Football League First Division

The Football League First Division is a former division of the Football League. Between 1888 and 1992 it was the top level division in the English football league system. However following the creation of the FA Premier League it subsequently became a second level division. In 2004 it was rebranded as the Football League Championship.

History

The Football League was founded in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor. It originally consisted of a single division of 12 clubs (Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke (now Stoke City), West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers), known as The Football League. When the League admitted additional members from the rival Football Alliance in 1892, it was split into two divisions.

For the next 100 years, the First Division was the top professional league in English football. Then, in 1992 the 22 clubs making up the First Division elected to resign from the Football League and set up the Premier League. The Football League was consequently re-organised, with the Second, Third and Fourth Divisions now renamed the First, Second and Third respectively. Thus, the First Division, while still the top level of the Football League, now became the second level of the entire English football league system.

2012 FKF Division One

The 2012 FKF Division One was the inaugural season of FKF Division One and the 49th second division season since it began in 1963. It began on 3 March with Kariobangi Sharks and Congo JMJ United in Zone A and on the same date with Kakamega Homeboyz and Kisumu Municipal in Zone B, and ended on 18 November with Nairobi Stima and MOYAS in Zone A and on the same date with Timsales and Yanga in Zone B.

Compared to the 2010 season of the then Nationwide League, the 2011 season of the FKL and KFF Nationwide League was considered to be a lot better because of major improvements in integrity of referees and playing surfaces. The major complaints of occurrences in 2010 were significantly reduced after the establishment of the NFL Oversight Committee, which closely monitored Football Kenya Limited's running of the league.

Halfway through the season (after 19 matches), Kakamega Homeboyz had been unbeaten with a record of 10-9-0 (10 wins, 9 draws, no losses). They would have become only the second club in Kenya to complete an unbeaten season, after Gor Mahia in the 1976 Kenya National Football League, but were beaten 1−0 against Nakuru AllStars on 22 July 2012, ending their unbeaten record of 23 games. On the other hand, H.B.C. Mlimani hadn't won a single match after 19 games (with a record of 0-3-16: no wins, 3 draws, 16 losses) and were en route to becoming the first club in Kenya and only the fifth in modern football to complete a domestic season without winning a match. However, through a walkover they were awarded over Yanga on 29 September 2012, their winless run of 28 games came to an end.

2011 Kenyan Nationwide League

The 2011 Kenyan Nationwide League was the 48th season of the Kenyan Nationwide League.

Oserian and Muhoroni Youth finished top in their zones, but the latter's promotion was heavily questioned, as the KFF Nationwide League season was inconclusive. Former KFF chairman Mohamed Hatimy said that Muhoroni Youth's promotion was unconstitutional as the league they played in was "unknown". He continued to say that there was only one Nationwide League; that run by the FKL and any promoted teams should have come from the FKL Nationwide League.

Red Berets had been relegated from the Premier League the previous season, but disbanded as they were under immense pressure from their sponsors to produce good performances.

League table

FKL Nationwide League

Updated to games played on 27 November 2011.
Source: FKL Nationwide One
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Mathare Youth were to be relegated to Division Two, but due to a lack of enough teams in Zone A of FKF Division One, they were added to complete the list of 20 teams.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

2013 FKF Division One

The 2013 FKF Division One was the second season of FKF Division One and the Golden Jubilee second division season since it began in 1963. It began on 23 March and concluded on 21 December.

On 12 April, Murang'a United were suspended from participating in the league any further for the rest of the 2013 season and relegated to the Provincial League for missing three consecutive league games, against Brighter Stars, Maweni City and Kenya Revenue Authority. They were only allowed to participate in the Provincial League from the beginning of the 2014 season, and would not be replaced by any other team during the course of the season. As a result, all their results were nullified.

On 25 April, the Football Kenya Federation initially decided to slash the league to 20 teams for the 2014 season. For that to happen, it was decided that the league will consist of top 5 teams in each zone (except the two teams that win the promotion play-offs) in addition to the two relegated Premier League teams. The remaining 28 teams will be relegated to FKF Division Two, which will begin next season, along with the 8 teams promoted from the Provincial League. However, due to the creation of the Kenyan National Super League on 10 July, it was decided that top 5 teams in each zone (except the two teams that win the promotion play-offs) would be promoted to the new league along with the two relegated Premier League teams, while the remaining 28 teams along with 12 teams promoted from the Provincial League would form the new FKF Division One, which is to be the third-tier league from the beginning of the 2014 season.