The 2016-17 season of the Socialist Republic Football Alliance kicks off in less than three weeks now, on the evening of Friday 2nd September, with reigning champions Marine making the short trip across the Mersey to divisional newcomers Torpedo Tranmere in the curtain-raiser before the rest of the action gets under way on Saturday 3rd.
The Championship will retain its traditional format and comprise sixteen teams playing each other on a home and away basis in a 30-match competition , but below the top level a significant restructuring of the League has taken place.
A Third Division has been reinstated at national level after the previous two seasons' experiment with just two national sections. Both the Second and Third Divisions will comprise twelve teams who will play each other home and away during Phase One of the campaign (22 matches) before each of these two divisions split at the mid point of the respective tables to form two sections of six teams to compete in Phase Two, a Promotion group and a Relegation group, with each member playing each other home and away in a further 10 matches to decide the season's promotions and demotions - the top two clubs from each of the Promotion groups will achieve elevation to the division above, whilst the bottom two teams of each of the Alliance's three tiers will be relegated to the level below (the regional leagues in the case of those clubs finishing in the bottom two positions of the Third Division).
To accommodate this restructuring has necessitated a further two clubs being demoted from last season's Second Division in addition to the four who were relegated at the close of 2015-16: Manchester Newton Heath, who will join the new third tier and Inter-Italiano who have relocated across Manchester, subsequently re-branded as Urmston Villa and have also been awarded a place at the third level.
Prescot Cables and the recently merged Wimbledon, Tooting & Mitcham have been promoted to the Second Division from the regions, as Northern and Southern champions, whilst a whole host of new names along with returning former twice champions Matlock Town and rebranded/reformed Gateshead (as Trinity), Nelson (Proletariat) and Sunderland (Automotive) will complete the Third Division.
The full list of member clubs, in divisional order and with first-choice colours, is as follows:
Championship
Blyth Spartans - green & white stripes/black/green
Dynamo Burnley -claret with sky blue trim/white/sky blue
Excelsior Marlow - blue and red quarters/white/blue, red tops
Gainsborough Trinity - dark blue and dark red hoops/white/socks as shirt
Hungaria - red with green chest band/white/green
Liverpool St Helens - red with blue sash/white/blue, red tops
Locomotive Crewe - red with white sleeves/white/red
Manchester Central - sky blue and white halves/white/dark blue, red tops
Marine - sky blue and dark blue hoops/white/socks as shirt
Marxist Polytechnic - red and white halves/white/dark blue, red tops
Northwich Victoria - green and white hoops/white/green and white hoops
Red Star Mossley - green with LH red and black checked stripe/black/red
Red Star Wrexham - red with LH green stripe/white/green, red tops
Spartak-Slavia - red and dark red halves/white/navy, red tops
Stalybridge Celtic - yellow with LH dark red stripe/dark red /dark red
Torpedo Tranmere - white with blue sash/white/dark blue, blue tops
Second Division
Audenshaw Ajax - green with white sash/white/green and white hoops
Bohemians - green and white halves/white/green, white tops
Bradford Comrades - claret and amber stripes/black/claret, amber tops
Crystal Palace - blue and red checks/white/blue and red hoops
Hartlepool Petrochemical - light blue and white halves/white/dark blue, red tops
Hendon Hotspur - purple with green sash/white/green
Merthyr Tydfil - green and black stripes/white/black, red tops
Newcastle Blue Star - blue and black halves/black/black, blue tops
Prescot Cables - gold and black halves/black/black, gold tops
Sheffield Wednesday - blue and white stripes/black/blue, white tops
South Liverpool - red with LH black checked band/black/black, red tops
Wimbledon Tooting & Mitcham - blue and red stripes/black/black, blue and red tops
Third Division
Everton Stanley - blue and salmon pink halves/white/blue, salmon pink tops
Gateshead Trinity - green and black halves, red trim/white/black, red tops
Liverpool Hibernian - green, white and orange thirds/green/green, orange tops
Manchester Newton Heath - dark blue and dark red halves/black/dark blue, dark red tops
Matlock Town - blue with amber chest band/blue/blue, amber tops
Nelson Proletariat - blue and black stripes/black/black, blue tops
Newcastle Caledonia Thistle - purple and pink halves/white/purple and pink hoops
Red Star Bootle - dark red with navy LH stripe with red star/navy/navy, dark red tops
Sunderland Automotive - red and white stripes/black/red, white tops
Tadcaster Albion - black and white halves,black/black, white tops
Urmston Villa - claret and amber halves/black/claret with amber tops
White Star Waterloo - royal blue and navy halves/white/navy, royal blue tops
