Structure
Under the terms of a sponsorship deal, the league is currently officially known as the Baker-Joiner Midland Football Alliance. Previous sponsors include Polymac Services, Harvey World Travel, Travel Factory, and Aspire. In July 2008, it was announced that 23 teams would compete in the Alliance in the 2008–09 season, however the following week it was announced that Stapenhill had folded, leaving 22 teams in the league. The league is contested on a double round-robin basis, with each team playing each of the other teams in the division once at home and once away. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a defeat. Goal difference is used to separate teams on the same points.
As the Alliance is a Step 5 league, its member clubs are eligible to take part in the FA Cup and FA Vase as long as their grounds meet the required standards. The league also operates two cup competitions of its own, the knock-out League Cup (currently known as the Polymac Services League Cup), which has been staged annually since the Alliance's inaugural season, and the Joe McGorian Cup, which is contested between the previous season's League Cup winners and league champions and which was first contested in 1996.
According to official FA regulations, clubs from the Alliance are eligible for promotion to a Step 4 league, provided their grounds meet the required standard. Clubs promoted from Step 5 leagues are placed in the most geographically appropriate Step 4 leagues as determined by the FA's Leagues Committee. The number of clubs promoted from the Alliance each season can vary, as regulations state that the "ten most suitable clubs from the leagues at Step 5" will gain promotion. To date all clubs gaining promotion from the Alliance have been placed in either the Southern League or the Northern Premier League. Teams finishing at the bottom of the Alliance table may be relegated to an appropriate feeder league, depending on the number of teams remaining in the division after other promotion and relegation issues have been resolved.
Read more about this topic: Midland Football Alliance
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