English football league system
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Country | Football Association |
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Confederation | UEFA |
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Cup competition |
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Association football in England |
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of
The exact number of clubs varies from year to year as clubs join and leave leagues, merge, or fold altogether, but an estimated average of 15 clubs per division implies that more than 7,000 teams of nearly 5,300 clubs are members of a league in the English men's football league system.
The pyramid for women's football in England runs separately into ten tiers. There are no official definitions of any level below 11 for men or below 10 for women. Any references to the structure at lower levels should not be regarded as definitive.
Some England-based men's clubs play outside the English football league system.
History
The world's first association football league, named simply
About the system
The system consists of a pyramid of leagues, bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation. A certain number of the most successful clubs in each league can rise to a higher league, whilst those that finish the season at the bottom of their league can be sent down a level. In addition to sporting performance, promotion is usually contingent on meeting criteria set by the higher league, especially concerning appropriate facilities and finances.
In theory, it is possible for a lowly local amateur club to achieve annual promotions and within a few years rise to the pinnacle of the English game and become champions of the Premier League. While this may be unlikely in practice (at the very least, in the short run), there certainly is significant movement within the pyramid.
The top five levels contain one division each and are nationwide in scope. Below this, the levels have progressively more parallel leagues, with each covering progressively smaller geographic areas. Many leagues have more than one division. At the lower levels the existence of leagues becomes intermittent, although in some of the more densely populated areas there are leagues more than twenty layers below the Premier League.[1] There are also leagues in various parts of the country which 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. Clubs from these leagues may, if they feel they meet the appropriate standard of play and have suitable facilities, apply to join a league which does form part of the system.
The six levels immediately below the Premier League and three-level English Football League are known as the National League System and come under the jurisdiction of The Football Association. In May 2014 The FA announced provisional plans for a new division between the English Football League and the National League which would include "B" teams of higher-level clubs. They later reneged on the plan to include Premier League "B" teams in the new division[2] and shortly thereafter scrapped the idea altogether.[3]
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. There are also some Saturday leagues which are not officially part of the pyramid, although teams frequently leave these for pyramid leagues.
Structure
At the top is the single division of the Premier League (level 1, which is often referred to as the "top-flight"), containing 20 clubs. Below the Premier League is the English Football League (EFL) (formerly '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 20 clubs in the Premier League and 72 clubs in the English Football League are all full-time professional clubs. Before the establishment of the Premier League in 1992, the Football League, as it was called then, included all 92 clubs, in four divisions. Clubs outside the Football League were referred to as non-League clubs, and this naming continues for clubs below the four professional divisions.
The top tier of non-League football is the National League. It contains a nation wide division (also called the National League) (level 5) of 24 clubs, and is the lowest level with a single nationwide league. This division, like the four above, is a full-time professional competition, although some promoted clubs retain part-time status. There are two divisions at level 6, covering the north (National League North) and south (National League South), with 24 clubs each. Some of these clubs are full-time professional and the others are semi-professional. Below level 6, some of the stronger clubs are semi-professional, but continuing down the tiers, soon all the clubs are amateur.
Next down from the National League are four regional leagues, each associated with different geographical areas, although some overlap exists. They are the Northern Premier League (which covers the north of England), Southern Football League Central (which covers the Midlands), Southern Football League South (which covers south and southwest of England, with one club from South Wales) and the Isthmian League (which includes clubs from the south-east of England as well as Guernsey from the Channel Islands). All of the leagues have Premier Divisions of 22 teams (level 7). Below these, and split by region, the Southern Football Leagues has two parallel divisions of 20 teams (level 8). The Isthmian League and Northern Premier League each have three parallel level 8 divisions of 20 teams each.
Level 9 contains the top divisions of a large group of 16 sub-regional leagues. Each of these leagues has a different divisional setup, but they all have one thing in common: there are yet more leagues below them, each covering smaller and smaller geographical levels.
Promotion and relegation rules for the top eight levels
- Premier League (level 1, 20 teams): The bottom three teams are relegated.
- English Football League Championship (level 2, 24 teams): Top two automatically promoted; next four compete in the play-offs, with the winner gaining the third promotion spot. The bottom three are relegated.
- English Football League One (level 3, 24 teams): Top two are automatically promoted; next four compete in play-offs, with the winner gaining the third promotion spot. The bottom four are relegated.
- English Football League Two (level 4, 24 teams): Top three teams are automatically promoted; next four compete in play-offs, with the winner gaining the fourth promotion spot. The bottom two are relegated.
