The 2018–19 National League season, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, was the fourth season under

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

's new title of

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, fifteenth season consisting of three divisions and the fortieth season overall.

National League

The National League consists of 24 clubs.

Promotion and relegation

The following clubs changed divisions after the 2017–18 season: Despite a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

on 21 April 2018, Salford City became 2017–18 National League North champions after

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

lost 3–1 to Bradford Park Avenue.

Havant & Waterlooville Havant & Waterlooville Football Club is a professional football club based in Havant, Hampshire, England. The club participates in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, after relegation from the National League in the ...

were crowned 2017–18 National League South champions on 28 April after a 3–2 victory over Concord Rangers. On 13 May,

were promoted after a 3–0 win against Brackley Town in the 2017–18 National League North playoff final. All three teams played in the National League for the first time in their histories. On the same day as Harrogate's promotion, Braintree Town were also promoted after beating Hampton & Richmond 4–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the 2017–18 National League South playoff final, securing an instant return to the National League. On 24 April, after 97 years as an EFL club,

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

were relegated to the National League following Morecambe's 0–0 draw against

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 ...

. On 5 May 2018, despite a 3–0 victory against Chesterfield,

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

became the second club to be relegated from

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 ...

following Morecambe's 0–0 draw against

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 ...

, ending their three-year stay in the EFL. These teams replaced

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

, Chester,

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...

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 ...

and Woking.

were crowned 2017–18 National League champions and promoted to

on 21 April after a 2–0 victory over

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

, ending their six-year absence from the EFL.

were promoted to League Two on 12 May after a 2–1 victory over

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

in the playoff final and returned to the EFL after a three-year absence. Boreham Wood and

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...

were invited to compete in the 2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup in a new expansion of that competition as the highest-finishing remaining teams in the division. Chester were the first team to be relegated from National League on 8 April after a 2–0 loss to

. Despite staying up on the final day for the past two seasons, it was not to be third time lucky for

who joined them on 17 April after a 1–0 loss to relegation rivals Barrow.

became the third team to be relegated from the National league on 21 April after a 1–1 draw with

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

, confirming the club's first ever relegation to the sixth tier. The fourth and final team to suffer relegation was Woking, who were relegated on 28 April following a 2–1 defeat to

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

, ending their five-year stay in the National League.

Team changes

To National League

Promoted from 2017–18 National League North * Salford City *

Promoted from 2017–18 National League South *

* Braintree Town Relegated from 2017–18 League Two *

From National League

Promoted to 2018–19 League Two *

Relegated to 2018–19 National League North * Chester *

Relegated to 2018–19 National League South *

* Woking

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsoring

Managerial changes

League table

Play-offs

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Results table

Top scorers

Monthly awards

Each month the Vanarama National League announces their official Player of the Month and Manager of the Month.

Team of the Season

At the end of the season, the National League announced its official team of the season.

National League North

Team changes

To National League North

Promoted from 2017–18 Northern Premier League Premier Division *

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 ...

* Ashton United Promoted from 2017–18 Southern League Premier Division * Hereford Relegated from 2017–18 National League * Chester *

From National League North

Promoted to 2018–19 National League * Salford City *

Relegated to 2018–19 Northern Premier League Premier Division *

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

Relegated to 2018–19 Southern League Premier Division Central * Tamworth

Stadia and locations

Personnel and sponsoring

League table

Play-offs

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Results table

Managerial changes

Top scorers

Monthly awards

Each month the Vanarama National League North announces their official Player of the Month and Manager of the Month.

National League South

The National League South consisted of 22 clubs.

Team changes

To National League South

Promoted from 2017–18 Isthmian League Premier Division *

Billericay Town Billericay Town Football Club is a football club based in Billericay, Essex, England. The club are currently members of and play at New Lodge. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three o ...

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

Promoted from 2017–18 Southern League Premier Division *

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

Relegated from 2017–18 National League *

* Woking

From National League South

Promoted to 2018–19 National League *

* Braintree Town Relegated to 2018–19 Isthmian League Premier Division *

Bognor Regis Town Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks',the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently compet ...

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was original ...

Relegated to 2018–19 Southern League Premier Division South * Poole Town

Stadia and locations

League table

Play-offs

Quarter-final

Semi-finals

Final

Results table

Top scorers

Monthly awards

Each month the Vanarama National League South announces their official Player of the Month and Manager of the Month.

Step 3 Super Playoffs

With the introduction of a new division at Step 3 of the National League System, an altered promotion playoff process was implemented for the 2018–19 season for clubs to reach the National Leagues

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and South for the 2019–20 season. As per prior seasons, 3 teams were relegated each from the North and South leaving 6 vacancies to fill. Each of the winners of the four Step 3 leagues were automatically promoted to the National Leagues North & South for 2019–20. The Champions of the Step 3 leagues are: *

Isthmian League Premier Division 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 teams ...

: Dorking Wanderers *

Northern Premier League Premier Division 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 Division ...

: Farsley Celtic * Southern Premier League Premier Division Central:

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

* Southern Premier League Premier Division South: Weymouth Each of the four leagues ran a playoff involving the teams finishing from second to fifth. The winners of these playoffs proceeded to the Super Playoffs. The playoff winners are: *

: Tonbridge Angels *

: Warrington Town * Southern Premier League Premier Division Central: King's Lynn Town * Southern Premier League Premier Division South:

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

The winners of the following two fixtures were promoted:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 National League National League (English football) seasons 5 Eng Eng