yorkshire Amateur |
| 1978–79 | Winterton Rangers | Ossett Albion | York Railway Institute |
| 1979–80 | Emley | Barton Town | Hall Road Rangers |
| 1980–81 | Leeds Ashley Road | Ossett Albion | Bradley Rangers |
| 1981–82 | Emley | Harrogate Town | Pontefract Collieries |