- National League (level 5, 24 teams): The champions are promoted; next six compete in play-offs, with the winner gaining the second promotion spot. The bottom four are relegated to either North or South division as appropriate.
- National League North and National League South (level 6, 24 teams each, running in parallel): The champions in each division are automatically promoted; next six teams in each division compete in play-offs, with the play-off winner in each division getting the second promotion spot, with four teams qualifying to the National League in total. The bottom four teams in each division relegated to either Northern Premier League, Southern League or Isthmian League as appropriate. If, after promotion and relegation, the number of teams in the North and South divisions is not equal, one or more teams are transferred between the two divisions to even them up again based on geographic factors.
- Northern Premier League Premier Division, Southern Football League Premier Central, Southern Football League Premier South, and Isthmian League Premier Division (level 7, 22 teams each, leagues running in parallel): The champions in each division are automatically promoted; next four teams in each division compete in play-offs, with the play-off winners also promoted. The bottom four teams in each division relegated to a level 8 division as appropriate. If, after promotion and relegation, the number of teams in the divisions is not equal, one or more teams are transferred among the four divisions to even them up again.
- Northern Premier League Division One East, Northern Premier League Division One Midlands, Northern Premier League Division One West, Southern Football League Division One East, Southern Football League Division One West, Isthmian League Division One North, Isthmian League Division One South Central and Isthmian League Division One South East (level 8, running in parallel, 20 teams in each division): The champions in each division are automatically promoted; next four teams in each division compete in play-offs, with the play-off winners also promoted. The bottom two teams in each division are relegated to a level 9 division as appropriate. If, after promotion and relegation, the number of teams in the divisions is not equal, one or more teams are transferred between the divisions to even them up again.
For the 2024–25 season, every level 8 division will expand to 22 clubs and it is intended that the number of relegations from that division will increase to four.[4]
Cup eligibility
Being members of a league at a particular level also affects eligibility for Cup, or single-elimination, competitions.
- FA Cup: Levels 1 to 10
- EFL Cup: Levels 1 to 4
- EFL Trophy: Levels 3 to 4 (16 U21 teams from clubs in Levels 1 and 2 compete since 2016–17)
- FA Trophy: Levels 5 to 8
- FA Vase: Levels 9 to 10
- FA Inter-League Cup: Level 11 (contested by representative teams from each league)
In the case of the FA Cup, entrance from Level 10 clubs depends upon ranking within the league the club is in, and depends on the number of Level 9 clubs participating. For instance, the 2017–18 FA Cup saw 77 teams compete from level 10 out of the 338 in total at that level.
Below level 11 the pyramid becomes regional and the cups become accordingly regional. Further down the pyramid is split on a county basis, counties having their own cups accordingly. This excludes some tournaments marked "Senior Cups", which often are competitions between teams representing top professional clubs in a given district, and may be little more than derbies, such as the Gloucestershire Cup, which originally included all teams in Gloucestershire, but then came to be contested as a Bristol derby.
The system
Level one in the pyramid, the top division of English football, is run by the Premier League (which gives its name to the competition in that division), the winners of which are regarded as the champions of England. Levels two to four are run by the English Football League. Together, these four divisions make up what is known as "league football".
The leagues below level four are classed as "non-League football", meaning they are outside the EFL. The leagues at levels five to ten comprise the National League System (NLS), and come under the direct jurisdiction of the Football Association. The top level (level 5) of the NLS is known as "step 1", the next (level 6) as "step 2", and so on. Until 2020, level 11 divisions were designated as "step 7", but that year were re-designated as "Regional Feeder Leagues".
