South East Counties League

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The South East Counties League (SECL) was a football league for the youth teams of clubs from Southern England.

The competition grew out of the Middlesex Youth Invitation Cup set up in the 1950s by the Middlesex FA and was formerly known as the South East Counties Youth Football League.^[1] For many years it was the top level of youth football in the region, but the setup of the FA Premier Youth League, a nationwide competition for the top clubs, in 1997 took many of the top clubs away. The SECL continued for another season with some clubs putting out their youth reserve teams,^[2].

However in 1998, the Premier Youth League was expanded and renamed the FA Premier Academy League, while a second tier of nationwide youth football, the Football League Youth Alliance was founded, absorbing the remaining teams, meaning the South East Counties League was abandoned.

[edit] References

1. ^ "The History of the Middlesex County FA". http://www.middlesexfa.com/AboutUs/History/. 
2. ^ "Arsenal youth team appearances 1997/98". http://www.arseweb.com/97-98/youth_stats.html.