National League System

At the top of the National League System pyramid is the Football Conference. Its top division, the Conference National (currently called the Blue Square Premier Division), is the only division in the System which is organised on a national rather than regional basis. Although the Conference is the top level of the non-league pyramid, it is not the highest level of English football (it is actually the fifth overall division). The Premier League and The Football League comprise the top 92 clubs in the English game, and two teams from the Conference are able to achieve promotion to the lowest division of The Football League each season.

Below the Conference, the layers have progressively more leagues and cover ever smaller geographic areas. Some 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.

All the leagues are 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 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. In particular, clubs that hope to be promoted from Step 5 leagues to Step 4 must apply in advance to be assessed for whether they meet the grading requirements. The teams must then also finish in the top 3 in their league to be considered for promotion, which is not automatic. For instance, in the 2005-06 season 100 clubs applied to be considered for promotion, of which 51 met the grading requirements, and 29 of those finished in the top 3 in their leagues (With an additional division commencing at Step 4 in 2006-07, all 29 clubs had their promotions accepted).

Under the direction of The Football Association, the National League System evolved over many years. Today's pyramid can be said to be barely twenty years old. Leagues have formed and dissolved over the years and reorganisations have taken place every few years as a result. Beginning with the 2004-05 season, Phase One of the latest change was introduced with the formation of a Conference North and Conference South immediately below the Nationwide Football Conference, renamed Conference National, forcing the top divisions of the British Gas Business Southern League, Ryman Isthmian League, and UniBond Northern Premier League down one level.

The System

This table includes the seven steps of the National League System (NLS). Above the NLS are the Premier League and The Football League. Two teams from the Football Conference can be promoted to Football League Two at the end of each season. This structure was the result of changes made after the 2005-06 season..

The official name is given for all the leagues listed, and the sponsorship name is also provided for the leagues in the top four steps. All divisions in the top four steps have 22 clubs each, except the Northern Premier League Division One North and Division One South which have 20 or 21 teams each, and Conference National, with 24 teams. The FA's National League System Committee determine promotion and relegation between leagues shown, mainly based on location. The NLS Committee also has the power to transfer clubs between divisions and even leagues at the same level of the pyramid should this be deemed necessary in order to maintain geographically practical and numerically balanced divisions and leagues at every level.

All clubs in the NLS are eligible to compete in the FA Cup, but are seeded into it according to tier standing. Tiers 1 to 4 clubs are eligible for the FA Trophy and tiers 5 to 7 for the FA Vase, as well as their respective regional and county cups. With the arrival of the new sponsors for the Football Conference starting in the 2007-08 season, the administrators of the Conference announced the reintroduction of the short-lived Football Conference Challenge Cup, now to be known as the Setanta Shield. This competition, as its predecessor, will be open to clubs in tiers 1 and 2 of the NLS.

Recent changes

2006-07 changes

Phase Two of the current amendments to the system took place before the 2006-07 season. The Conference National was increased to 24 clubs but steps 2 and 3 remained unchanged.

One new division has been created at step 4, to reduce the travel requirements of smaller teams, which means:

• The Isthmian League Diviison One was split into the Isthimian Legaue Division One North and the Isthmian League Divison One South.
• Southern Football League Division One West and Southern Football League Division One East were re-aligned into Southern Football League Division One South & West and Southern Football League Division One Midlands.
• There was also the prospect of the Northern Premier League Division One being split into Divisions One North and Midlands, but this was not acted on, although the number of clubs has been increased to 24 in preparation for this happening at a later date.

• As well as 29 teams being promoted from lower leagues to make up the numbers, a number of teams switched between the different leagues to give each a more clearcut geographic area - in particular, a majority of teams from the old Southern League East will move to one or other of the two Isthmian League divisions.

At step 5, the number of leagues should have been reduced from fifteen to twelve. The Isthmian League Division Two was disbanded, but no other leagues were merged or altered. It remains to be seen whether a further phase of restructuring will take place to achieve this reduction, and to look in to the structure of steps 6 and 7, and whether to officially instigate a step 8.