NON-LEAGUE TIMES

How did the Non-League Pyramid come about? This section charts the evolution of the system over the years.

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The first twelve clubs in the Football League (1888) were all from either the north midlands or the north-west. This led other parts of the country to form their own leagues, initially of much the same standard. Professional clubs could join the Northern League (est. 1889) in the north-east or the Southern League (est. 1894) in the south. Southern amateur clubs could opt for the Isthmian League (est. 1895), based in London. The Isthmian was one of several leagues to take its name from Ancient Greece (c.f. Athenian, Spartan, Hellenic, Corinthian and Delphic). This was meant to reflect its amateur status, not a reference to constant anti-Englishness, general ingratitude and illegally obtaining subsidies from Brussels for non-existent olive farms.

As the Football League became established in the north and midlands, it became clear that some sort of merger with the Southern League was desirable, particularly as the latter's clubs often matched or out-performed their 'League' rivals. Indeed one Southern club, Tottenham Hotspur, won the FA Cup in 1901 whilst still a non-(Football)-League club, gaining admission to the League some seven seasons later. After stopping (1915-9) for World War One, virtually the entire top division of the Southern joined the Football League (1920), a further influx of mostly northern clubs the following year bringing the FL up to more or less its current size.

Suddenly bereft of most of its leading clubs, non-league football then evolved rather slowly. In 1968 the Cheshire County, Lancashire Combination and Midland Leagues chose some of their top clubs to form the Northern Premier League, which although largely north-west based soon evolved into a rival to the Northern League. Relations between these two swiftly moved from bad to dire. In 1973 the FA in its wisdom (spot the oxymoron) decided that the term 'amateur' should be abolished, much to the annoyance of the Isthmian League, which had to go professional as a result. So there were now four major leagues operating below the Football League - and they all faced the same problem.

Ever since the Football League's creation, clubs finishing at the bottom of their lower division(s) had had to apply for re-election against non-league aspirant clubs. This had been fixed at the bottom four clubs since 1920. But in the 36 years between expansion to 92 clubs (1951) and automatic exchange with the Conference (1987), of the 124 possible new clubs only fourteen - less than 12%! - made the giant leap. One reason was the non-league support (small anyway) was often split amongst rival candidates. In 1977 the FA decided to put forward only two non-league clubs each season, a change which saw both Wimbledon and Wigan Athletic enter the League. Two years later, non-league clubs decided to create a new national league whose winners would be the sole club to apply for promotion, in the hope that this would keep the flow going. The new league, created in 1979, was initially called the Alliance, and of course it failed completely. The FL clubs promptly closed ranks, and whereas in the past ten years some four clubs had gained League status, not one club went up for the next seven years.

The Isthmian and Northern Leagues initially stood apart from this development. The result was that the Alliance initially consisted of 13 Southern and 7 NPL clubs, and for the first two years the Isthmian and Northern Leagues (with initial justification) considered themselves on a par with the Alliance. However, the defection of two leading Isthmian clubs to the Alliance at the end of the 1981 season led to the inevitable, and the Isthmian accepted feeder status. The Northern was also offered feeder status, and again declined – a big mistake, as things turned out. Finally in 1986/7 came the 'prize' non-league football had been seeking; 'automatic' one-club exchange between the Alliance and the Football League was agreed, although this agreement was, predictably, not always honoured.

Relations between the Northern and NPL continued to deteriorate. In 1987 the NPL angered its feeder leagues by taking their best clubs to create the oddly-named Northern Premier Division 1 (?). The Northern League continued to stand aloof and declined as a result. Worse for them, in 1982 the rump Midland and Yorkshire Leagues had merged into the Northern Counties (East) League, which now offered an alternative route up the Pyramid for ambitious north-eastern clubs. Several NL clubs defected to the NCEL to advance into the NPL, causing confusion over initials and even more bad feeling. Finally in 1991 a reluctant Northern had to agree to feeder status into NP1. Its decline was further marked when the FA chose 1995 to downgrade its clubs, telling them they no longer qualified for the FA Trophy, and must compete in the FA Vase instead.

The Alliance had by now become the Conference, but relations with the Football League remained sticky. In 1999 plans to create a Conference 2 were blocked by the ever-unhelpful FA. Talks were held to increase the exchange with the Football League to two clubs, one promoted automatically and one via a play-off system, but in 2001 the League voted 69-3 against such a move. League chairmen claimed, to widespread derision, that they had been wholly in favour of such a move until they heard Conference representatives speak! The turn of the millennium saw the Conference holding secret talks with the Southern and Northern Premier Leagues, after which they announced the Isthmian would cease to be a feeder league from 2002. This succeeded in achieving what many thought impossible, namely forcing the FA to think about doing something. Plans were published to establish two Conference feeder leagues and reform the whole Pyramid. Naturally they came to nothing. An irate Conference now threatened to go it alone and create two feeder leagues themselves. This finally backed the FA into a corner (the one with a cone-shaped hat with a 'D' on it), and the new Football Alliance (in practice Conference North/South) was agreed for 2004/5. It is jointly run by the Conference and its three current feeders.

The end of the 2005/6 season saw a number of further changes, which of course the FA managed to screw up good and proper. Conference National expanded to 24 clubs, and there was one more league at Level 8. The original plan was for two new leagues, then two months into the season the FA announced it would be just one but with slightly larger leagues (5x22 instead of 6x20). The NPL, finding they were to be the losers, not unnaturally protested about this. The FA hummed, hahed, did nothing until the season was almost over, and then expected the three Level 7 leagues to agree a sixth Level 8 division at the last minute. Of course they couldn't, so what emerged was a ridiculous situation whereby only two clubs got relegated from Level 8, and the NPL got one supersized division of 24.

In November 2006 the FA announced a provisional decision to go for six Level 8 divisions for 2007/8, with a minimum of 18 clubs per league (this would mean 108 clubs, and there were 112 on that level already), plus a guarantee that no more than three clubs would be promoted from each Level 9 league without their agreement. This decision was ratified in April 2007, and after much havering eventually accepted by the NPL. Currently the Northern Premier Division One leagues are just a few clubs under-strength.

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The following tables show the set-up for Steps 1-4 in the Pyramid system in English football, as it is for the 2007/8 season.

Here are the 14 leagues at Step 5.

# The East Midlands Counties is at Level 10, feeding into the Northern Counties (East) Premier

¶ The Dorset Premier is at Level 10, feeding into the Wessex Premier Division.

¤ The South-West Peninsula League is at Level 10, feeding into the Western Premier Division.