39-582: Evo-Stik League may refer to two English association football leagues sponsored by Evo-Stik: Northern Premier League , referred to as the Evo-Stik League Northern Premier Southern Football League , referred to as the Evo-Stik League Southern Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
78-623: 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 . 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
117-691: 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
156-473: 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
195-493: A two-year deal for seasons 2019-20 and 2020-21 had been agreed with new sponsor BetVictor . This sponsorship agreement with BetVictor was subsequently terminated early in April 2020 with a replacement, Entain 's Pitching In, announced as the next sponsor for 2020–21. At the time of announcement, Entain went by its former name GVC Holdings. Under this partnership, the NPL is marketed as one of
234-494: Is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England , with five teams from Wales , one from Guernsey , one from Jersey and one from the Isle of Man also competing. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, allowing even the smallest club the theoretical possibility of ultimately rising to
273-613: Is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system . Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England and the northern, central areas of the Midlands , and western parts of East Anglia. Originally a single-division competition, a second division
312-554: 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
351-632: 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",
390-526: The English football league system - The league currently runs one cup competition, the League Challenge Cup, which is contested by every club in the league. In the past the league has run three other cup competitions - the President's Cup, Chairman's Cup and Peter Swales Shield. English football league system The English football league system , also known as the football pyramid ,
429-461: The Midlands ( Aston Villa , Derby County , Notts County , Stoke , West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers ). 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
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#1732852442113468-651: The National League along with the winners of a playoff between the second to fifth place clubs. Theoretically, clubs from the NPL could be promoted into either of the National League's two regional divisions, but the geographical footprint of the NPL has never overlapped with that of the National League South , so (as of 2015) all promoted NPL clubs have been placed in the National League North . The bottom three teams are usually relegated to Division One North West or South East, but NPL Premier Division clubs in
507-660: The FA. They have to accept it or appeal but cannot reject it at an annual general meeting. 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
546-738: 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
585-548: The NLS, the NPL's additional division was created in 2021 instead. Owing to title sponsorship deals, the league has been billed under various names, including a sixteen-year spell as the Unibond League, the longest such deal in world football. When this deal ended in 2010, a new deal was announced which saw the competition billed as the Evo-Stik League until the 2017–18 season. The League announced on 8 July 2019 that
624-399: The NPL was demoted by a further tier and there are now two levels between it and the English Football League. From 1992–93 to 1994–95 the league's Division One included two non-English clubs, Caernarfon Town from Wales and Gretna from Scotland , who later joined their countries' league systems. Colwyn Bay , Bangor City , Newtown , and Rhyl have also played in the league. In 2018,
663-442: The NPL's member clubs voted 37–27, with one abstention and three clubs' absence, to split Step 4 (level 8) divisions from east to west starting from the 2018–19 season, and one year later, the league published its successful bid to add another division at Step 4 initially in 2020, further altering Division One into northwest and southeast for travel reasons. After the Football Association (FA) deferred its implementation of changes to
702-487: 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
741-520: The first round of Qualification. The league currently runs one cup competition, with all member clubs competing in the League Challenge Cup. In the past, the league has run other competitions, such as the Chairman's Cup, the President's Cup and the Peter Swales Shield. The 2019–20 season was terminated on 26 March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic ; the teams listed here were in first place in
780-513: 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
819-457: The level of the NPL from Northern England , the National League System (NLS) Committee can order one or more of the NPL's southernmost clubs to transfer to the Southern League (or vice versa) to maintain numerical balance between the leagues. Division One North West and South East teams receive a bye to the preliminary round of FA Cup Qualification. Premier Division teams receive a bye to
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#1732852442113858-458: The more densely populated areas there are leagues more than twenty layers below the Premier League. 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
