BritLeague

The BritLeague is a league competition featuring football clubs from the five home nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). Originally launched in 1996 as a single division, this became two in 2011.

History
Previously, in England, the major football competition was the Premier Division (now known as the E-League) and was semi-professional until the mid 1980s. In 1986, clubs turned fully professional. Two years later, in 1988, the WFA European Club Championship (now known as the CSA European Champions' League) was introduced and it soon became apparent the English clubs were lagging behind in Europe, with clubs from Spain, Italy and Germany regularly giving them heavy beatings.

In 1994, England competed in the very first CSA World Cup in the United States, and to the surprise of everyone, reached the final where they lost to Brazil. After the World Cup, the players asked for pay-rises. But by this time, most of the clubs were in financial trouble and risked losing their best players to major European clubs. At the same time, attendances were dwindling, and the constant hooliganism was driving fans away.

In august 1994, the chairmen of the Big Four clubs of the Premier Division (London City, London Clarets, Western Villa and North Vale) met with the TOTV head of sport, John Wighton, and CSA England chief executive, Simon Stanley, to discuss the possibility of forming a breakaway professional league. The competition was to start with initially 10 teams - eight from England, one from Glasgow, Scotland and another from Cardiff, Wales, with one team per city allowed. They also talked about moving the league to summer, mainly to avoid those postponements that so dogged the Premier Division (none of the clubs had undersoil heating), and making football a more family-oriented experience. These talks went well, and in November 1994, having attracted major sponsorship and signed a lucrative TV deal, Stanley announced a new league with eight brand new clubs would kick off in March 1996. The BritLeague was born.

The eight clubs would be, in no particular order: London United, Manchester Mutiny, Merseyside Revolution (later FC Merseyside), Birmingham Burn, Sheffield Strikers, Glasgow Giants, Cardiff Crew (later the Dragons) and Newcastle Geordies.

Diehard football fans initially met the news with anger and scepticism, some saying it would be a "total disaster". It was then announced that the Premier Division would revert to being semi-professional starting with the 1995-96 season. Players who were signed by the newly-formed BritLeague would then be loaned back to their previous clubs, with the BritLeague paying their wages in full. Western Villa striker Mike Barry had signed for his hometown Birmingham Burn. London City defender Ian Clarke for London United, and North Vale's England keeper Mike Thomas for Manchester Mutiny.

In December 1995, the official launch for the BritLeague took place. This showcased the new kits for the 1996 season: London United debuted their now-famous all black kits with red trimmings, Merseyside opted for red and blue striped shirts, and Manchester for teal and navy blue halves. Also, it was announced TOTV had signed a staggering £200m TV contract over five years, and the league would adopt a play-off system to decide the champions, a decision that attracted a fair bit of controversy.

The 1996 season kicked off on March 29, 1996, with Birmingham Burn defeating London United 1-0 with a late goal from Mike Barry. United went on to win the League Leaders' Plate and subsequently the first BritLeague championship when they defeated Burn 2-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium.

For 2011, it was announced that the play-offs had been scrapped and the BritLeague champions would be the team who finish first in the table.

Winners

 * 1996 - London United (1st)
 * 1997 - London United (2nd)
 * 1998 - FC Nottingham (1st)
 * 1999 - London United (3rd)
 * 2000 - Leeds Lightning (1st)
 * 2001 - Newcastle Geordies (1st)
 * 2002 - Manchester Rockers (1st)
 * 2003 - Newcastle Geordies (2nd)
 * 2004 - FC London (1st)
 * 2005 - FC London (2nd)
 * 2006 - Monsters FC (1st)
 * 2007 - London United (4th)
 * 2008 - London United (5th)
 * 2009 - London Town (1st)
 * 2010 - Real Birmingham (1st)
 * 2011 - Monsters FC (2nd)
 * 2012 - London United (6th)
 * 2013 - Real Birmingham (2nd)
 * 2014 - London Town (2nd)
 * 2015 - FC London (3rd)
 * 2016 - Essex Saxons (1st)
 * 2017 - London Town (3rd)