Wearside Football League

The Wearside Football League is a non-league football competition based in northern England. It consists of three divisions which sits at steps 7 to 9 of the National League System (levels 11 to 13 of the Football pyramid) and is a feeder to the Northern League Division Two.

Wearside Football League

Organising body	Durham County Football Association North Riding County Football Association
Founded	1892
Country	England
Divisions	3
Number of teams	37
Level on pyramid	Levels 11 to 13
Feeder to	Northern League
Promotion to	Northern League Division Two
League cup(s)	Monkwearmouth Charity Cup Shipowners' Charity Cup League Challenge Cup
Website	official

Founded in 1892, the Wearside League's level has fluctuated in its history, though it has typically sat below the Northern League. The league's high point was probably during the 1960s and 70s after several teams from the defunct North Eastern League joined it; Wearside League teams won the FA Vase in 1978 and 1981. With the restructuring of the National League System in the early 2000s its place at step 7 became fully established, helped by a merger with the Durham Alliance Combination League in 2017. The league has expanded and contracted its number of divisions over the years, and as of 2021-22 consists of three divisions.

Although centred on Wearside and County Durham, the league has contained teams from Tyneside as well, with some geographical overlap with the Northern Football Alliance at the leagues' borders. Teams from Northern Cumbria and North Yorkshire also compete in the league. The league also operates three cup competitions: the Monkwearmouth Charity Cup and the Shipowners' Charity Cup, both of which have been contested since the 1890s, and the League Challenge Cup, which came into being in the 1930s.

History

The Wearside League came into being in 1892 at the instigation of Charles Kirtley, secretary of Sunderland Swifts. In June 1892, a letter written by Kirtley was published in the Sunderland Daily Post and The Herald in which he stated that he had been asked by several club secretaries about the possibility of forming an organisation to play home-and-home matches, so as to find out which was the best amateur team. A similar letter was published in the Sunderland Daily Echo. At a meeting soon afterwards at the Central Coffee Tavern, eleven clubs agreed to form a league, which commenced playing later that year.

During the early years of the league most teams were extremely hard-up, and the league's archive records that one early club had no pitch but instead played on the sands by Sunderland Docks, and another had to play with an old rugby ball as they could not afford an association football ball. By the 20th century, however, the league was better off and was even able to organise matches to benefit local charities during World War I. After the Great War, the league was dominated for many years by colliery welfare teams – in the 1930s every league title was won by a pit team and the mining clubs continued to dominate right through to the 1970s, although an increasing number began to experience financial difficulties from the 1950s onwards due to shrinking workforces at the mines.

In 1964 the North Eastern League was disbanded and a number of its former teams joined the Wearside League. Around this time the team of the 24th Signal Regiment spent one season in the league but then had to withdraw as most of their players were posted overseas. In 1978 Blue Star became the first Wearside League club to reach the final of the FA Vase, and went on to win the trophy, the start of a run of success which would ultimately see them progress much higher up the non-league ranks. Three years later Whickham repeated the feat and also soon moved up to higher leagues. More recently, clubs such as Darlington Railway Athletic, North Shields, Newton Aycliffe, Ryhope Colliery Welfare and Willington have successfully moved up to the Northern League.

Member clubs for 2023–24 season

Premier Division

• Annfield Plain
• Bishop Auckland Reserves
• Darlington Railway Athletic
• Darlington Town
• Durham Corinthians
• Durham United
• Farrington Detached
• Gateshead Leam Rangers
• Hartlepool Pools Youth
• Norton and Stockton Ancients Youth
• Richmond Town
• Seaton Carew
• Shotton Colliery
• Silksworth Colliery Welfare
• South Moor
• Willington
• Windscale
• Wolviston

First Division

• Barnard Castle
• Belmont United
• Billingham Town Reserves
• Birtley Town Development
• Chester-le-Street PV
• Consett Reserves
• Coxhoe Athletic
• Deerness Valley
• Durham City
• Feryhill Athletic
• Hetton Town
• Hylton Colliery Welfare
• New Durham
• Sunderland RCA Reserves
• West Auckland Reserves

Second Division

• Billingham Synthonia Reserves
• Durham Corinthians Development
• FC Hartlepool Reserves
• Gateshead Leam Rangers Reserves
• Hilda Park
• Newfield Hilda Park
• Newton Aycliffe YFC Seniors
• Project Fitness
• Richmond Mavericks
• Shildon Railway
• Wear United
• Wolviston Reserves
• Wynyard Village

Past champions

This is a list of champions since World War II.

Season Champions 1945–46 Birtley Town 1946–47 Seaham Colliery Welfare 1947–48 Easington Colliery Welfare 1948–49 Easington Colliery Welfare 1949–50 South Hetton 1950–51 Sunderland 'A' 1951–52 Sunderland 'A' 1952–53 Boldon Community Association 1953–54 Shotton Colliery Welfare 1954–55 Boldon Community Association 1955–56 Shotton Colliery Welfare 1956–57 Shotton Colliery Welfare 1957–58 Silksworth Colliery Welfare 1958–59 Langley Park Colliery Welfare 1959–60 Murton Colliery Welfare 1960–61 Shotton Colliery Welfare 1961–62 Ryhope Colliery Welfare 1962–63 Ryhope Colliery Welfare 1963–64 Ryhope Colliery Welfare 1964–65 Horden Colliery Welfare 1965–66 Ryhope Colliery Welfare 1966–67 Reyrolle 1967–68 Horden Colliery Welfare 1968–69 Darlington Reserves 1969–70 Horden Colliery Welfare 1970–71 Horden Colliery Welfare 1971–72 Horden Colliery Welfare 1972–73 Horden Colliery Welfare 1973–74 Blue Star Welfare 1974–75 Boldon Community Association 1975–76 Blue Star Welfare 1976–77 South Shields 1977–78 Whickham 1978–79 Wallsend Town 1979–80 Hartlepool United Reserves 1980–81 Chester-le-Street Town 1981–82 Seaham Colliery Welfare Red Star 1982–83 Blue Star 1983–84 Blue Star 1984–85 Blue Star 1985–86 Coundon TT 1986–87 Annfield Plain 1987–88 Whickham 1988–89 Dunston Federation Brewery 1989–90 Dunston Federation Brewery 1990–91 Eppleton Colliery Welfare 1991–92 Eppleton Colliery Welfare 1992–93 South Shields 1993–94 Hartlepool Town 1994–95 South Shields 1995–96 Marske United 1996–97 Boldon Community Association 1997–98 Annfield Plain 1998–99 North Shields Athletic 1999–2000 Nissan 2000–01 Nissan 2001–02 North Shields 2002–03 Birtley Town 2003–04 North Shields 2004–05 Darlington Railway Athletic 2005–06 Whitehaven 2006–07 Birtley Town 2007–08 New Marske Sports Club 2008–09 Newton Aycliffe 2009–10 Scarborough Town 2010–11 Ryhope Colliery Welfare 2011–12 Ryhope Colliery Welfare 2012–13 Stockton Town 2013–14 Stockton Town 2014–15 Stockton Town 2015–16 Stockton Town 2016–17 Jarrow 2017–18 Redcar Athletic 2018-19 Hebburn Town Reserves 2019-20 Season expunged due to COVID-19 pandemic 2020-21 Boldon Community Association 2021-22 Darlington Town 2022-23 FC Hartlepool

External links

• Official League site