Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Isthmian League Second Division
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Isthmian League Division Two was an English football division forming part of the Isthmian League from 1973 until 2006.
Due to various restructurings of the Isthmian League and the National League System, it saw five distinct incarnations. Due to another restructuring by the Football Association, 2005-06 was its final season as a competition.
Contents |
Division Two was first formed in 1973 as the first major expansion of the Isthmian League, and consisted of 16 clubs, mostly taken from the Athenian League. It was directly below the top level Isthmian League, which thus became known as the First Division.
| Season | Champions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1973-74 | Dagenham | |
| 1974-75 | Staines Town | |
| 1975-76 | Tilbury | |
| 1976-77 | Boreham Wood | |
- With the renaming of the divisions, this division continued as the Isthmian League Division One
In 1977, the two existing divisions were renamed Premier Division and Division One, and another 17 clubs were admitted (again mostly from the Athenian League) to a new Division Two. Thus at this stage Division Two sat at the bottom of a three-division Isthmian League hierarchy.
| Season | Champions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1977-78 | Epsom & Ewell | |
| 1978-79 | Farnborough Town | |
| 1979-80 | Billericay Town | |
| 1980-81 | Feltham | |
| 1981-82 | Worthing | |
| 1982-83 | Clapton | |
| 1983-84 | Basildon United | |
In 1984, yet another wave of expansion was caused by the collapse of the Athenian League, with the Isthmian league taking on many of its clubs. To cope with the influx of new teams, Division Two was split into Division Two North and Division Two South.
| Season | Champions (North) | Champions (South) |
|---|---|---|
| 1984-85 | Leyton-Wingate | Grays Athletic |
| 1985-86 | Stevenage Borough | Southwick |
| 1986-87 | Chesham United | Woking |
| 1987-88 | Wivenhoe Town | Chalfont St Peter |
| 1988-89 | Harlow Town | Dorking |
| 1989-90 | Heybridge Swifts | Yeading |
| 1990-91 | Stevenage Borough | Abingdon Town |
In order to conform to the quickly evolving National League System, the regional divisions were reorganised again into Division Two and Division Three in 1991. This allowed the First Division to accept teams from feeder leagues outside of the Isthmian, with Divisions Two and Three becoming lower level leagues covering the London area.
- This division was combined with the Isthmian League Division One and reorganised into Division One North and Division One South
- This division was previously the Isthmian League Division Three
In 2002 Divisions One and Two were combined into Division One North and South, and Division Three was renamed as Division Two, one of many feeder leagues at step four of the National League System. The introduction of the Conference South took some teams out of the Isthmian League from its top level, and reduced the need for two regional division ones; this also bumped division two down to step five. However, as Phase Two of their current National League System Restructuring, the FA decided that two regional leagues were needed at 'step four'; this means that the Division Two was scrapped and the clubs merged either into the regional Division One North/Division One South, or into other step five leagues before the 2006-07 season.
| Season | Champions | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002-03 | Cheshunt | |
| 2003-04 | Leighton Town | |
| 2004-05 | Ilford | |
| 2005-06 | Ware | |