Birmingham Combination

The Birmingham Combination was an English football (soccer) competition for teams in Birmingham and the surrounding areas, active from 1892 until 1954.

History

The competition was formed in 1892, three years after the Birmingham & District League, to cater for those clubs which held "junior" membership of the Birmingham County Football Association, and was thus initially called the Birmingham & District Junior League. The eight founder member clubs were Aston St James, Bournbrook, Bournville, Ellen Street Victoria, Hamstead, Kings Heath Albion, Park Mills, and Soho Villa.

By 1908 the league's status and area of coverage had grown significantly and it changed its name to the Birmingham Combination. The Combination initially acted as a "feeder" league to the Birmingham & District League, but by the 1930s it had grown in prestige and had come to be regarded as the stronger of the two leagues. In 1952 the Birmingham & District League, which had by now regained its status as the top league in the area, suggested a merger between the two competitions, but the Combination rejected the idea. Several of the Combination's top teams then defected to its rival. The depleted Combination then revived the idea of a merger but it was rejected and, when all bar one of the Combination's remaining clubs jumped to the League in 1954, the Combination was effectively absorbed by the League. [Cite book|title=Non-League Football Tables 1889–2005|first=Michael|last=Robinson|publisher=Soccer Books Limited|date=2005|id=ISBN 1-8622-3125-7|pages=pp.78–80]

Champions

The champions of the league were as follows: [Cite book|title=Non-League Football Tables 1889–2005|first=Michael|last=Robinson|pages=pp.81–87]

References