After the 2023–24 season, four runners-up will compete in the play-offs from where an additional club is guaranteed promotion from each step 5 division, with the number of relegations from each of the eight level 8 divisions to remain at two as each step 4 division will increase its divisional size to 22 teams. The resulting 16 vacancies at step 5 will be filled by relegating only one club per level 9 division, rather than two. Before 2024–25, two promotions out of each step 5 division into its step 4 counterpart will remain and the number of clubs automatically relegated out of each step 5 division will revert to two, reflecting a long-term FA aim to "create consistency" at each step of the NLS pyramid.[4]
Level |
Total clubs (1857 +-) |
League(s) / division(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1 |
20 |
Premier League | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 |
24 |
EFL Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 |
24 |
EFL League One | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 |
24 |
EFL League Two | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 (Step 1) |
24 |
National League | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 (Step 2) |
48 |
National League North |
National League South | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 (Step 3) |
88 |
Northern Premier League Premier Division |
Southern League Premier Division Central |
Southern League Premier Division South |
Isthmian League Premier Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 (Step 4) |
160 (176 in 2024–25) |
Northern Premier League Division One East |
Northern Premier League Division One West |
Northern Premier League Division One Midlands |
Southern League Division One Central |
Southern League Division One South |
Isthmian League Division One South Central |
Isthmian League Division One North |
Isthmian League Division One South East | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 (Step 5) |
319 |
Northern League Division One |
Northern Counties East League Premier Division |
North West Counties League Premier Division |
Midland League Premier Division |
United Counties League Premier Division North |
United Counties League Premier Division South |
Hellenic League Premier Division |
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Western League Premier Division |
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Eastern Counties League Premier Division |
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Southern Combination League Premier Division |
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10 (Step 6) |
338 |
Northern League Division Two – 22 clubs — 2p, 0–3r Spartan South Midlands League Division One – 20 clubs — 2p, 0–3r |
Wessex League Division One – 21 clubs — 2p, 0–3rWestern League Division One – 22 clubs — 2p, 0–3r South West Peninsula League Premier Division East – 17 clubs — 1p, 0–3r South West Peninsula League Premier Division West – 17 clubs — 1p, 0–3r Combined Counties League Division One – 22 clubs — 2p, 0–3rEastern Counties League Division One North – 21 clubs — 2p, 0–3r Eastern Counties League Division One South – 22 clubs — 2p, 0–3r Southern Combination Football League Division One – 18 clubs — 2p, 0–3r Southern Counties East League Division One – 16 clubs — 2p, 0–3r | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 (Step 7 - Regional Feeder League) |
787 |
Anglian Combination Premier Division – 16 clubs Cambridgeshire County League Premier Division – 13 clubsCentral Midlands Alliance Premier Division North – 16 clubs Central Midlands Alliance Premier Division South – 18 clubs Cheshire League Premier Division – 16 clubs Devon Football League – 18 clubs Dorset Premier League – 17 clubsEssex Alliance League – 16 clubs Essex & Suffolk Border League Premier Division – 16 clubs Essex Olympian League Premier Division – 14 clubsGloucestershire County League – 16 clubsHampshire Premier League Senior Division – 16 clubs Herefordshire Football League Premier Division – 14 clubs Hertfordshire Senior County League Premier Division – 18 clubs Humber Premier League Premier Division – 16 clubs Isle of Wight Saturday League Division One – 12 clubs Kent County League Premier Division – 17 clubs Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division – 16 clubs Lincolnshire League – 18 clubsLiverpool County Premier League Premier Division – 14 clubs Manchester League Premier Division – 16 clubs Mid-Sussex League Premier Division – 14 clubsMiddlesex County League Premier Division – 17 clubsMidland League Division Two – 16 clubs |
Northamptonshire Combination League Premier Division – 17 clubsNorthern Alliance Premier Division – 16 clubs North Riding League Premier Division – 15 clubsNottinghamshire Senior League Senior Division – 20 clubs Oxfordshire Senior League Premier Division – 14 clubsPeterborough & District League Premier Division – 17 clubsSheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Premier Division – 15 clubsShropshire County Football League Premier Division – 17 clubs Somerset County League Premier Division – 16 clubs Southern Combination League Division Two – 13 clubs Spartan South Midlands League Division Two – 18 clubsSt Piran League Premier Division East – 14 clubs St Piran League Premier Division West – 15 clubs Staffordshire County Senior League Premier Division – 18 clubs Suffolk & Ipswich League Senior Division – 17 clubsSurrey Premier County Football League – 15 clubs Thames Valley Premier League Premier Division – 14 clubs Wearside League Premier Division – 18 clubsWest Cheshire League Division One – 16 clubsWest Lancashire League Premier Division – 17 clubsWest Midlands (Regional) League Division One – 16 clubs West Yorkshire League Premier Division – 16 clubsWiltshire Senior League Premier Division – 18 clubsYork League Premier Division – 14 clubsYorkshire Amateur League Supreme Division – 15 clubs |
The system is only defined as far as level 11. What follows is a notional structure, based on which leagues promote and relegate to each other.
