Orpington and Bromley District Sunday Football League

The  Orpington and Bromley District Sunday Football League is a football competition in the areas of South-East London and North West Kent, England. The league was founded in 1948 and operates under the auspices of the London Football Association. It consists of seven divisions: the Senor division, the Premier division, the Division One, Division Two, Division Three, Division Four and Division Five. Kent-born and former FIFA referee, Steve Bennett, is the league’s chairman and treasurer. The league’s first president was Charlie Gibbons, while Jack Standen of Petts Wood FC was the vice-president.

Former Cyprus -21 international Jack Sammoutis and ex-Arsenal player Zak Ansah play in the league with SE Dons, one of the most popular amateur football clubs worldwide.

History
The league was founded by Charlie Gibbons in 1948, and hosted its first ever season in the 1949-50 with just one division. In 1951 it expanded to 3 divisions.  The 1950s and 1960s saw the league moving from strength to strength setting high standards for the clubs involved with the most prominent ones the Oakley Rovers, the Bideford Rovers and Southboroug. The latter won the old Premier Division for 7 consecutive seasons, a record that still stands. The 1960s also saw the addition of Division’s Three, Four and Five.

In the 1970s the League grew still further as Red Barrel, Billet Villa, Partridge and Spartak won the majority of the trophies. The addition of a Senior Division in 1975-76 saw stronger sides attracted to the league due to the new private facilities required. Billet Villa set a record in the President’s Charity Cup where they won it from 1968-69 to 1976-77 only losing to Partridge in the 1971-72 season. Roger Pester, current vice-president, was involved with Billet Villa at the time. In the 1980s the league created Divisions 5A and 5B for 2 seasons before settling with a 6th Division in 1982-83. Eight divisions continued in the heyday of Sunday morning football in the 1980s until 1995 when the League settled to its current format of seven Divisions.

Domestic cups
The clubs compete for several Cups. The main trophy is the Presidents’ Charity Cup which is now open to all teams. Like the FA Cup, the Senior and Premier teams only become involved in Round 3 onwards. The Vic Farrow Cup named after a long serving member of the League and Farnborough Old Boys Guild has taken over from the former Smales’ Cup and is for those team’s  in Division 3, 4 and 5. The Paul Picard Cup is for teams in Divisions Senior and Premier whilst the Jack Standen (previously Howard) Cup is for teams in Divisions One & Two. All in all, this gives sides a sufficient cup interest together with League involvement to have meaningful competitive football from mid September through to, usually, the 1st Sunday in May. The Presidents’ Charity Cup is used to support a local charity each year with over £1000 collected and distributed to the worthy local cause from Charity Cup Final gate fees, a League Golf day and raffles held throughout the year.

Several additional cups can also be arranged in case of particularly good weather in a season: the Senior, Intermediate and Junior League Cups and the Reg Logan Invitation Cup and Fairweather Trophy. In recognition of efforts made by clubs in this respect the league awards the Jim Harris Sportsman Cup to the team who attracts the highest sportsman marks each season from Referees.

Referees
The Referees Panel of the league is also honoured in a similar way where the referee with the seasons highest average marks from clubs is also given a trophy, named in honour of the late Roger Abbott a well respected former referee-member, ex-President and Kent County Football Association member. The league has benefitted from the addition of a former FIFA referee, Steve Bennett, taking over in the Chairman and Treasurer roles.

Recent champions

Senior Division
 2012–13 – Eltham Town
 2013–14 – Kenningwell United
 2014–15 – Vista
 2015–16 – FC Bickley
 2016–17 – FC Bickley
 2017–18 –  Kenningwell United
 2018–19 –  AFC Kumazi Strikers	 
 2019–20 –  Kenningwell United 
 2020–21 – SE Dons
 2021–22 – SE Dons

 2022–23 – FC Bickley

Prmier Division
 2010–11 –
 2011–12 –
 2012–13 – Bromley Knights
 2013–14 – FC Bickley	
 2014–15 – Crystal City
 2015–16 – Midway	
 2016–17 – Kenningwell United Reserves	
 2017–18 –  Cray	
 2018–19 –  Metrogas  
 2019–20 –  Orpington Rovers
 2020–21 – Blendon
 2021–22 – SportsKing Allstars
 2022–23 – Palace Saint Germain

Notable players
The following players either started their careers from the league or featured in later stages.
Zak Ansah    
  Jack Sammoutis

Notable clubs
SE Dons

See also
Hackney and Leyton Sunday Football League
Camden Sunday Football League

References

External links
OBSDL

1948 establishments in England
Football competitions in London
Football leagues in England
Sports leagues established in 1948
Football in London