Change the Structure

My last post got me thinking.

The shape of the English Mainland most closely resembles a triangle so that should be the basis of the Non League Structure.

The National League should be divided into three feeder leagues with just the League Leader being promoted. The National North can stay but the National South should be divided into National South West and National South East.

Setting a 1 to 3 standard for leagues could very well encourage more Northern League sides into the Northern Premier League. They complain that the travelling costs are greatly increased following the step up, however, if there were a Northern Premier North, Northern Premier South West and Northern Premier South East those travelling costs would be reduced encouraging the Northern League to participate fully in the structure.

In the Isthmian League London is a huge block meaning that the M25 car park often has to be used to travel to matches. If there were three divisions the travel would be eased as there could be a South Division, Central Division and North Division.

The Southern League has been gradually shrinking in total area since the days when it was the only challenger to the Football League and three divisions may enable the return of a Central Division (rather than Southern North), South West and South East divisions.

Successful teams are usually better supported so the move from three parts to one should be manageable. The tripartite system would, though, make it easier on the teams lower down the leagues in terms of travelling costs.

I know that constant change makes it much more difficult to manage things but getting it wrong in the first place results in ultimate demise. It is not so long ago that Senior and Premier were interchangeable in terms of seniority. There was clearly confusion as can be seen from some of the divisional nominations around the country.

With more people finding out that being part of a smaller club gives you a feeling that being one in fifty thousand does not, we should support the lower leagues and encourage more people to support their local teams. To keep the pyramid alive we must not allow the Football League to absorb the National League into itself. This would become a chance to cut the smaller clubs loose. What we need is a strong National League at the top of the Non League game. We have that now and we must not lose it. Many dreamers are now funding those clubs outside the Football League and long may that continue.

What would you do if you had the opportunity to rearrange the football pyramid?

League Rationalisation

Non League football has been stratified and there is now a standard although there are many variations as you descend the pyramid.

The National League is Step 1 of Non League and Level 5 of the pyramid. It has two feeder leagues At Step 2 (Level 6). They are the National League North and National League South.

Steps 3 and 4 (Levels 7 and 8) are the Isthmian, Northern Premier and Southern Leagues. They each have one Premier Division and two feeder leagues which in the case of the first two are North and South while in the Southern League it is East and West.

This idea of a Primary (Premier) Division with two feeder leagues is now the standard and I am sure that the F.A. will want to standardise that going on down through the pyramid. I have watched the changes over the last few years with keen interest and although there is some way to go I think we can see the direction in which the F.A. is pushing things.

Steps 5 and 6 (Levels 9 and 10) contain a variety of leagues, 14 in total at the moment. The F.A. has designs on reducing this to 12 Leagues so that each of the Step 3 Leagues will have two leagues feeding up to it. With all the bargaining and switching that goes on year after year as teams switch between leagues it would certainly simplify things if promotion and relegation was more rigid but I am not yet convinced that a perfectly matching pyramid is the best thing for the game of football.

The Hellenic League is already set up correctly with East and West divisions leading into the Premier Division.

The South West Peninsula League is similarly standard in structure but its Premier Division sits at level 10 so it does not fit the perfect system that the F.A. is trying to create. If each League has to have its Premier Division at an odd numbered step or level it would need to be regraded down to Level 11 which is the County Level so the F.A. have a problem unless they accept that there will be exceptions. The Western League works with Division One getting a promotion slot and the South West Peninsula League Premier Division getting a promotion slot. If the F.A. were to force a standard structure it could kill the game in the South West Peninsula.

Most of the other Leagues at Step 5 (Level 9) have a Premier Division and a Division One which works for them.

The key exception to this now that the Kent League has become the Southern Counties East League Premier Division and the Kent Invicta League has become the Southern Counties League Division One (a step closer to the standard required) is the Essex Senior League. It sits at Step 5 (Level 9) and has no Step 6 feeder league. The Essex Olympian League sits at Level 11.

The F.A. has plans to fix this by getting the Essex Senior League to merge with the Eastern Counties League (Premier Division and Division One) to create a Premier Division along with a Division One North and Division One South. This will fit the format that the F.A. is pushing but it remains to be seen how the teams involved adapt to greater travelling distances. Certainly, now that the Sussex League has become the Southern Combination we need to push any mention of the County in the League Name down to Level 11. The standard is becoming County Leagues at Level 11.

If that merger takes place then the total number of leagues at this level will be reduced to 13 and I will leave it up to you to work out which other leagues should be merged to remove the 13th member at this level and give the F.A. the perfect 12 that they are after.

What are your thoughts?