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ABOUT 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 league 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. 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. STRUCTURE At the top is the single division of the (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 22 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 the southern England, the Midlands and parts of Wales) and the Isthmian League (which covers the south east). The Northern and Isthmian leagues have a Premier Division (Level 7), with a First Division (Level 8) below. The Southern League also has a Premier Division (Level 7), but it is followed by two parallel divisions, East and West. The West Division covers the West Midlands, the West Country and the south west; and the East Division covers north London, north Kent, Essex, the east midlands and East Anglia. Only the Isthmian league has a Second Division, which is on the same level (Level 9) as 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. THE SYSTEM 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: THE SYSTEM FROM 2006-2007 From the 2006-07 Season , there will be a number of changes to the lower levels of the system. Firstly, Conference National (Level 5) will increase to twenty-four clubs. Levels 6 and 7 will remain unchanged. The number of Level 8 divisions will increase from four to five. The Isthmian League's existing First Division will be split into parallel (either north and south, or east and west) divisions. Meanwhile, the Southern League's two Division Ones will become split into Midlands and south divisions, rather than the current east and west split. The Northern Premier League will continue 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 will have twenty-two clubs. At Level 9, the number of divisions operating should be reduced from fifteen to twelve, with the Isthmian League Second Division and two as-yet-undecided divisions being discontinued, but there is still no consensus on how this will be achieved, and it is growing increasingly likely that 2006-07 will run with fourteen leagues at this level. Each Level 9 division will have between eighteen and twenty 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. Furthermore (with the exception of between Levels 6 and 7), the promotion and relegation between divisions will become fixed again with no need for a committee to place clubs in different divisions. For each division, its official name, sponsorship name (which often differs radically from its official name) and number of clubs is given. The names of each league and division have not yet been confirmed and may change before the 2006-2007 season begins. Each division promotes to the division(s) that lie directly above it and relegates to the division(s) that lie directly below it: SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINK |
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