Somerset County League Premier Division
The Somerset County League Premier Division is a competition involving teams from the English county of Somerset and its surrounding areas.
The top-tier, the Premier Division, is the seventh tier of the National League System and the 11th tier of the English Football Pyramid overall. The Somerset County League contains four divisions overall.
The league has been affiliated with the Somerset League since it was formed in 1885.
More information about the Somerset County League
The Somerset County League was founded in 1890 and is sometimes referred to as the Somerset Senior League.
It is the feeder league to the Western League Division One. However, only ten teams have won promotion to the higher division since 2006: Hengrove Athletic, Portishead Town, Radstock Town, Oldland Abbotonians, Wells City, Cheddar, Ashton & Backwell United, Nailsea & Tickenham, Middlezoy Rovers and Mendip Broadwalk.
Only the top eligible team goes up to the higher division, with the club’s facilities dictating whether they can win promotion or not.
Teams relegated from the bottom tier of the Somerset County League are relegated to one of the Bath and North Somerset District League, the Mid-Somerset League, the Perry Street and District League, the Taunton & District Saturday League, the Yeovil and District League, and the Weston-super-Mare and District League.
Clubs from the top-tier compete in the Errea Premier/First Division Cup, and teams from the second-tier feature in the Errea Second Division Cup.
Recent winners of the Premier Division
| Season | Champions |
|---|---|
| 2014/2015 | Shirehampton |
| 2015/2016 | Bishops Lydeard |
| 2016/2017 | Watchet Town |
| 2017/2018 | Chilcompton Sports |
| 2018/2019 | Chilcompton Sports |
| 2019/2020 | Season curtailed by COVID pandemic |
| 2020/2021 | Season curtailed by COVID pandemic |
| 2021/2022 | Nailsea & Tickenham |
| 2022/2023 | Chilcompton Sports |
| 2023/2024 | Mendip Broadwalk |
Successful Teams In The Somerset County League Premier Division
Several teams in the current Somerset County League system have featured in higher leagues over the years, including Ashton & Backwell United, Bishop Sutton, Chard Town, Clevedon United, Glastonbury, Ilminster Town, Minehead and Peasedown Miners Welfare.
Many clubs have been successful in winning the Premier Division. Since 1984, multiple clubs have won the league on several occasions. In fact, from 1984 until 1988, Robinsons DRG claimed five straight titles.
A few other teams have enjoyed similar sorts of league-title-winning runs. From 1990 until 1992, Bridgwater Town won three straight titles. Portishead repeated the trick when they won the title in three consecutive seasons from 1994 to 1996. Portishead also claimed the title in 1998.
More recently, Nailsea United claimed the title in seasons 2011–12, 2012–13 and 2013/14, having previously won the league in the 2002–03 and 2007–08 seasons.