National League South

The National League South is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest tier overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League, the EFL leagues and the National League and is contested by 24 clubs.

National League South includes teams from the South East, London, and the South West, as well as teams from Essex. The National League South was introduced in 2004 as part of a major restructuring of the National League System. Each year the champion of the league is automatically promoted to the National League. A second promotion place goes to the winner of a play-off involving the teams finishing in second to seventh place (expanded from four to six teams in the 2017–18 season). The three bottom clubs were relegated to Step 3 leagues.