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this page is dedicated to the histories of leagues based in the West Herts area and related features. If you would like to add features then feel free to get in touch.

The Spartan South Midlands Football Leaue was formed in 1922. Originally called the Bedfordshire County League, it changed its name in 1929 to the South Midlands League, following the acceptance of clubs from a much wider area. In 1997 the League expanded when it joined with the London Spartan League, resulting in a much larger League spread over a wider area.

The League is at Step 5 in the Football Association National League Pyramid and covers an area from north London in the south to Milton Keynes in the north, and from Royston in the east to Amersham in the west, and includes clubs from Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, London and Middlesex.

There are 55 clubs in membership in three divisions, plus a reserve section comprising 30 teams. All the clubs in the top two divisions compete in the FA Cup and FA Vase.

Since the FA Vase was introduced in 1974, as the sucessor to the FA Amateur Cup, the League has had four clubs, Hoddesdon Town, Barton Rovers, Arlesey Town and Hillingdon Borough which have reached the final

The West Herts FA was formed in 1891, along with the formation of the West Herts League. There were seven founding member clubs which included three still around today - these were Watford St Mary's (who merged with West Herts in 1898 to form Watford FC); Kings Langley (who now compete in the Spartan South Midlands League) and Apsley End (who chanhed their name to Apsley then Hemel Hempstead Town who now compete in the Southern League). The first ever West Herts League table was as follows:

With the formation of the Herts County League a few years later, it was common for local teams to compete in both leagues at the same time due to there no being many fixtures to fulfil each season. Other clubs who competed in the West Herts League over the years include Leavesden Mental Asylum (who changed their to more politically correct names over the years and competed in the county league, Spartan League, FA Vase and FA Cup over the years prior to folding in the late 1980's); Leverstock Green (who now compete in the Spartan South Midlands league); Hemel Hempstead Rovers (who now compete in the West Herts League again after spells in the Great Western League and County League); Boxmoor and Bomoor St Johns who both competed in the FA Cup; as well as many local village sides such as Sarratt, Chipperfield, Northchurch and Bovingdon which is likely to have been the early years of clubs representing these areas competing in other leagues today.

The league gained popularity and by the early 1900's there was over 30 clubs competing in four divisions (Division 1, Division 2A and Division 2B, and Division 3).  The winners of Division's 2A and 2B would face a play off for promotion to Division 1. Like all other leagues, there were no games either side of the war, however a healthy 25tteams competed in 2 division immediately after the war for the 1919/20 season. 1926/27 saw five West Herts League divisions for 40 teams! 

The West Herts FA also ran a midweek West Herts League during the early part of the last century, the first in record being 1913/14 season which ended as follows:

The midweek league ran up to the second world war in 1939 and by then had two divisions, however numbers in the Saturday league dwindled and by the time the league was halted at the start of war, there were 23 teams competing in two divisions. 

The West Herts League currently has 44 teams competing in four divisions, (Premier, One, Two and Three).  13 of these clubs represent 'A' and 'B' teams of clubs competing in the Herts County League and Spartan South Midlands League, some of the other teams are reserve and 'A' teams of other West Herts clubs.

The West Herts FA run seven cup competitions, The St Mary's Cup, The Webster Cup, Apsley Junior Charity Cup, Apsley Senior Charity Cup, Watford Peace Hospital Memorial, Sir Stanley Rous Challenge and the Holloway Trophy. Kings Sports of the Premier Division also compete in the National Christian Trophy, plus all West Herts teams also compete in the Herts County Junior Cup, so there is plenty to keep West Herts teams busy at the weekends! 

Of these competitions, only the St Mary's Cup is competed by non-West Herts League clubs.  The St Mary's Cup, which has run since the 1800's,  is the only local competition which allows teams from the West Herts League compete against teams from higher divisions - entry is by invitation and Hemel Hempstead Town and Berkhamsted Town (both of the Southern League), Leverstock Green, Tring Athletic and Oxhey Jets (all over the Spartan South Mids League) all regularly compete in the St Mary's Cup.  On Tuesday 6th November 2007, a Quarter Final tie saw Hemel Hempstead Town of the Southern League face Hemel Hempstead Rovers of the West Herts Premier Division, with the clubs around seven divisions apart it was the equivalent of Hemel Hempstead Town facing a Premiership team - so the 10-0 scoreline in Town's favour was of no surprise.

