Anglian Combination

The Anglian Combination (currently known as the Fosters Solicitors Anglian Combination for sponsorship reasons) is an English football league that operates in East Anglia. The league specifically covers Norfolk and northern Suffolk, with rules stating that clubs should be within a 50-mile radius from the centre of Norwich.

It consists of 96 teams and has seven divisions – the Premier Division, Division One to Four plus the two regionalised divisions, Division Five North and South.

CNSOBU (City of Norwich School Old Boys Union) were the first champions of the Anglian Combination in 1965, winning the Senior A Division in the league's transitional season. Blofield United is the most successful club in the Anglian Combination's history, with six top division league titles, while Acle United and Wroxham have won the most consecutive titles, with both clubs winning the Anglian Combination four times in succession.

History
The league was formed in 1964, as a merger of the East Anglian League and the Norfolk & Suffolk League (established 1897) and had a transitional season in 1964–65 before settling down to a regular format for the 1965–66 season of four divisions for first teams and three for reserves. A further division for first teams was added for 1966–67, and that format remained unchanged until the previously separate reserve divisions incorporated into the main structure for the 2003–04 season. The winners of the Premier Division are also known as the Sterry Cup winners and are eligible for promotion to the Eastern Counties League.

After a league meeting of the Anglian Combination clubs on 9 February 2011, it was decided the Anglian Combination would adopt the FA's Respect programme. This included the practice of all players on the two teams and match officials shaking hands before the game.

Sponsorship
From 1992 to 2006, the chartered accountants Lovewell Blake sponsored the league. Dolphin Autos took over sponsorship of the league from 2006 to 2010. Gleave & Associates sponsored the league for one year during 2010–11 season. This was followed by three seasons without sponsorship before the independent financial advisors, Almary Green, agreed to sponsor the league for three years from the 2014–15 to 2016–17 seasons. Hadley and Ottaway were the sponsors from the 2017–18 to the 2020–21 season. Fosters Solicitors announced a new sponsorship partnership in April 2021.

Format and regulations
No more than 80 clubs and 132 teams (first and reserve teams) are to be permitted to the league system. In theory this means that no more than 52 clubs can have both a first and reserve team competing in the league. No more than one team from a club can play in the same division. The Premier Division and Division One are "senior" divisions, while the rest of the divisions are "junior" divisions. There is a limit of sixteen teams for each division. Some divisions are reduced in size either at the start of the season or during the season because of teams withdrawing either for financial reasons or a lack of players.. Their places for the next season are taken by teams elected from the feeder leagues. Teams play each other twice, home and away, in a double round-robin format.

In Division One to Division Three, the top two clubs are promoted while the bottom two are relegated. In Division Four, the top two are promoted and the bottom four are relegated. In Division Five, the top two are promoted from each regional division. In the Premier Division, there is no automatic promotion as clubs need to meet the FA's ground grading guide for admission to the Eastern Senior League in order to do so. Only teams finishing in the top two of the Premier Division are eligible for promotion (the runners-up are eligible if the champions decide not to apply for promotion). The bottom two clubs are relegated to Division One. Clubs need to be elected from the feeder leagues below, in order for relegation to occur from the regional Division Fives, providing that there are no places in other divisions in the league to fill due to withdrawals.

There are some interesting rules in the Anglian Combination. Unlike professional leagues, no team or goalkeeper is allowed to wear black or very dark shirts. This is because referees' kits in this division are all black, compared to professional leagues in which referees wear different coloured kits where appropriate. Another rule of interest is that matches can be less than 90 minutes (but no less than 70 minutes), although this rule only comes into play if the two team captains and referee agree prior to kick-off and it is deemed appropriate for the match to be shorter than 90 minutes. A typical reason that this rule comes into play is for evening kick-offs due to a lack of natural light if the home team's ground does not have floodlights. Similarly, half-time intervals can be less than 10–15 minutes with the consent of the referee.


 * FA Charter Standard

The Anglian Combination is looking to become a designated FA Charter Standard League. Member clubs had until the end of the 2014–15 season to become an FA Charter Standard club or they face expulsion from the league. New member clubs have one season to achieve Charter Standard status.
 * Players


 * Any team shall not have more than three players who have played in a more senior cup competition in two of the three consecutive games immediately prior to a league game.
 * Players must be at least 16 years old to play an Anglian Combination game.


 * Premier Division ground grading

Clubs in the Premier Division are subject to the FA's Ground Grading regulations where they are subject to the regulations of Grade H. Clubs that fail to comply with the regulations by a certain deadline could face expulsion to Division 1 at the end of the season. Every Premier Division club in the 2011–12 competition met the deadline of 31 March 2012 except North Walsham Town. They were given a deadline of 25 June 2012 to raise the funds and complete the work needed to meet regulations. Otherwise, North Walsham Town would have been demoted to Division 1. However, after finding the funds and getting the necessary upgrades done in time, they stayed in the Premier Division for the 2012–13 season, but were relegated at the end of the season.

1964–65
For the league's first "transitional" season, the members of the amalgamating leagues were split into three tiers, "Senior", "Junior" and "Reserves". Each of these three tiers was split into two parallel divisions, designated simply "A" and "B".

1965–2003
After the initial transitional season, the first teams in the league were split into four divisions, based on their finishing positions in the 1964–65 season. These became the Premier Division, Divisions 1, 2, and 3. Division 4 was added for the 1966–67 season. Reserve sides were similarly split into three divisions, Reserve Divisions 1, 2, and 3.

2003–2015
In 2003 the league was re-organised, reducing the number of divisions from eight to seven. The reserve divisions were included within the main structure of the league, allowing the reserve teams the possibility of promotion to the divisions containing other clubs' first teams.

2015–present
To try and tackle the issue of travel costs for players and clubs at lower levels of the league, the Anglian Combination's bottom two divisions were regionalised into Division 5 North and South for the 2015–16 season. This meant that Division 6 ceased to exist. Travel costs are one of a number of reasons why teams fold in the lower divisions of the league and it is hoped that the new system will help slow and maybe even reverse the negative trend. Generally, the A47 road from King's Lynn to Great Yarmouth is the cutoff point for determining whether clubs in Division 5 are placed in the North or South division

Cup competitions
In addition to the league, clubs take part in the following cup competitions:

Single match between the winners of the Senior League (Mummery) Cup and the winners of the Premier Division from the previous season.
 * Don Frost Memorial Cup

Cup competition for all clubs in the Premier Division and Division 1. The two teams drawn together for each tie play one match with extra-time then penalties separating the sides.
 * Senior League Cup

Cup competition for any side competing in Divisions 2–5 plus the reserve sides of Eastern Counties League clubs competing in the Norfolk or Suffolk county cups. The two teams drawn together for each tie play one match with extra-time then penalties separating the sides.
 * Junior League Cup

Cup competition for any of the reserve sides in Divisions 2–5.
 * Reserve League Cup


 * Norfolk Senior Cup

Norfolk's premier cup competition with all teams from Norfolk that play in the Premier Division, Division 1 and any Norfolk sides that compete in the Eastern Counties League.

Main cup competition for junior sides from Norfolk that compete in Divisions 2–5 of the league as well as sides from the lower leagues.
 * Norfolk Junior County Cup

Open to teams from Suffolk that play in the Premier Division and Division 1 as well as Suffolk teams playing in the Eastern Counties League.
 * Suffolk Senior County Cup

Cup competition for teams from Suffolk in Divisions 2–5 as well as reserve sides of clubs that are in the Eastern Counties League that are competing in the Suffolk Senior Cup.
 * Suffolk Junior County Cup