Football Conference

The Football Conference is an English league of Non-league football gathering 3 divisions. Highest division is the Conference National, positioned on level 5 of the pyramidal system English; a lower level are the Conference North and Conference South, both classified on level 6.

History

Football Conference was founded in 1979 under the name of Alliance First League . It was then a championship, the ancestor of the Conference National. In 2004, following a major reorganization of the National League System, the championship was renamed Conference National and 2 additional divisions of a lower level transfer the day: the Conference North and Conference South. The same year, Football Conference was moulted in league and manages since this period divisions National, North and South.

Organization

Football Conference sits at the top of the National League System (NLS). This structure, placed under the aegis of the English federation of football, gathers more than 50 leagues. The Conference National corresponds to the first stage, the Conference North and Conference South with the second. With the top of the Conference the 92 English clubs is accounting for the 4 plus high levels of English football: the First League and the Football League. Since the season 2006/07, the Conference National comprises 24 clubs, the Conference North and South, 22 each one. Each club twice meets the other clubs during the season. A victory is equivalent to 3 points, a tie 1 point, and a defeat 0 points.

At the end of the season, two clubs of Conference National are promoted in Football League Two and two clubs of League Two are relegated in Conference National. The two tickets of rise are given to the champion and to the winner of the eliminatory series gathering the teams having finished second in the fifth place. The last four clubs of Conference National are relegated either in North Conference, or in South Conference. The decision is allocated to the committee of NLS but is strongly determined by the geographical location of the clubs. The four relegated clubs are replaced by 4 new clubs, 2 coming from the North Conference, 2 of the South Conference. For each one of these 2 leagues, the tickets of rise are offered to the champion and to the winner of the eliminatory series (second in the fifth place). The last three clubs of Conference North and South (6 on the whole) are relegated in the divisions located at level 3 of NLS (level 7 of the pyramidal system), i.e. highest divisions of the Northern First League, Southern Football League and Isthmian Football League. Each one of its divisions sends its champion and his winner of the eliminatory series in one of the two groups, North or South.

Before season 2006/07, 3 distinct systems were used. During season 2005/06, two clubs of Conference National were relegated and four promoted, because of the widening of the championship which passed from 22 to 24 clubs. During season 2004/05, 3 clubs of Conference National were relegated, replaced by 3 clubs of Conference North and South. The promoted clubs were the respective champions and the winner of the match opposing the winners of the eliminatory series of the Conference North and South. Before 2004, the 3 relegated clubs were replaced by the respective champions of highest divisions of the Northern First League, Southern Football League and Isthmian Football League.

Internal bonds

Conference National
Conference North
Conference South

External bond

Official site

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