The
South Western Football League was an
English association
football league composed of clubs from
Cornwall and the far western part of
Devon. It consisted of a single division at the eleventh overall tier of the
English football league system, the seventh and lowest "Step" of the official
National League System. The
East Cornwall League and
Cornwall Combination ranked below the South Western on the overall pyramid, and in turn have feeder leagues of their own.
Champions of the South Western League, whose last principal sponsor was the
Carlsberg beer brand via St. Austell Brewery, were eligible for promotion to the lower division of the
Western League, but the difficulties Cornish teams have travelling further afield have discouraged applications for promotion.
Truro City took this step in 2006. The lowest-ranked clubs in the 2004-05
FA Cup all came from the South Western League, no other clubs from leagues at that pyramid level having been accepted. Among them were
St. Blazey, whose record for longest unbeaten streak in league football anywhere in the
United Kingdom (75 games) stood until it was broken by
AFC Wimbledon in 2004.
The league was formed in 1951 but foundation dates of the member clubs range from the 1880s to 1980s. The league disbanded in 2007, with a merger with the
Devon County League to form a new competition covering the whole of Devon and Cornwall called the
South West Peninsula League. The new competition's top division will be at Step 6 of the...
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