The final table for the Premier Divsions most recent season (2006/07) was as follows:

visit the links page on this website to navigate to the website of the West Herts League for more information and up to date fixtures/results/tables.

Few County Football Associations in England enjoy such a rich heritage as Hertfordshire.  How did it all begin?Quite unintentionally, it all began in a Pub, The Farringdon, Holborn in 1885.

In the early 1880s there were already 20 clubs operating Hertfordshire and with interest continuing to grow, the Secretary of St Albans F.C., Mr R Cook called a meeting which was to have been held at The Football Associations Headquarters, then at 51 High Holborn but on arrival they found the offices closed.

In its first season 20 clubs affiliated and numbers substantially increased year on year.  Today stands close on 2,500 teams.

1885 - Association formed with 20 member clubs

1894 - Under the guidance of Mr.H.W. English, a master at Hitchin Grammar School and Secretary of the Association from 1894-98 a scheme to control the Association's affairs by a council was introduced.

The initial scheme, albeit developed and improved still forms the basis on which the administration of The Hertfordshire FA is conducted today.

1901 - Huge difficulties facing the association until a man of the moment, George Wagstaffe Simmons stepped in.  During Wagstaffe Simmons 18 years as Secretary the Association's fortunes were transformed.

When he took over there were less than 40 clubs with funds available under £20.  When he handed over to his successor the membership had grown, over 200 clubs affiliated and had assets of £500-£66- an enormous sum on money in those days, coming at the end of The Great War.

1924 - Wagstaffe Simmons appointed Chairman of The Hertfordshire FA Council and also represented The Hertfordshire FA on the Council of The Football Association, positions he held until 1951.  During his time with The FA he became Chairman of the International Selection Committee and established reputation, not only as an eloquent speaker on all subjects relating to the game, but as authority on its laws and admissions.

1935 - County Association reaches its Golden Anniversary with a Jubilee Banquet and Concert held at the Holborn Restaurant.  During the evening Mr. Wagstaffe Simmons was able to say 'I do not suggest that the Hertfordshire FA Council is perfect, but its not far off'.

Proposing the toast to the Hertfordshire FA was Stanley Rous, Secretary of The Football Association, who ten years prior to his appointment to football's top job was a member of The Hertfordshire FA Council.

1951/61 - During this period Hertfordshire's population increased by 34% which caused huge problems in relation to playing fields and recreational facilities.  The Association applied to The FA for financial aid, without which the necessary work could not be undertaken.

In 1960 the Association celebrated its 75th Anniversary and at the Dinner Stanley Rous, now a knight of the Realm, proposed the toast to Hertfordshire FA.  In 1985 Sir Stanley completed an amazing treble when he was guest of honour at our Centenary Celebrations held at Watford Town Hall.

1961 - Sunday Football was brought under the Control of The Hertfordshire FA and its rapid expansion introduced many new players to the game by hundreds.

1998 - Hertfordshire County Youth F.A. becomes part of The Hertfordshire FA.

1999 - Hertfordshire FA becomes a Limited Company, one of the first Counties in England to take this step.

Managing Director Ron Kibble announces that our nomadic existence was finally over when we bought the Lease of Letchworth Football Club Ground through the hard work of Mr Kibble, Eric Hand and Cecil Hudson.  New County FA Headquarters was opened in Letchworth.

Hertfordshire have many people who served their County year after year, some being Ernest Scott, W.R. Watson, George Wagstaffe Simmons, Percy Poulter and Arthur Aldridge.  These names may mean little to players of today but if it was not for them the Hertfordshire FA would not have been able to progress and be were it is today.

Given such humble beginnings, their legacy is a substantial one - for it earned the Association an enviable reputation as one of the best-managed governing bodies of our national sport . . . a reputation that has continued into more professionally demanding arena of the 21st Century.