There are records of a Lincolnshire football league taking place as early as the 1884–1885 season but before the Second World War the league had several different formats, including being a reserve league for Football League clubs in Lincolnshire from 1933 to 1939. The league officially formed at the start of the 1948–49, following a proposal from Grimsby Town Football club back in 1947 to create a county wide league offering a higher level of football than the Grimsby Football League. Discussions took place throughout the football season and the league was formed on Monday 2 February 1948 with 14 clubs initially joining. The league also ran a "Lincolnshire Premier Division" from 1961 to 1968 again catering for Reserve sides of Football League Clubs. The League runs a representative side that competes in the
FA Inter League Cup. In their first venture into the competition, they reached the quarter-final stage where they lost to the Cheshire League. In the 2012–13 campaign, they also lost in the quarter-finals to the
Humber Premier League. In May 2017 the Lincolnshire League became a member of the
English football league system and initially
National League System (NLS) following the FA elevating it to Step 7 status (level 11 overall), which was abolished in 2020 and the league redesignated as an NLS feeder, subject to the league champions having the necessary ground grading and desire to do so. Clubs had, in recent years, moved up to the
Northern Counties East Football League,
Central Midlands League and the
United Counties League. == Member clubs (2025–26)==