Members
Members of the League (1945-2014)
The original membership of 8 clubs gradually increased to a peak of about 30 in 1976-77. Since then numbers have declined. The table below lists all the clubs, which have been accepted as members during this period, together with the dates of its membership. In a few exceptional cases though, some clubs do not appear to have entered teams e.g. Dudley 1947. A number of clubs also changed their names during membership. In those cases, the club has a listing under each of its names, e.g. Blanford Mere/Kingswinford has two entries. The exception is John Thompson, which despite several name changes was always commonly known as Thompsons. The table also shows that some clubs left the League at some point and were readmitted later. In such cases the Dates column shows two separate periods e.g. Chubb & Sons.
[Key:- Names in italics = club listed elsewhere in the table; aka =also known as; 1978 or -78=year; 78/79= season; 78? or -73-78? =doubt about date]
| Club | Dates |
|---|---|
| Bayliss Jones & Bayliss | 1950-55 |
| Bilston College | 1969-70/71 |
| Binks Bullows | 1977-78? |
| Birmingham | 2014- |
| Birmingham Settlement (formerly Lucas & Birmingham Settlement); renamed St Georges 2006 | 2004-6 |
| Blanford Mere (1976-renamed Kingswinford) | 1973-76 |
| Boldmere St Michaels (formerly Kingstanding) | 2003- |
| Boulton & Paul | 1946-58 |
| Bradley & Foster | 1966-68 |
| Brewood Chess Circle (aka Brewood) | 1981- |
| Brinsford Lodge (aka Co-op) | 1950-54 |
| British Steel Corporation (formerly Stewart & Lloyds; 1971- renamed Springvale) | 1970-71 |
| Burntwood | 1977-83 |
| Bushbury (aka Bushbury Central; inc. in 1964-65, the teams Bushbury Bishops & Bushbury Knights) | 1963- |
| Cannock (Chase) | 1945-51/52 |
| Cannock (aka Cannock Chase in 1973-74) | 1973-88/89 |
| Cannock (aka St Mary's 1998-2003 and Bridgtown Social Chess 2010-11) | 2013 |
| Chase Terrace | 1977-78 |
| Chubb & Sons | 1953-54/55; 1957-58/59 |
| Connaught (formerly Newhampton) | 1997-98 |
| Crown Chess Club | 1972-(75-77?) |
| Drayton Bassett (1984-renamed Old Draytonians) | 1981-84 |
| Dudley | 1947; 1959-99 |
| Dudley & Dowell (formerly Old Hill) | 1978-82 |
| Dudley College | 1972-(73-77?) |
| Dudley Training College | 1961-(65-67?) |
| E.C.C. | 1968-69/70 |
| English Electric (Stafford); (formerly Stafford; 1965-renamed Stafford Chess Council) | 1961-62; 1963-65 |
| Fallings Park | 1948-50 |
| G.E.C. ( Stafford) | 1979-(80?) |
| G.K.N.(from amalgamation of G.K.N.(Lab) with G.K.N.(Machines)) | 1969-(85-87?) |
| G.K.N.(Lab) (1969-amalgamated with G.K.N.(Machines) to form G.K.N.) | 1968-69 |
| G.K.N.(Machines) (1969-amalgamated with G.K.N.(Lab) to form G.K.N.} | 1968-69 |
| Goodyear | 1948-59; 1974-2000 |
| Halesowen | 2002- |
| Harris & Sheldon | 1974-80 |
| Hobsons | 1954-64; 1967-71 |
| Hotels Chess | 2000-01 |
| Hungarian Chess Club | 1953-63 |
| John A.Smith | 1951-56/57 |
| John Thompson (aka Thompsons; NEI Thompson (1990-91); RR Thompson (1991-)) | 1949-99 |
| Kidderminster | 1981- |
| Kingstanding (2002-renamed Boldmere St Michaels) | 1997-2000 |
| Kingswinford (formerly Blanford Mere) | 1976-80 |
| Lichfield | 1972- |
| Lichfield & District | 1977-83/84 |
| Lucas & Birmingham Settlement (2004-renamed [Birmingham Settlement) | 1992-2004 |
| Marston Excelsior | 1945-51; 1955-59 |
| Mercia | 1969- |
| Municipal Secondary School (Wolverhampton); (aka Secondary School) | 1945-46 |
| Newhampton (1997-renamed Connaught) | 1996-97 |
| Northfield Checkmates (2008-amalgamated with St Georges) | 2006-08 |
| Old Draytonians (formerly Drayton Bassett) | 1984-87 |
| Old Hill (aka B.R.S. Oldhill;1978- renamed Dudley & Dowell)) | 1976-78 |
| Pale Meadow Social Club, Bridgnorth (aka Henry Meadows) | 1945-46/47 |
| Penkridge | 1983-97 |
| Penn British Legion | 1971-78 |
| Perton | 1981-82 |
| R.A.F.Cosford (aka Cosford) | 1970-78/79; 2000-05 |
| Richard Thomas & Baldwin | 1949-50/51 |
| Rock Chess Club (1978-amalgamated with Wolverhampton Kipping to form Rock Kipping) | 1972-78 |
| Rock Kipping (from amalgamation of Rock Chess Club & Wolverhampton Kipping) | 1978-83/84 |
| Rough Hills | 1974-75? |
| Rubery Owen | 1945-76/77 |
| Rubery Owen Apprentices | 1960-61 |
| Rugeley | 1969- |
| Rushall | 1982- |
| Sankeys (Wellington) | 1979-84/85 |
| Shifnal & Telford (from amalgamation of Telford with Shifnal-2000), reverted to Telford (2013) | 2000-2012 |
| Shrewsbury | 1972-74 |
| Springvale (formerly British Steel Corporation) | 1971-79 |
| St Georges (formerly Birmingham Settlement) | 2006-2016 |
| St.John Parish Church [Junior Chess Club-affiliated but non-playing] | 2005-7 |
| St Marys (Cannock) | 1998-2003 |
| Stafford (1961:re-entry as English Electric; 1971-formerly Stafford Chess Council) | 1947-51; 1971- |
| Stafford Chess Council (formerly English Electric; 1971-renamed Stafford) | 1965-71 |
| Staley Chess Club (associated offshoot of Bushbury) | 1977-79 |
| Stewarts & Lloyds (1970-renamed British Steel Corporation) | 1958-70 |
| Stourbridge | 1969- |
| Sutton Hill (1975-renamed Telford) | 1972-75 |
| Sutton- N.A.L.G.O. (aka Sutton Corporation) | 1969-70 |
| Telford (formerly Sutton Hill; 2000-amalgamated with Shifnal to become Shifnal & Telford and revert to just Telford in 2013 but only played one game) | 1975-2000 ; 2013; 2014- |
| Tipton (1956-reformed as Tipton Alexandra) | 1945-55 |
| Tipton Alexander (formerly Tipton) | 1956-63 |
| Ukrainians | 1955-58 |
| Union Locks | 1977-94 |
| Walsall Kipping | 1945-50; 1954- |
| Warley Quinborne | 2005- |
| Wellman Crane | 1976-78 |
| West Bromwich | 1968- |
| West Bromwich Central | 1963-69 |
| West Midland Municipal | 1973-74? |
| West Midland Police | 1980-97 |
| Woden Works | 1957-63 |
| Wolverhampton | 1952- |
| Wolverhampton Kipping (1978-amalgamated with Rock Chess Club to form Rock Kipping) | 1945-78 |
| Wolverhampton N.A.L.G.O. | 1962-64/65 |
| Wolverhampton Polytechnic | 1988-90 |