The

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

consists of the top two levels of

Non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

in England. The

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

is the fifth highest level of the overall

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

, whilst the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

and

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

exist at the sixth level. The top team and the winner of the playoff of the National division will be promoted to

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, while the bottom four will be relegated to the North or South divisions. The champions of the North and South divisions will be promoted to the National division, alongside the play-off winners from each division. The bottom three in each of the North and South divisions will be relegated to the premier divisions of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

or Southern League For sponsorship reasons, the league is frequently referred to as the Blue Square Premier.

Conference Premier

A total of 24 teams contested the division, including 19 sides from last season, one relegated from the Football League Two, two promoted from the Conference North and two promoted from the Conference South.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 2006–07 Conference North *

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...

* Farsley Celtic Teams promoted from 2006–07 Conference South *

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road which runs east–west. In ...

* Salisbury City Teams relegated from 2006–07 League Two *

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

were also relegated from the Football League, but were placed in the Conference North due to financial problems.

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

, who had finished in the relegation zone in the 2006–07 season, were reprieved in order for the division to remain at 24 teams.

Overall

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

made a return to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

Aldershot F.C. Aldershot Football Club was a football club from Aldershot, Hampshire, England, that played in the English Football League club from 1926 to 1992. The club was nicknamed ''The Shots'' for both the last syllable of the town name and the military ...

having actually folded during the league season of 1991–92 league season. Its successor

Aldershot Town F.C. Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

, however, actually made an exceptionally bad start of the season, losing two of their first three home games, but after that they gained a form that produced Football Conference records, such as their 31 wins and the 101 points, wrapping up the title and the promotion well ahead of the end of the season. A key factor was their ability to avoid drawn matches, of which they only had eight. And even then six of them occurred during the nine games when they were wrapping up the title. The play-offs saw local rivals

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

and

facing each other for a chance to play for a promotion to the Football League. Torquay had the upper hand at first, winning the first leg on Exeter's soil with 1–2, and they on home ground they were leading 1–0 (3–1 aggregate) with just 20 minutes left, when Exeter ended their hopes with a burst of four goals to wrap up the series with a 5–3 aggregate win. Exeter eventually won 1–0 over

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

to seal their return to the League. As usual, the biggest average crowds were seen in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, with an average of 4,728 spectators per game and an aggregate of 108,750, but actually they fell fifth in highest attendances, with the

West Country derby A West Country derby is a sporting fixture involving teams from the West Country, in England. Football The term has been used to describe matches between any two of the following clubs: *Bath City, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town, ...

between

and

drawing the biggest crowd of the season with 7,839 spectators, followed by the Cambridgeshire derby of

with 7,125, another West Country derby between Torquay and Exeter with 6,021 and even

v Weymouth with 5,980, leaving Oxford behind in their top drawing match against

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

with their 5,900 spectators.

had the fewest spectators, with an aggregate of 14,800, meaning an average crowd of 643 spectators, with a high of 1,178 against

League table

Locations

Results

Play-offs

Top scorers in order of league goals

Source:

Conference North

Promotion and relegation

A total of 22 teams contested the division, including 17 sides from last season, one relegated from Football League Two, two relegated from the Conference National and two promoted from the Northern Premier League. Teams promoted from 2006–07 Northern Premier League Premier Division *

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin M ...

AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United, founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. Currently members of the National League North, they ...

Teams relegated from 2006–07 Conference National * Tamworth *

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Teams relegated from 2006–07 League Two *

Boston United were transferred down two divisions due to financial problems. At the end of the season still under entering administration, Boston United were relegated another division down.

League table

Locations

Results

Play-offs

Conference South

Promotion and relegation

A total of 22 teams contested the division, including 17 sides from last season, one relegated from the Conference National, two promoted from the Isthmian League and two promoted from the Southern Football League. Teams promoted from 2006–07 Southern League Premier Division *

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

Teams promoted from 2006–07 Isthmian League Premier Division * Hampton & Richmond Borough *

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

Teams relegated from 2006–07 Conference National * St Albans City

League table

Locations

Results

Play-offs

References

External links

Official Football Conference website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2007-08 Football Conference National League (English football) seasons Eng 5