The Federal League begins league play in 1964 with Canton South, Fairless, Glenwood, Jackson, Marlington, Perry, and Sandy Valley as charter members.
In 1968, Sandy Valley leaves the league and is replaced by Louisville, North Canton Hoover, and Oakwood.
1970s[]
In 1975, Fairless leaves the league while Glenwood and Oakwood consolidate to form GlenOak.
1980s[]
In 1983, Alliance joins the league.
In 1985, Marlington leaves the league.
In 1987, Lake joins the league.
In 1988, New Philadelphia, Canton Timken, and Wooster join the league, prompting the league to split into an American Division and a National Division:
Federal League Divisions 1988/89-1989/90
American Division
National Division
Alliance
Canton South
GlenOak
Lake
Hoover
Louisville
Jackson
New Philadelphia
Perry
Canton Timken
Wooster
1990s[]
In 1990, Canton South and Louisville leave for the Northeastern Buckeye Conference (NBC), which causes the divisional format to be dropped.
In 1995, Timken leaves the league.
In 1997, New Philadelphia leaves for the East Central Ohio League.
2000s[]
In 2003, Alliance and Wooster leave for the Metro Athletic Conference[2] and the newly formed Ohio Cardinal Conference, respectively. Alliance would move again to the NBC in 2005.[3]
At the same time, Austintown-Fitch, Boardman, and Canton McKinley join in all sports except for football, which they would fully join in the following school year.
2010s[]
In 2011, Austintown-Fitch left the Federal League for the All-American Conference for all sports except football.[4] They had hoped to remain a football-only member of the Federal League, but that did not work out. They replaced Salem, who left for the NBC.
In 2013, Boardman announced that they are looking to leave for the All-American Conference.[5]
In 2013, Green announced that they would join the Federal League for 2015-16.[6]
In February 2017, former member Louisville's school board submitted a letter of interest to the Federal League, then withdrew it shortly after. However, in March 2017 they renewed their recommendation that they seek membership in the Federal League after it became evident that it would be difficult for Louisville to schedule sporting events as a league independent. Louisville's current league, the Northeastern Buckeye Conference is folding after the 2017-2018 school year, leaving the Leopards without a league home.[7]