Level |
Total clubs (4730 +-) |
League(s) / division(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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12 | 868 |
Anglian Combination Division One – 16 clubs Bristol & Suburban League Premier Division – 12 clubsCambridgeshire County League Senior A Division – 14 clubs Central Midlands Alliance Division One North – 9 clubs Central Midlands Alliance Division One East – 12 clubs Central Midlands Alliance Division One South – 12 clubs Central Midlands Alliance Division One West – 10 clubs Cheshire League Division One – 16 clubsCombined Counties League Division Two - 10 clubs Devon & Exeter League Premier Division – 16 clubsDorset League Senior Division – 14 clubs East Riding County League Premier Division – 13 clubs East Sussex League Premier Division – 10 clubs Essex Alliance League Premier Division East – 12 clubs Essex Alliance League Premier Division West – 10 clubs Essex & Suffolk Border League Division One – 16 clubs Essex Olympian League Senior Division One – 13 clubsGloucestershire Northern Senior League Division One – 16 clubs Hampshire Premier League Division One – 11 clubs Hellenic League Division Two Central – 12 clubs Hellenic League Division Two East – 10 clubs Hellenic League Division Two West – 11 clubs Herefordshire Football League Division One – 12 clubs Hertfordshire Senior County League Division One – 16 clubs Isle of Wight Saturday League Division Two – 9 clubs Kent County League Division One Central & East – 11 clubs Kent County League Division One West – 12 clubs Leicestershire Senior League Division One – 16 clubs Liverpool County Premier League Division One – 14 clubs Manchester League Division One – 13 clubs Mid-Sussex League Championship – 12 clubsMiddlesex County League Division One Central & East – 10 clubsMiddlesex County League Division One South West – 11 clubsMiddlesex County League Division One North West – 10 clubs |
Midland League Division Three – 16 clubs North Bucks & District League Premier Division – 13 clubsNorth Devon League Premier Division – 16 clubsNorth Riding League Division One – 10 clubsNorthamptonshire Combination League Division One – 14 clubsNorthern Alliance Division One – 16 clubs Nottinghamshire Senior League Division One – 15 clubs Oxfordshire Senior League Division One – 11 clubsPeterborough & District League Division One – 16 clubsPlymouth & West Devon League Premier Division – 12 clubs Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Division One – 14 clubsShropshire County Football League Division One – 8 clubs Somerset County League Division One – 14 clubs South Devon Football League Premier Division – 11 clubs St Piran League Division One East – 15 clubs St Piran League Division One West – 15 clubs Staffordshire County Senior League Division One – 16 clubs Suffolk & Ipswich League Division One – 14 clubsSurrey County Intermediate League (Western) Premier Division – 14 clubs Surrey South Eastern Combination Intermediate Division One – 12 clubs Swindon & District League Premier Division – 9 clubs Thames Valley Premier League Division One – 11 clubs Trowbridge & District League Division One – 12 clubs Wearside League Division One – 14 clubs West Cheshire League Division Two – 16 clubs West Lancashire League Division One – 14 clubs West Midlands (Regional) League Division Two – 10 clubs West Sussex League Premier Division – 11 clubsWest Yorkshire League Division One – 16 clubs Wiltshire Senior League Division One – 7 clubs York League Division One – 9 clubs Yorkshire Amateur League Premier Division – 12 clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | 802 |
Aldershot & District League Division One – 9 clubs |
North Devon League Senior Division – 16 clubs Oxfordshire Senior League Division Two – 12 clubsPeterborough and District League Division Two – 15 clubs Plymouth and West Devon League Division One – 11 clubs Scarborough & District Football League – 9 clubs Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Division Two – 12 clubs Somerset County League Division Two – 14 clubs South Devon Football League Division One – 10 clubs Southampton Saturday League Premier Division – 10 clubs St Piran League Division Two East – 14 clubs St Piran League Division Two West – 13 clubs Staffordshire County Senior League Division Two North – 12 clubs Staffordshire County Senior League Division Two South – 11 clubs Suffolk and Ipswich League Division Two – 14 clubs Surrey South Eastern Combination Intermediate Division Two – 13 clubs Swindon & District League Division One – 10 clubs Thames Valley Premier League Division Two – 11 clubs Trowbridge & District League Division Two – 11 clubs Wearside League Division Two - 11 clubs West Cheshire League Division Three – 16 clubs West Lancashire League Division Two – 12 clubs West Sussex League Division One – 11 clubs West Yorkshire League Division Two – 16 clubs Witney and District League Premier Division – 11 clubs York League Division Two – 11 clubs Yorkshire Amateur League Championship Division – 12 clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | 865 |
