| | Southern Football League - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07) |
 | | Professionalism was sanctioned by the Football Association as early as 1885, but when the Football League was founded in 1888 it was based entirely in the north and midlands, the establishment and county FA's in the south being firmly opposed to professionalism. |
 | | Nonetheless, after an abortive attempt the previous year, the Southern League, a competition for both professional and amateur clubs, was founded in 1894 and soon became the dominant competition outside the Football League in southern and central England. |
 | | With its clubs seeking a more regular means of advancing to the Football League, in 1979 the Southern League became a feeder to the new Football Conference along with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League, and the top Southern clubs of the day joined the new league. |
| www.sevenhills.us /project/wikipedia/index.php/Southern_Football_League (646 words) |