Hackney and Leyton Sunday Football League

The  Hackney and Leyton Sunday Football League is a football competition based in London, England. It was founded in 1946 and operates under the jurisdiction of the London Football Association, the only English regional association founded by the FA. The Hackney and Leyton Sunday League is considered a historic league as it has produced many players of the English football, such as England captains Bobby Moore and David Beckham, Jimmy Greaves, Ian Wright, Sol Campbell, Stuart Pearce, Vinnie Jones, Rio Ferdinand and others. Most of the games are played at the Hackney Marshes football complex, the biggest in the world. In 2010 FC Barcelona’s star Lionel Messi arrived at the Marshes to come on as a substitute in an league match as a publicity stunt for Adidas, however, it was quickly cancelled as he was mobbed by fans. The league has currently five divisions, the Premier Division, Division One, Division Two, Division Three and Division Four. It had a long association with Leyton FC with its headquarters located at the Leyton Stadium (previously known as the Hare and Hounds) until the headquarters moved to the Hackney Volunteers Club in Clapton.The league's longest-running club was Midfield, founded in 1967 and managed by Stan Gittings for over 40 years.

Early years
Up until the 1970s, a lot of semi-professional players used to play in the league which was used to getting good crowds of 500 people for the big games, attendances were higher than for Leyton Town. According to Johnnie Walker, the league's former chairman who first played on the Marshes in 1952, aged just 17, people also used to bet on the games as there were bookmakers by the side of the pitch.

Principals
Taylor-Innes was one of the league's founders in 1946 and was chairmen for many years alongside Dave Taylor who was later honoured by having the league's domestic cup in his name (the cup started in 1952 and renamed to Dave Taylor Cup in 1972, and since 1999 it's been known as the Albert Daniels Senior Cup). Other chairmen were Peter Clarke, Ronnie Burce, and Alec Pretlove until 2003 and is considered the league's most popular chairman. Frank Hendy was one of the longest-serving Referee Secretaries; such was Albert Whitehead, while Ted Gore holds the position currently. Dickie Davies was the Registration Secretary for years, with his wife Nell at the post now. His memory has been honored with the establishment of the Dickie Davies Cup in 1980, the league's most prestigious domestic cup

Premier division
Founded in 1956, until then the top tier was the Division One.


 * Remarks: The 2019-20 Season was abandoned due to the pandemic situation. Division One as top tier in bold (1952-1956).

Division One
Founded in 1951 as the top division and was replaced by the Premier League in 1956. It returned in 1958 as second tier.

Division Two
Founded in 1953 as the second tier, returned in 1957. It is now considered the third tier.

Division Three
Founded in 1949.

Division Four
Founded in 1948.

Winners 2014/15 Wojak Sunday

Division Five
Lasted for only 3 seasons.


 * 1975–76 – British Oak
 * 1976–77 – Alexander
 * 1977–78 – White Horse B

Dickie Davies Cup

 * 1981–82 – Joiners
 * 1982–83 – Joiners
 * 1983–84 – Joiners
 * 1984–85 – M.G Sports
 * 1985–86 – Monteith
 * 1986–87 – Chats
 * 1987–88 – Norfolk Arms
 * 1988–89 – M.G Sports
 * 1989–90 – Poplar Park
 * 1990–91 – Dock Settlement
 * 1991–92 – Country Flyer
 * 1992–93 – Ordell
 * 1993–94 – Bow Athletic
 * 1994–95 – Titan
 * 1995–96 – Ordell Arms
 * 1996–97 – Ordell
 * 1997–98 – Ordell
 * 1998–99 – Queensbridge
 * 1999–00 – AC Eleanor
 * 2000–01 – Hoxton Athletic
 * 2001–02 – London Aprilia
 * 2002–03 – Eureka
 * 2003–04 – Eureka
 * 2004–05 – Bancroft United
 * 2005–06 – Hoxton Athletic
 * 2006–07 – Albion Manor
 * 2007–08 – Clapton Rangers
 * 2008–09 – Lapton
 * 2009–10 – Lapton
 * 2010–11 – Lapton
 * 2011–12 – Lapton
 * 2012–13 – Black Meteors
 * 2013–14 – Black Meteors
 * 2014–15 – Clapton Rangers
 * 2015–16 –
 * 2016–17 –
 * 2017–18 –
 * 2018–19 – Mile End Baiteze Squad
 * 2019–20 – *
 * 2020–21 –
 * 2021–22 – Niva
 * 2022–23 – Baddoo FC


 * Remarks: The 2019-20 Season was abandoned due to the pandemic situation.

Notable players
The following players either started their careers from the league or featured in later stages.
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 David Beckham
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sol Campbell
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rio Ferdinand
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bedford Jezzard
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jimmy Greaves
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bobby Moore
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Stuart Pearce
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Terry
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ian Wright
 * 🇬🇷 Ntinos Pontikas

Notable clubs

 * Senrab
 * Lapton