English Football League System - Promotion and Relegation Rules For The Top Eight Levels

Promotion and Relegation Rules For The Top Eight Levels

Levels 7–8 of the English football league system. Locations of the 2011–12 Northern Premier League teams (Green), Southern Football League teams (Blue) and Isthmian League teams (Red)
  1. Premier League (level 1, 20 teams): The bottom three teams are relegated.
  2. Football League Championship (level 2, 24 teams): Top two automatically promoted; next four compete in the playoffs, with the winner gaining the third promotion spot. The bottom three are relegated.
  3. Football League One (level 3, 24 teams): Top two are automatically promoted; next four compete in playoffs, with the winner gaining the third promotion spot. The bottom four are relegated.
  4. Football League Two (level 4, 24 teams): Top three teams are automatically promoted; next four compete in playoffs, with the winner gaining the fourth promotion spot. The bottom two are relegated.
  5. Conference National (level 5, 24 teams): The champions are promoted; next four compete in playoffs, with the winner gaining the second promotion spot. The bottom four are relegated to either North or South division as appropriate.
  6. Conference North and Conference South (level 6, 22 teams each, running in parallel): The champions in each division are automatically promoted; next four teams in each division compete in playoffs, with the playoff winner in each division getting the second promotion spot. The bottom three 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 are not equal, one or more teams are transferred between the two divisions to even them up again.
  7. Northern Premier League Premier Division, Southern Football League Premier Division and Isthmian League Premier Division (level 7, 22 teams each, running in parallel): The champions in each division are automatically promoted; next four teams in each division compete in playoffs, with the playoff winner in each division getting the second promotion spot. 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 are not equal, one or more teams are transferred between the three divisions to even them up again.
  8. Northern Premier League Division One North, Northern Premier League Division One South, Southern Football League Division One Central, Southern Football League Division One South & West, Isthmian League Division One North and Isthmian League Division One South (level 8, 22 teams each, running in parallel): The champions in each division are automatically promoted; next four teams in each division compete in playoffs, with the playoff winner in each division getting the second promotion spot. The bottom two teams in each division relegated to a level 9 division as appropriate. If, after promotion and relegation, the number of teams in the divisions are not equal, one or more teams are transferred between the divisions to even them up again.

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