In 1957 (yes fifty-seven!), Mr David Routh and a few friends decided to start up a Football League for boys teams in Ipswich. If you have a year or two to spare, I am sure David would be delighted to let you know the history of those early years, but suffice to say that in 1957, the Ipswich Boys Combination was born.

In those early seasons, the League was small and local to Ipswich, but it is pleasing to report that out of those teams were to come a small number of footballers who went on to make a living out of the game such as Brian Talbot (Ipswich Town) and Jon Sammels (Arsenal).

During the late seventies, the League had to fall in line with the FA which sought to ensure that all youth football be played under their watchful eye. This meant a great deal of work had to be done at that time to formulate a set of League Rules for the IBC which would satisfy the FA. There is no doubt that the fruits of that labour were to materialise during the eighties as more and more teams came forward – driven in part by the changes within schools football. The League was now strong enough to accept this influx but it became clear that a change of name was appropriate, and the Ipswich Boys Combination became the Ipswich & District Sunday Youth Football League.

Running a League, which was growing during the eighties at a fast pace, was time-consuming for those involved and there was a failure during the late nineties to appreciate the introduction by the FA of Mini-Soccer. This, however, had been noticed by two rival Youth Leagues; the Felixstowe & District League (Saturdays) and the Suffolk & Essex Youth Combination (Sundays). They both provided Mini-Soccer Divisions for the younger age groups, while the Ipswich & District League had under-11 as the youngest age division. It was time for the Ipswich & District League to make a change - it made sense at this time to merge the 2 Sunday Leagues – the Suffolk & Essex Combination with only mini-soccer divisions and the Ipswich & District League with only 11-a-side divisions. Therefore in June 2000, the Ipswich & Suffolk Youth League came into being.

Now in its ninth season, the League set out after the AGM (June 2008) with 17 divisions and 176 teams. The inevitable loss of some of these teams has happened since then - this as at 26th Aug. 2008;

Under-8 division has lost 1 - now 13 teams
Under-9 division 1 has lost 1 - now 9 teams
Under-9 division 2 has lost 1 - now 9 teams
Under-10 division 1 has remained at 10 teams
Under-10 division 2 has remained at 11 teams
Under-11 division 1 has remained at 8 teams
Under-11 division 2 has remained at 7 teams
Under-12 division 1 has remained at 12 teams
Under-12 division 2 has remained at 12 teams
Under-13 division 1 has remained at 10 teams
Under-13 division 2 has lost 1 - now 11 teams
Under-14 division 1 has remained at 9 teams
Under-14 division 2 has remained at 9 teams
Under-15 division 1 has remained at 9 teams
Under-15 division 2 has lost 1 - now 10 teams
Under-16 division has remained at 13 teams
Under-18 division has lost 2 – now 7 teams

Leaving a total of 169 teams from 56 clubs at the time of writing.

There is a KO Cup in all sections except the under-8 & under-16 divisions, and a Vase competition in all sections except the under-8, under-13 & under-16 divisions.

An Open-cup competition will be offered at each age, except under-8. All cup finals will be at the Gainsborough Sports Centre, Ipswich. In addition, some of our teams have entered the Suffolk County FA Minor Cup and/or Tesco Cup. We wish them well.

A mention should also be made at this point of those officers who are involved in the running of the League. Arthur, Bryan, David, Allan, Ian, Sandra, Cathy and Terry.

There are always many hopes and wishes for each season; we wish that all young footballers have an enjoyable season and that they all remain free from serious injury and are as enthusiastic at the end of the season as they were at the beginning. This wish can be applied to girls teams, competing in the Suffolk Girls League, as well as boys. Having completed their apprenticeship in the game with the League, we hope those players in the older teams (under-16 and under-18) will continue to play the game for many more years to come, at whatever standard they are most suited for.