Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division

The Spartan South Midlands Football League is a league that covers the Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire areas of England.

The league system contains three divisions, which are the Premier Division, Division One and Division Two.

The Premier Division is Step Five of the National League System while also being the ninth tier of the English game overall, with Division One being tier 10 and Division Two being tier 11. The leagues generally consist of 18 teams.

There are also two reserve leagues within the system, which are Reserve Division One and Reserve Division Two.

The league was established in 1997 after the Spartan League and the South Midlands League merged. It is sometimes referred to as the Molten Spartan South Midlands Football League due to sponsorship.

Relegation and Promotion

The Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division is a feeder league to both the Southern Football League Division One Central and the Isthmian League Division One North.

The Premier Division champions, at the end of the season, win automatic promotion and will be allocated a spot in either division, depending on the availability of places in the leagues and whether the club’s stadiums meet the higher league requirements.

There is another promotion place available via the league’s play-offs, which involves the teams that have finished in second, third, fourth and fifth place, which once again depends on whether the club’s stadium meets the requirements of the higher leagues.

The teams relegated from the Premier Division play in Division One in the following season.

Previous Premier Division Winners

Since the Premier League was formed in 1997, several teams have thrived in the division. The club with the most titles is Beaconsfield SYCOB, who have claimed the Premier Division title on three occasions.

Some clubs have also claimed the title on two occasions. They are London Colney, Biggleswade and Dunstable Town.

Like most football leagues in the world, the Premier Division was heavily affected by the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. The 2019/2020 season was abandoned, while the following campaign was curtailed due to lockdown restrictions.