The Essex Alliance Football League is a football league in England for clubs from Essex and north-eastern Greater London. The league is divided into six divisions (Senior, Premier, Divisions One, Two, Three, and Four), with the Senior Division sitting at 11th level in the English football league system, formerly Step 7 in the National League System, following the Football Association’s approval to become a Regional NLS Feeder League (Step 7) beginning with the 2021-22 season. Teams finishing in the top five of the league can apply for promotion to the Eastern Counties Football League’s Division One South (Step 6), subject to their facilities meeting criteria and other conditions.
The league was formed in 2014 by the merger of the Ilford and District and Essex Business House football leagues, which shared a common goal of supporting and promoting local grassroots football in Essex and East London while bridging the gap with other leagues in the region. Member clubs are permitted to play on grounds in Havering, Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge, Newham, Waltham Forest, Harlow, and Epping Forest.
The league currently has 76 teams, many of which were existing members of the aforementioned leagues and were joined by many new clubs as the league seeks to buck the trend of the local Saturday football scene, which has been declining in numbers in recent years.
In 2022, the league made history by confirming the first direct promotion to senior football, with DT FC, champions of the Senior Division, being promoted to Step 6 within the Eastern Counties Football League Division One South.
