The SubbuteoCLUB League has been running on and off since the late 1980s. The League has changed and expanded during this time, so here is a brief history of our competitions.
League teams only play each other once each season (no home/away matches), otherwise seasons would take too long to complete. As each team plays an odd number of games in each Division, half of the teams will play one extra game at home – this is decided by a random fixture ballot at the beginning of the season.
Year 1
Division 1 – The original league was made from 10 founding member teams. Each team played each other once – although the order of matches has since been lost. There was no official relegation.
- Winners: Oxford United
FA Cup – The first FA Cup comprised of the 10 league teams, with five 1st Round matches. Due to the number of matches, the Cup implemented a unique format, where one ‘winning’ team from the 1st Round with the worst ‘winning score line’, would be eliminated – leaving four semi-finalists. Tottenham became the only team in FA Cup history to be knocked out of the Cup without losing, after they narrowly won on penalties.
- Winners: Manchester United
Charity Shield – The Charity Shield match would be played at the end of season between the Division 1 Champions and the FA Cup winners.
- Winners: Manchester United
Year 2
Division 1 – The league expanded from 10 teams to 22 teams and a two division format. Division 1 would remain with 10 teams and Division 2 would have 12 teams. To avoid a situation where the 10 original teams remained in Division 1, a ballot was held to split the teams into the two divisions. It was fortunate that the top 3 teams from Division 1 remained in the top league to ensure the best teams were in the top league. In total, five teams retained their Division 1 status, which were Oxford United, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Norwich City and West Ham United. Each team played each other once. A larger league restructure was planned for Year 3, so four teams would be relegated.
- Winners: Newcastle United
Division 2 – The newly formed Division 2 had 12 teams, with each team playing each other once. Five teams from Year 1 were picked for Division 2 and this included some big clubs. These were Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton and Liverpool. Two teams would be promoted with six teams set to be relegated into a new Division 3 the following season.
- Winners: Wimbledon
FA Cup – An expanded FA Cup would allow all 22 league clubs to participate. The 1st Round had only Division 2 teams play in 6 matches. Round 2 would introduce all ten Division 1 teams for a total of 16 across 8 matches, with single knock-out matches to the Final.
- Winners: Liverpool
League Cup – Year 2 saw the introduction of the League Cup. The 1st Round contained 16 teams, with all ten from Division 1 plus six randomly selected teams from Division 2. This would mean that six teams in Division 2 did not participate. The 1st Round was a single match format, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being two-legged matches, with no away goals. The final was a single match at Wembley.
- Winners: West Ham United
Charity Shield – The Charity Shield match would be played at the end of season between the Division 1 Champions and the FA Cup winners.
- Winners: Newcastle United
World Cup – At the end of Year 2, the first World Cup tournament took place. The World Cup is scheduled to take place every four years. 32 selected teams from around the world would compete in a simple knock-out cup format. There was not enough time for a group stage, which would mean that some teams would go home after a single match.
- Winners: Hungary
Year 3
Division 1 – The league restructure took place, forming a 3-tier league, each with 8 teams. This restructure increased the number of league clubs from 22 to 24. The justification for this it that it would make the league more competitive (with more promotion and relegations) and reduce the overall number of league matches. Each team played each other once. Two teams would be relegated from Division 1 at the end of the season.
- Winners: Norwich City
Division 2 – Division 2 from Year 2 was effectively cut in half, allowing for Division 3 to be made. With two teams being promoted, only 4 teams remained in Division 2. The Division of eight teams would be highly competitive with two teams to be promoted, and 2 teams relegated. Each team played each other once.
- Winners: Everton
Division 3 – The newly-formed Division 3 comprised of six teams relegated from Division 2, plus two new teams. Promotion would be for 2 teams, with one team relegated from the league. Each team played each other once.
- Winners: Sheffield Wednesday
FA Cup – The FA Cup was adjusted to allow for 24 league teams. Eight teams from Division 2 & 3 would play in the 1st Round. Division 1 teams would be introduced in the 2nd Round, with single knock-out matches to the Final.
- Winners: Nottingham Forest
League Cup – The Year 3 League Cup would see Division 1 & 2 teams play, with a total of 16 clubs involved, which was the same number as in Year 2. There would be no teams from Division 3. The 1st Round was a single match format, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being two-legged matches, with no away goals. The final was a single match at Wembley.
- Winners: Tottenham Hotspur
Charity Shield – The Charity Shield match would be played at the end of season between the Division 1 Champions and the FA Cup winners.
- Winners: Norwich City
European Cup – The European Cup was introduced in Year 3, although the actual games were played during Year 4, as the team from England would be represented by the winner of the season-ending Charity Shield match, which were Norwich City. There would be eight teams participating from across Europe, with teams selected from several qualifying groups, to ensure each major country had a representative. The competition would comprise of single knock-out matches to the Final.
- Winner: Anderlecht (Belgium)
Year 4
Division 1 – The league remained with a 3-tier structure, each with 8 teams. The only change in Year 4 is that only one team would be relegated to Division 2, as the top Division looked to return to 10 teams in Year 5. Each team played each other once.
- Winners: Liverpool
Division 2 – To assist with the expansion of Division 1 next season, it was decided that three teams would be promoted from Division 2 in Year 4. There would be only one team relegated to Division 3, to enable the leagues top Division to become top heavy. Each team played each other once.
- Winners: West Ham United
Division 3 – In a similar format to Division 2, three teams would be promoted from Division 3 in Year 4, with only one team relegated from the league into a new Conference. Each team played each other once.
- Winners: Derby County
FA Cup – The FA Cup continued with its 24 club format. Eight teams from Division 2 & 3 would play in the 1st Round. Division 1 teams would be introduced in the 2nd Round, with single knock-out matches to the Final.
