The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name in 1992, the 4th tier of English football continued as the

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

, and later became known as

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 L ...

History

The Fourth Division was created in 1958 alongside a new Third Division by merging the regionalised Third Division North and

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. The original economic reasons for having the two regional leagues had become less apparent and thus it was decided to create two national leagues at levels three and four. The 12 best teams of each regional league in 1957–58 went into the Third Division, and the rest became founder members of the Fourth Division. Founder members of Fourth Division were: * From Third Division North: Barrow, Bradford (Park Avenue),

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park s ...

, Chester City, Crewe Alexandra, Darlington,

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Hartlepools United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as H ...

, Oldham Athletic, Southport, Workington, York City * From Third Division South:

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

, Crystal Palace, Exeter City, Gillingham, Millwall, Northampton Town,

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

, Shrewsbury Town,

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 nickna ...

, Walsall,

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Before 1987, the top four teams were promoted to the Third Division and the bottom four teams were subject to a re-election vote by other league clubs to determine whether they would remain in the league. Automatic relegation to the Conference was introduced in 1987, the same year the fourth promotion place began to be decided through a play-off. The highest average league attendance in the Fourth Division was 19,092, achieved by Crystal Palace in the 1960/61 season. The highest attendance at an individual match was recorded the same season: 37,774 for the Good Friday game at Selhurst Park between Crystal Palace and Millwall.footballsite.co.uk – Division Four 1960/61
/ref> The highest attendance in a fourth-tier playoff final is 61,589 Bristol Rovers Vs Shrewsbury Town in 2009.

Ins and outs

Automatic relegation between the Fourth Division and the Conference was introduced for the 1986–87 season.

History

Ins and outs

Elections to the Football League

Promotions and relegations from Football Conference

Previous League champions

Play-offs

References