| Organising body | FA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1888(first incarnation) 1890(second incarnation) |
| First season | 1888-89 |
| Folded | 5 April 1889 (first incarnation) 1911(second incarnation) |
| Country | England Wales |
| Number of clubs | 20 |
| Domestic cup | FA Cup |
| Last champions | Whitchurch F.C. (3rd title) |
| Most championships | Everton reserves (6 titles) |
The Combination was aleague during the early days ofEnglish football. It had two incarnations; the first ran only for the1888–89 season for teams acrossNorthern England and theMidlands, and was disbanded before completion. The second was created for the 1890–91 season, but persisted until it was defunct in 1911. The league comprised teams primarily fromNorth West England and laterWales.
The league should not be confused with the other formerFootball Combination, a competition for reserve teams from the South of England, or with theLancashire Combination, another minor league running around the same time.
The first Combination was set up in 1888, the same yearthe Football League was founded. It was established by clubs who had been excluded from the Football League, initiated byCrewe Alexandra secretary J. G. Hall, and was announced at the Royal Hotel inCrewe. The clubs in attendance wereSmall Heath Alliance,Walsall Town Swifts,Derby Midland,Notts Rangers,Burslem Port Vale,Leek,Crewe Alexandra,Newton Heath,Witton, andBlackburn Olympic; three other clubs,Mitchell St George's,Halliwell, andDerby Junction, all wrote to pledge acceptance of all decisions, andNorthwich Victoria also wrote requesting membership. The meeting was chaired by A. M. Sloane, the chairman ofBootle. The clubs agreed that there would be no more than 20 members and each would play at least 8 matches home and away.[2]Harry Mitchell of St George's was elected president.
However, while the Football League quickly proved a success, the Combination lacked central organisation, with poor planning and unfulfilled fixtures; as early as October the media were complaining about the difficulties in following the competition[3] and by January 1889 the media were commenting that "it is becoming the exception rather than the rule to keep a Combination fixture".[4] Fixtures had been left to individual clubs, which resulted in confusion, as it was unclear whether many matches between clubs were friendlies or Combination matches.[5]
The Combination was finally wound up at a board meeting on 5 April 1889. The meeting was over in 25 minutes, the motion to dissolve the Combination being passed unanimously, after which those present enjoyed cold beef and pickles; the meeting was so quick that theDarwen representative, who had missed his train, arrived too late. However, a dozen of the representatives had another meeting afterwards, which formed the basis of theFootball Alliance.[6] There was no champion declared, as there was no satisfactory method of determining a table, given the lack of certainty as to which matches counted;[7] it was generally however considered thatNewton Heath had had the best record, winning 10 of 14 matches.[8]
Participating teams includedBootle,Blackburn Olympic,Burslem Port Vale,Crewe Alexandra,Grimsby Town,Lincoln City, Newton Heath,Small Heath andSouth Shore. Bootle, Crewe, Grimsby, Newton Heath and Small Heath went on to co-found theFootball Alliance the following year. There was no overall champion declared,
The second incarnation was founded in 1890. The twelve founder members were:[9]
Five of the founding teams would eventually go on to play inthe Football League, although in the case of Macclesfield, this would not happen until1997–98.Glossop North End, who joined in 1894, were also elected to the League (in 1898), as were another later member team,Tranmere Rovers.
As the competition evolved, the nature of the teams changed, with many more Welsh teams being involved, as well as the reserve teams ofthe Football League clubs such asEverton andCrewe Alexandra. By the time the competition folded in 1911 none of the original members still participated, with the exception ofWrexham, who fielded their reserve team. It was succeeded by theCheshire County League and later by theNorth West Counties Football League.
The champions of the league were as follows:[9]
| Season | Champions | Runners-up | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890–91 | Gorton Villa F.C. | Macclesfield | Chester |
| 1891–92 | Everton Reserves | Northwich Victoria | Macclesfield |
| 1892–93 | Everton Reserves | Stoke Swifts | Chester |
| 1893–94 | Everton Reserves | Stoke Swifts | Leek |
| 1894–95 | Ashton North End | Glossop North End | Chester |
| 1895–96 | Everton Reserves | Macclesfield | Glossop North End |
| 1896–97 | Everton Reserves | Rock Ferry | Chester |
| 1897–98 | Everton Reserves | Crewe Alexandra | Chirk |
| 1898–99 | Everton Reserves | Liverpool Reserves | Tranmere Rovers |
| 1899–1900 | Chirk AAA | Wrexham | Druids |
| 1900–01 | Wrexham | Rhyl | Bangor |
| 1901–02 | Wrexham | BurslemPort Vale Reserves | Oswestry United |
| 1902–03 | Wrexham | Nantwich | Birkenhead |
| 1903–04 | Birkenhead | Chester | Nantwich |
| 1904–05 | Wrexham | Chester | Broughton United |
| 1905–06 | Whitchurch | Chester | Glossop Reserves |
| 1906–07 | Whitchurch | Chester | Wigan Town |
| 1907–08 | Tranmere Rovers | Chester | Oswestry United |
| 1908–09 | Chester | Saltney | Tranmere Rovers |
| 1909–10 | Crewe Alexandra Reserves | Saltney | Chester |
| 1910–11 | Whitchurch | Bangor | Oswestry United |