Wow, Division 21? England sure has a lot of teams. So does anyone know anything about this league? Can any joe schmoe just play on these squads? Do people come to watch these games? What's the budget for these teams? I'm just curious about the workings of Division 21 teams.
Yeah it's probably about the worst league in Bristol and just about anyone can play. The budget is about and bag of oranges a week.
Bristol Downs League isn't last league in the England. It's the last league in the National league System. There are about 300 leagues out of system
It's basically on par with any local league. There are hundreds of leagues like it, the one I used to play in in York is probably about level 21. The players probably have to pay to play, the only people that watch in general are family and maybe one or two locals. Just park football, in theory these teams can get promoted all the way but it would never happen.
Local Leagues in London, out of League System: Brockley & District Sunday League | Camden & Islington Youth Football League | Camden Sunday Football League | Ford Sunday Football League | Grafton & District Millennium League | Greater London Regional Womens Football League | Hackney & Leyton Sunday League | Hayes & District Sunday Youth Football League | Inner London Amateur Football League | London Airport Midweek Football League | London Commercial Football League | London Football League | London Saturday Youth League | Maccabi Sunday League | Metropolitan Sunday League | Micham & District Sunday League | Musical Association League | Newham & District Sunday Football League | Orpington & Bromley Sunday League | Provincial Football Supporters Club League | South London Football Alliance | Southern Sunday Football League | Sportsmans Senior Sunday League | Surveyors Football League | West Fulham Sunday League | Unofficial leagues Acton Sports Club Five-A-Side Competition |Airlines Football League |Asian Sunday Football League |Athenian Football League |Beckenham Invitation Charity Cup |Belvedere Sports 5-A-Side Tournament |Bexley & District Junior Football League |Bexley and District junior football league U/16a |Blackheath Premier Five-A-Side Competition |Bromley & Croydon Christian Football League |Charlton Five-A-Side Competition |Chiswick Rugby League |Corinthian Sunday Football League | East Ham Memorial Charity Cup Competition |East London Sunday Football League |Elmstead Spring Bank Holiday 5-A-Side |Eltham & District Sunday Football |Enfield & District Youth League |Foots Cray Lions International Tournament |Goals Soccer Sutton League |Goals Soccer Centre Wimbledon League |GUNNERSBURY KICKABOUT LEAGUE |Hayes & District Football League |Hayes & District Sunday League |Hayes & District Sunday League |Hotels Football League |Invicta Five-A-Side Competition |Islington Midweek Football League |lillie wreck 5 a side |London Accountants Football League |London Christian Football League |London City Airport Sunday League |London County Football League |London County Girls Youth League |London League 1 |London Legal League |London Old Boys Cup Competition |London Regional Youth Open Charity Cup |London Veterans Five-A-Side Competition |London & Kent Border league |Long Lane 5-A-Side |Maccabi Southern Football League |Metropolitan Police Area/Divisional League |METROPOLITAN SUNDAY FOOTBALL LEAGUE |Metropolitan Sunday Football league 4 |Mile End Football League |Milldean Football League |Mitcham & District Sunday Football League |Nations Football Festival |Neil's Sports London Hotels Football League |New Portland Association Challenge Cup |Newham Leisure Centre Five-A-Side Football League |Newham Youth League |Newham Youth League U13's |North East London Churches League |Peter May Sports Centre Summer Sevens |Polish 5 a side Football League |Rural Friendly Football League |South London Five-A-Side Competition |South London Five-A-Side Football League |Southern Area Sunday Football League |Southern Veterans Football League |sunday super league |Tandridge Junior League |tandridge league U16 |Tandridge U14 B Division |the Cheshunt Youth League |The Street Football League Cup Competition |unused league |Waltham Forest & District Youth League |Wandle Wanderers |Wandsworth & District Sunday Football League |West End (London) AFA |West Fulham Football League |West Fulham League |West London Sunday Football League |Westminster Football Association Burdett Coutts Cup |Woolwich and District Sunday League |Worldleague London
From the More Than You Wanted To Know Department: England's official league system extends down only to the 11th level. (Step 7, where the Conference National is Step 1). Below that there is a disorganized hodgepodge of leagues, although the level of disorganization depends on which section of the country you are in. Due to issues of geography, population density, club density, and league politics, the situation is different everywhere. Don't take those massive "official pyramids" too seriously, like on Wikipedia -- which is simply a copy of this guy's well-meaning efforts. To be sure, some leagues have more stringent requirements than others, and there are informal paths of promotion and relegation. However, most clubs at Step 7 and below aren't that ambitious and simply exist as a community club. Usually that don't have the support, money, or facilities to move onto higher levels (English ground grading rules are absurd given the crowds at lower levels. Most clubs at the 10th level are required to be floodlit -- are you kidding me?). So if you and I decided to start a club in the Bristol area and we wanted to make it big, we'd probably bypass the Bristol Downs League (as well as the "higher-ranked" Bristol & District League) in favor of one of the three official feeders of the Gloucestershire County League. Clubs appear and disappear in this manner all the time because most of them play on public pitches and are one- or two-man shows in terms of organization. It all depends on context. FC United of Manchester and AFC Liverpool -- brand new clubs -- started at the Step 6 (10th level) North West Counties Division Two. Why so high? Well, the NWCL needs more clubs because of expansion of the Northern Premier League higher up and even though it has a ton of feeders, there aren't enough clubs willing and able to make the step up. Plus, FCUM and AFC-L will bring much bigger crowds than league average, probably a lot more than lower leagues' facilities could properly manage. Just remember that especially below the 10th level, it's just a bajillion clubs playing more or less for fun on roped-off fields. Occasionally you'll come across something that looks like a real ground (i.e., a small stand), but most of the time they won't even have that. So in such an undeveloped and informal setting, there's really a lot more flexibility than can be articulated by a "Top-To-Bottom Pyramid". And keep in mind that there are dozens of additional Saturday leagues that are not included in the Wikipedia/pyramid.info structure, but really aren't any different than any of the ones listed at level 14 or whatever. There are also Sunday leagues which seem to be a quirk of the English system, but it seems like in general they are the same as low-level Saturday leagues, just without delusions of grandeur. Sadly, all of this makes way more sense than the lower levels of the Scottish system.
Ok so now I have a question. which league would be a good league to start playing in(obviously I'm not going to any Premier League club). I'm curious because I am planning asking some clubs for trials, but I'm not sure which league is a good league to start because there are so many. Also, I've heard playing in a Scandinavian league to start is the best way to go. Any opinions out there for what I should do??
Well that kind of depends on how good you are. The other factor, if you are serious about it, is eligibilty. Unless you have an EU passport, you will need a work permit to play in any match where admission is charged. Even if you just wanted to turn out for a club down the road, and pay to play, if they charged even 1p for admission, you'd need to have played in 25% of the USA's international matches in the last 3 years (or something like that) or you'd be "working" illegally. Other countries have different WP laws, however.
well i'm pretty sure i can get the EU passport from ancestory because of my grandmother. As for my level of play, I'm division 3 in college, although I have been told I can play at a division 2 level.
I'm not sure how many clubs over here would have any idea what level College Div 3 is. Certainly non-league clubs would be more likely to accept a trialist than league clubs, purely because league clubs get so many more applicants.