Aldershot & District League Division Two – 6 clubs Bristol and District League Senior Division – 14 clubsBristol and Suburban Association League Division One – 14 clubs Cambridgeshire County League Division One A – 13 clubs Cambridgeshire County League Division One B – 14 clubs Cheltenham League Premier Division – 12 clubsChester and Wirral League Premier Division – 9 clubs Coventry Alliance Division One – 11 clubs Craven and District League Division One – 9 clubs Crewe and District League Premier Division – 7 clubs Crook and District League Division One – 6 clubs Devon and Exeter League Division Two – 14 clubs Doncaster Saturday League Premier Division – 8 clubs Dorset League Division Two – 12 clubs East Riding County League Division One – 12 clubs East Sussex League Division Two – 10 clubs Essex Alliance League Division Two – 12 clubs Essex & Suffolk Border League Division Three – 11 clubs Essex Olympian League Senior Division Three – 13 clubs Furness Premier League Premier Division – 14 clubs Guildford and Woking Alliance League Division One – 8 clubs Halifax and District League Premier Division – 11 clubs Harrogate and District League Premier Division – 12 clubsHertfordshire Senior County League Division Three – 13 clubs Hope Valley Amateur League Premier Division – 14 clubs Huddersfield and District Association League Premier Division – 11 clubs Kent County League Division Three Central & East – 12 clubs Kent County League Division Three West – 14 clubs |
Kingston and District League Premier Division – 11 clubs Oxfordshire Senior League Division Three – 11 clubsPeterborough and District League Division Three – 15 clubs Somerset County League Division Three – 14 clubs South Devon Football League Division Two – 10 clubs Southampton Saturday League Senior Division One – 10 clubs St Piran League Division Three East – 14 clubs St Piran League Division Three West – 13 clubs Stroud and District League Division One – 14 clubsSuffolk and Ipswich League Division Three – 13 clubs Thames Valley Premier League Division Three – 11 clubs Wakefield and District League Premier Division – 11 clubs West Sussex League Division Two North – 12 clubs West Sussex League Division Two South – 11 clubs Wimbledon & District League Premier Division – 10 clubs Witney and District League Division One – 12 clubs York League Division Three – 11 clubs Yorkshire Amateur League Division One – 11 clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | 748 |
Aldershot & District League Seedling Group - 10 clubs |
Lancashire Amateur League Division One – 14 clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | 642 |
Anglian Combination Division Five North – 15 clubs |
Lancashire Amateur League Division Two – 14 clubs Mid-Essex League Premier Division – 10 clubsMid-Sussex Football League Division Four North – 10 clubs Mid-Sussex Football League Division Four South – 11 clubs Mid-Somerset Football League Division One – 8 clubs North East Combination League Division One – 6 clubs North Gloucestershire League Division Two – 12 clubs Perry Street and District League Division One – 12 clubs Rochester and District League Division One – 13 clubs Sevenoaks and District Football League Division One – 11 clubs South Devon Football League Division Four – 10 clubs Southend Borough & District Combination Premier Division – 7 clubs Stroud and District League Division Three – 13 clubs Suffolk and Ipswich League Division Five – 12 clubs Taunton & District Saturday League Division One – 12 clubs Wakefield and District League Division Two – 11 clubs Weston-super-Mare and District Football League Division Two – 9 clubs Wimbledon & District Football League Division Two – 10 clubs Witney and District League Division Three – 13 clubs Yeovil and District League Division One – 11 clubs Yorkshire Amateur League Division Three – 11 clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | 402 |
Bristol and District League Division Three – 14 clubs |
Mid-Essex League Division One – 11 clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | 203 |
Bristol and District League Division Four – 13 clubs |
Mid-Sussex League Division Six – 9 clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | 90 |
Bristol and District League Division Five – 10 clubs |
Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League Division B – 13 clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | 36 |
Central and South Norfolk League Division Four – 13 clubs |
Lowestoft & District League Division Three – 10 clubs |
See also
- League system
- List of association football competitions
- National League System (the system involving the 5th–10th tiers of English football, organised by the FA)
- History of the English non-League football system
- English women's football league system
Notes
- ^ a b Promotion to either the National League North or National League South is based on geographic factors.
References
- ^ "The Pyramid.info". thepyramid.info. Archived from the original on 31 October 2005. Retrieved 30 October 2005.
- ^ "EFL: Premier League B teams and 'non-English' clubs ruled out of league reforms". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 22 October 2016. Archived from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
- ^ "English Football League cancels talks over 100-team plan for five divisions". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 16 October 2016.
- ^ a b "Step 5 to 4 promotion/relegation update". The FA. 16 March 2023. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.