South Western League - Definition and Overview

The South Western League is an English association football league comprised of clubs from Cornwall and the far western part of Devon. It consists of a single division at the eleventh overall tier of the English football league system, the seventh and lowest "Step" of the official National League System. The East Cornwall Premier League and Cornish Combination League rank below the South Western on the overall pyramid, and in turn have feeder leagues of their own, but these are not considered to play senior football, a status required for important competitions.

Champions of the South Western League, whose principal sponsor is the Carlsberg beer brand via St. Austell Brewery, are eligible for promotion to the lower division of the Western League, but the difficulties Cornish teams have travelling further a field have discouraged applications for promotion. The lowest-ranked clubs in the 2004-05 FA Cup all came from the South Western League, no other clubs from leagues at that pyramid level having been accepted. Among them is St. Blazey F.C., whose record for longest unbeaten streak in league football anywhere in the United Kingdom (75 games) was broken by AFC Wimbledon in 2004. This record may be held by some to have been devalued by the club (unlike Wimbledon) not having been promoted to a higher league, as would be the usual outcome of winning successive league titles during the streak.

The league was formed in 1951 but foundation dates of the 17 current member clubs range from the 1880s to 1980s.

External link

• Official league website (http://www.swl-online.net/)

Reference

• [1] (http://www.cornishsoccer.info/)