The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created for the League to continue while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The Leagues started in 1941; however, the leagues only had one full season, in 1945-46. Previous seasons were, in a sense, bit-part leagues with clubs only playing teams that were generally local. An example of this is that in the 1942 Football League North Leeds United played Middlesbrough, Gateshead, Newcastle United, Doncaster Rovers, Sunderland, Bradford Park Avenue, York City, Halifax Town and Huddersfield Town, which they played Home and Away in succession.
The two Leagues consisted of all the members of The First and Second Divisions of the Football League split on a purely geographical basis. The 1945-46 full season was instituted as a precursor to the resumption of the previous divisional split in force prior to World War II. As the war had only just finished travel was sometimes difficult to arrange, many of the players were still away and the teams often included guests.
Sheffield United were the Champions of League North and Birmingham City were the Champions of League South for the only full season in 1945-46.
Results and players' contributions do not tend to be included in official statistics.
Famous quotes containing the words football, league, north and/or south:
“... in the minds of search committees there is the lingering question: Can she manage the football coach?”
—Donna E. Shalala (b. 1941)
“We’re the victims of a disease called social prejudice, my child. These dear ladies of the law and order league are scouring out the dregs of the town. C’mon be a glorified wreck like me.”
—Dudley Nichols (1895–1960)
“The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North Dakota for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the State of Louisiana a renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State Lottery, and the establishment of one or more lottery companies at Mexican towns near our border, have served the good purpose of calling public attention to an evil of vast proportions.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“If you are one of the hewers of wood and drawers of small weekly paychecks, your letters will have to contain some few items of news or they will be accounted dry stuff.... But if you happen to be of a literary turn of mind, or are, in any way, likely to become famous, you may settle down to an afternoon of letter-writing on nothing more sprightly in the way of news than the shifting of the wind from south to south-east.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)