Established in 1990, the South East Counties Women's Football League provides competitive football leagues for Kent, Surrey and Sussex as part of the Football League's pyramid system.
 

LEAGUE INFORMATION
  • History
  • Officers
  • Referees
  • Marking Referees
  • Structure
  • Matchday Admin

The South East Counties Women's Football League was instituted in 1990. It originated from the Sussex Martlet Women's League which was founded by Norma Witherden in 1969 and comprised just half a dozen Sussex clubs. The Womens Football Association, which up until 1993 governed women's football, also came into being in 1969.
During the 1980s it became apparent that a number of Kent and Surrey clubs wished to join the Sussex Martlet League following the demise of the Kent League, and for rural Surrey the only other option was to join the Greater London League, with the resultant problems with travel.
In 1989, the Women's Football Association, in order to have a greater chance of obtaining grants from the Sports Council, thought it appropriate to divide the country into ten Regions with the same boundaries as that organisation. One of those regions was to comprise the counties of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. With as many teams in the Sussex Martlet League coming from outside Sussex, it was decided to form the South East Counties League the following year. There were about 20 clubs at that time.
Since then, the League has expanded to the current figure of about 50 teams. The FA took over the running of women's football in 1993 and quickly introduced age banding so players must have attained their 14th birthday by 31st August in any year to be eligible to play the following season. In the old days, players as young as 10 or 11 were permitted to play in the adult league.
Following the formation of the Combination Leagues in 1997, the SECWFL became part of the FA pyramidal system for promotion/relegation purposes, and together with the Greater London and Eastern Leagues has promoted its Champion club to the South East Combination League via a play-off system.
From season 2005/06 promotion was automatic to the London & South East Regional League who in turn promote automatically to the South East Combination.