Great news! Confirmed, we have escaped relegation once again! This time not of our making, but the unthinkable event that perennial London League Champions, Wood Green, have withdrawn from Division 1. Their sponsor has called it a day. This meant a vacancy to fill in Division 1, which as LL Rules require, this is filled by promotion, so three teams were promoted from Division 2 and only one team relegated; as we were second from bottom, we remain in Division 2 for another season.
So we lose Kings Head, Kings College and Hammersmith 2, promoted, while Metropolitan 1 come down from D1 and Greater London 1 and British Bangla return from Division 3. It’s still a strong section.
Furthermore – and this is either a good point or a bad point – Division 2 has been reduced to 10 teams, so there is one less fixture. This was the subject of a motion at the AGM 2025, to even up the number of teams in two and three by reducing to 10. This is a glass half full or half empty question; one less match to foul up after a decent start, or one less fixture in which to recover from a bad start.
The venues are helpful this season from a financial viewpoint with five matches at opponents’ venues, which cost us nothing, and four at LL central venues for which we are charged, three at St Margaret’s House, Bethnal Green (“SMH”), which will probably cost more this year, and one at Mindsports Hammersmith (“MSC”), which will be cheaper for us. Previously, the League had averaged the charge for matches at the two central venues, SMH and MSC, but it has now been decided that each will be charged at cost; MSC is the cheaper.
Find the fixture list from the link below.
Links: London League page | Calendar