Non-League and Academy football writer

In the top division of the Southern Amateur Football League (Senior Division 1), it is the first season since the merger between the SAL and the Amateur Football Combination took place, last summer. And, the Senior Division 1 of the SAL has so far been very interesting to follow, with some sides facing each other for the very first time in competitive competition, as some of the very best amateur teams within London and the surrounding counties, face one other. Last season’s SAL Senior Division 1 runners up, Nottsborough, lead the way in the premier division of the SAL, going into 2026. 

Nottsborough are a highly succesful SAL club, who are currently on 20 points after their first ten matches played, of this season. Having only narrowly missed out on the title last season, to West Wickham, Nottsborough, a club with so much quality across their various teams, are also doing well in cup competitions this season. Who knows, they could, as difficult as it would be, win the quadruple in 2025/26! However, one point behind Nottsborough in the Senior Division 1 table, is a very good Dorkinians side. 

A Surrey based club, Dorkinians were a well known and very successful side in the Amateur Football Combination, and they have made a great start to this season, where they stand a very good chance of winning the title. Dorkinians also recently knocked non-League side Godalming Town out of the Surrey FA Saturday Premier Cup. There are a number of SAL sides who are still in that prestigious county cup competition, going into 2026. Honourable Artillery Company are in third place in the table (with 17 points after ten matches played), with NUFC Oilers (they really impressed me during the one game that I saw them in this season), one place behind them, after seven matches played.

Next in the table is John Sewell’s Civil Service side. Civil Service are on 11 points, and they are also still in two cup competitions. I reckon that they’ll win some silverware this season, after having been so unlucky not to have done so during the 2024/25 season. On their day, Civil Service can beat any side in this division in emphatic fashion. Hammersmith and then last season’s SAL Senior Division 1 champions, West Wickham, are the next two sides in the standings. And they are followed by Rob Roy Rovers (they are on eight points after nine matches played), Thorntonians (they are on seven points after eight matches played), and then Wandsworth Borough, who are on five points at this stage of the season.

I am a big supporter of amateur football, and I’m looking forward to getting to some more games featuring SAL sides, during the remainder of this season. I reckon that at least four Senior Division 1 sides are in with a chance of winning the 2025/26 title.