897-612: The most southerly locales could be relegated to the Southern League Division One Central. From the 2019–20 season, Division One North West and South East have 20 clubs each. In each division, the champions are promoted to the Premier Division, along with the winners of a divisional playoff. The bottom two clubs in each division are relegated to one of the feeder leagues below provided there are enough suitable promotion candidates from those leagues. The champions of
936-685: 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 competed in the play-offs where an additional club was guaranteed promotion from each step 5 division, with the number of relegations from each of the eight level 8 divisions remained at two as each step 4 division increased its divisional size to 22 teams. The resulting 16 vacancies at step 5 were filled by relegating only one club per level 9 division, rather than two. Ahead of 2024–25, two promotions out of each step 5 division into its step 4 counterpart remained and
975-523: The other two leagues at what is now the seventh tier of the English football league system , the Isthmian League and the Southern League. At that time they were the highest level non-League division below the English Football League , the same level as the other league in Northern England, the Northern League . Over the next two decades, the NPL successfully displaced its older rival to become
1014-494: 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
1053-526: The plan to include Premier League "B" teams in the new division and shortly thereafter scrapped the idea altogether. 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
1092-674: The pre-eminent regional competition in Northern England, with the Northern League eventually forced to accept status as feeder league to the NPL. In 1979, upon the creation of the Alliance Premier League (which later became the Conference and is now the National League), the NPL became a feeder league and fell down one level in the English football league system , and with the then-Conference's addition of regional divisions in 2004
1131-463: The pyramid, although teams frequently leave these for pyramid leagues. 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
1170-408: The standings at the time of the termination, but were not recognised as champions. The 2020–21 season was also terminated on 24 February 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic; the teams listed here were in first place in the standings at the time of the termination, but were not recognised as champions. Since the league's formation in 1968, the following clubs have won promotion to higher levels of
1209-546: The structure at lower levels should not be regarded as definitive. Some England-based men's clubs play outside the English football league system . The world's first association football league, named simply The Football League , was created in 1888 by Aston Villa 's club director William McGregor . It was dominated by those clubs who had supported professionalism. The twelve founding members were six from Lancashire ( Accrington , Blackburn Rovers , Burnley , Bolton Wanderers , Everton and Preston North End ) and six from
Evo-Stik League - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-419: The three Trident Leagues, alongside its Isthmian and Southern counterparts. Since 2021, the NPL has had four divisions: the Premier Division, Division One Midlands, Division One West and Division One East. Prior to 2007 there was just a single Division One, and from 2018 to 2021 Division One was arranged on a north-south, then east-west basis. The Premier Division has 22 clubs, with the champions promoted to
1287-743: The three feeder leagues covering the NPL area are promoted each season. These are the Northern League , the Northern Counties East League , and the North West Counties League . Clubs in the northern extremities of the Midland League and the United Counties League may also be promoted to the Northern Premier League. Should there be an unusually large or small number of clubs relegated to and/or promoted to
1326-500: The title Evo-Stik League . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Evo-Stik_League&oldid=840355169 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League
1365-507: 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. Being members of a league at a particular level also affects eligibility for Cup, or single-elimination, competitions. In the case of the FA Cup, entrance from Level 10 clubs depends upon ranking within
1404-472: The top of the NPL Premier Division are promoted to level 6 of the pyramid (either National League North or National League South ), and at the bottom end of the competition, teams are relegated down to level 9, where several regional feeder leagues promote clubs into the league. The Northern Premier League (NPL) was founded in 1968 , as the northern equivalent of the Southern League , decades after
1443-424: 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
1482-420: The very top of the system, the Premier League . Below that are levels 2–4 organised by the English Football League , then the National League System from levels 5–10 administered by the FA , and thereafter Regional feeder leagues run by relevant county FAs on an ad hoc basis. It also often happens that the Premier Division of a Regional Feeder League (Step 7 or Level 11) has its constitution given to it by
1521-405: Was added in 1987 : Division One , and in 2007 a third was added when Division One split into two geographic sections - Division One North and Division One South. In 2018 Division One was re-aligned as East and West Divisions, then North West and South East in 2019. In 2021, the FA restructured the non-League football pyramid and created Division One East, West, and Midlands. Successful teams at
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