- Winners: Arsenal
League Cup – The Year 4 League Cup remained the same format as Year 3, with Division 1 & 2 teams playing, with a total of 16 clubs involved. There would be no teams from Division 3. The 1st Round was a single match format, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being two-legged matches, with no away goals. The final was a single match at Wembley.
- Winners: Liverpool
Charity Shield – The Charity Shield match would be played at the end of season between the Division 1 Champions and the FA Cup winners.
- Winners: Liverpool
European Cup – The European Cup continued with eight teams for its second edition, with the only significant change being that one place would now be reserved for the previous seasons winners. The qualifying groups were adjusted to allow for one less available qualifying position. The English place would be awarded to the Charity Shield winner, which was Liverpool The competition would comprise of single knock-out matches to the Final.
- Winners: Liverpool (England)
European Championships – At the end of Year 4, the first European Championship tournament took place for the best sixteen International teams in Europe. It is scheduled to take place every four years. The tournament would be a simple knock-out cup format with the sixteen teams selected based on real-life rankings.
- Winners: Netherlands
Year 5
Division 1 – Division 1 returned to 10 teams, as the league membership grew in Year 5 to 26 clubs. As the league owners decided that they wanted more top team fixtures, it was announced that Division 1 would move from 10 teams to 12 in Year 6. The effect of this announcement was that once again, only one team would be relegated to Division 2 at the end of the year 5 season.
- Winners: Chelsea
Division 2 – Once again, the expansion of Division 1 next season would mean that three teams would be promoted from the eight teams in Division 2 in Year 5. Only one team would be relegated to Division 3. Each team played each other once.
- Winners: Watford
Division 3 – There were three new teams added to Division 3 for Year 5 from non-league. To allow the expansion of Division 1, three teams would be promoted from Division 3 in Year 5, with only one team relegated from the league into the Conference. Each team played each other once.
- Winners: Manchester City
Conference – Instead of new clubs joining the league by a random selection, it was decided that a new Conference would be added in Year 5, with the intention to feature 8 teams. This would be classed as non-league, and there was a desire to have less games than a standard 8-team division. With this in mind, the conference was split into two four-team mini-conferences. As three teams were needed for Division 3 in Year 6, the requirement was for three teams to be promoted from the conference. The top two teams from each mini-conference would gain automatic promotion, but would still play each other in a Promotion Final to find the Conference champions. The two second placed teams would play against each other in a play-off final, to decide who would be promoted in third place. The bottom team in each mini-conference would be relegated to non-league and would not be eligible to return for a year.
- Winners: Wolverhampton Wanderers
FA Cup – With the league expanding to 26 teams, the FA Cup required a restructure to its setup. It was decided that 20 teams would play in the first round, which would utilise eight from Division 3, eight from Division 2 and four from Division 1. Ten teams would win through to the 2nd Round, where they would be joined by the remaining six teams from Division 1, which were the top six teams from last season. The sixteen would then play in single knock-out matches to the Final.
- Winners: Nottingham Forest
League Cup – The League Cup would once again be fought out by sixteen clubs, but with one significant change. Due to the expansion of Division 1, the competing clubs would be made up from ten in Division 1 and six from Division 2. The consequence of this is that only one of the three promoted teams from Division 3 last year would be involved. There was a concern that if the league remained in its current format, any promoted teams from Division 3 would have to wait another year (and remain in Division 2) before they could participate in the League Cup. There were complaints from Division 3 teams who wanted to be involved in the competition too. The 1st Round was a single match format, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being two-legged matches, with no away goals. The final was a single match at Wembley.
- Winners: West Ham United
Charity Shield – The Charity Shield match would be played at the end of season between the Division 1 Champions and the FA Cup winners.
- Winners: Chelsea
European Cup – The European Cup was expanded to sixteen teams, which introduced a new 1st Round of matches. The 1st Round matches were split across two match weeks to allow an increase in TV viewer number. In a restructure of qualifying criteria, major countries were given two qualifying places, with minor ones given a single place. The English Division were awarded two places, so both Division 1 Champions and FA Cup winners would qualify for Europe, regardless of the Charity Shield result. English teams would be represented by three teams in this years competition as Liverpool were given the place awarded to the current holders. The competition would comprise of single knock-out matches to the Final.
- Winners: Inter Milan (Italy)
Year 6
Division 1 – In one of the biggest changes to the league since its inception, Division 1 moved to 12 teams, as the league membership grew to 28 clubs, along with 8 clubs in the conference. For the first time in three seasons, there would be two clubs relegated from Division 1.
- Winners: ?
Division 2 – Division 2 would remain with 8 teams. With the league now restructured there would be promotion for two teams (instead of three teams) and relegation for two teams.
- Winners: ?
Division 3 – Division 3 would continue with 8 teams but for the first time ever, there would be relegation for two teams into the conference. Promotion would be for the top two teams, instead of three teams as had been in place for the previous two seasons as the league expanded.
Conference – For the second season, the conference would take place with a total of 8 teams. There would be two teams promoted into Division 3 from the Conference, but the play-off structure is revised from last year. Firstly, the two divisional winners would meet in a Promotion Final, with the winner gaining promotion. The two teams finishing in second place would then play each other in a Second Place Play-off. The losing team would be eliminated from the play-offs, whilst the winner would meet the loser from the Promotion Final in a winner takes all Promotion Play-off. The basis of the play-offs is to provide some end of season drama, rather than only the two divisional winners getting automatic promotion. The two teams finishing bottom of each division would be relegated to the non-league. For year 6, there would be four new teams into the conference to enable the league expansion. From next year, there will only be two new teams to replace the two relegated teams.
- Winners: ?