English football league system
The
English football league system, otherwise known as the
football pyramid, is a series of
interconnected leagues for club
football in
England (although for historical reasons a small number of
Welsh clubs also compete). The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, and allows even the smallest club to dream of rising to the very top of the system.
The system consists of a hierarchy of leagues, bound together by the principle of
promotion and relegation. Clubs that are successful in their league can rise higher in the pyramid, whilst those that finish at the bottom can find themselves sinking further down. In theory it is possible for a lowly local amateur club to rise to the pinnacle of the English game and become champions of the
FA Premier League. While this may be unlikely in practice, there certainly is significant movement within the pyramid. The number of teams promoted between leagues or divisions varies, and promotion is usually contingent on meeting criteria set by the higher league, especially concerning appropriate facilities and finances.
The top five levels contain one division each. Below this, the levels have progressively more parallel leagues, which each cover progressively smaller geographic areas. Many leagues have more than one division. At the lower levels the existence of leagues becomes intermittent, although in some areas there are as many as twenty layers. There are also some leagues that are not officially part of the system as they do not have formal agreements with other leagues, but are recognised at various levels by county football associations.
The seven levels immediately below the
The Football League are known as the
National League System and come under the jurisdiction of
The Football Association. Under the direction of The Football Association, the National League System evolved over many years. Recent re-organisation saw the formation of a
Conference North and
Conference South immediately below the Football Conference, renamed Conference National, forcing the top divisions of the
Southern League,
Isthmian League and
Northern Premier League down one level.
The English football league system does not include the amateur version of the game often called
Sunday League football. These leagues are independent entities with no promotion or relegation involving the football pyramid. However, some Sunday League clubs have been known to join pyramid leagues if they desire to progress higher.
At the top is the single division of the FA Premier League (which is sometimes referred to as Level 1 of the league 'pyramid'), containing 20 clubs. Below the Premier League is
The Football League, which is divided into three divisions of 24 clubs each:
The Championship (Level 2),
League One (Level 3) and
League Two (Level 4). The 92 clubs in the Premier League and Football League all are full-time professional clubs. Confusingly, all 92 are often referred to as 'League' clubs because, before the establishment of the Premier League in 1992, The Football League consisted of four divisions and 92 clubs (the same as The Football League and Premier League combined now). Clubs outside this group are referred to as 'non-League' clubs, although they too play most of their football in league competitions.
The top tier of non-League football is the
Football Conference, which contains a national division of 24 clubs (Level 5), followed by two divisions at Level 6, covering the north (
Conference North) and south (
Conference South), with 22 clubs each. Some of these clubs are full-time professional and the others are semi-professional. Below the Conference some of the stronger clubs are semi-professional, but continuing down the tiers, soon all the clubs are amateur.
Next down from the Football Conference are three regional leagues, each associated different geographical areas, although some overlap exists. They are the
Northern Premier League (which covers the north of England),
Southern League (which covers southern England, the Midlands and parts of Wales) and the
Isthmian League (which covers the south east). All of the leagues have a Premier Division (Level 7) with two parallel divisions below (Level 8), except for the Northern Premier League, which only has one division below.
Level 9 contains the top divisions of a large group of local leagues: the
North West Counties Football League, the
Northern Counties East Football League, the
Northern League, the
Western Football League, the
Wessex League, the
Sussex County Football League, the
Hellenic Football League, the
Midland Football Alliance, the
United Counties Football League, the
Eastern Counties Football League, the
Kent League, the
Spartan South Midlands Football League, the
Combined Counties Football League and the
Essex Senior Football League.
Each of these leagues has a different divisional set up, but they all have one thing in common: there are yet more leagues below them, each covering smaller and smaller geographical levels.
Below shows how the current system works. For each division, its official name, sponsorship name (which often differs radically from its official name) and number of clubs is given. Each division promotes to the division(s) that lie directly above it and relegates to the division(s) that lie directly below it:
Changes made for the 2006-2007 season
* Conference National (Level 5) increased to twenty-four clubs.
* Levels 6 and 7 remained unchanged.
* The number of Level 8 divisions increased from four to five.
** The Isthmian League's existing First Division was split into parallel (north and south) divisions.
** The Southern League's two Division Ones will become split into
Midlands and
South and West divisions, rather than the previous
West and
East split.
** The Northern Premier League continued to have only one First Division, but it is planned to bring it into line and have two parallel First Divisions at some point in the future.
** Each Level 8 division should have had twenty-two clubs, but for the 2006-07 season the Northern Premier League First Division will run with twenty-four clubs.
* At Level 9, the number of divisions operating was reduced from fifteen to fourteen, with the
Isthmian League Second Division discontinued. It was planned to reduce the number of divisions to twelve but there is still no consensus on how this will be achieved, so 2006-07 will run with fourteen leagues at this level. Each Level 9 division will have between eighteen and twenty-two clubs.
It is hoped that the restructuring will improve the lower levels of the system in a number of ways. There will be less travelling for the Level 8 clubs as there will be five divisions, not four. This will be of particular benefit to Midlands-based clubs who will now predominantly compete in the
Southern League Division One Midlands, rather than being split between the geographically larger older divisions. There should also be less overlapping at Level 9.
Lower down the pyramid, the
Liverpool County Combination has merged with the
I Zingari League to form the
Liverpool County Premier League, while the
Somerset County League has changed the format of its lower divisions. Instead of a Division Two and a Division Three, a geographical split has been made with a Division Two East and a Division Two West being formed. Also, the East Cornwall Premier League has changed name to the East Cornwall League and divided into two parts - Premier Division and Division One. In a purely cosmetic change, the Bedford & District League is now the Bedfordshire League.
*
British Football League*
League system, for a list of similar systems in other countries
*
History of the National League System*
The FA: National League System*
ThePyramid.info*
Tony's English Football Site*
Map of Top Tier English Football Stadiums
