Friday 28 May 2021

The Non League Divisions from Step 5

 This is my area as I have been keeping records of the professional non league divisions for ten years now and during that time I have added all the level 11 leagues, all of the level 12 leagues and many other lower leagues some of which decry the idea of being part of a pyramid. They are, whether they like it or not, at a level determined by the league immediately above them in the area.

The best anomaly I have found is the area covered by the Wiltshire Senior League. There are several minor leagues that claim to promote to the Wiltshire Senior League which sits at level 11. If so then these leagues are level 12 leagues but they are minor leagues and should not be recognised as level 12. To be fair the pyramid officially only extends to level 11 so anything after that is based on the opinions of those who follow the leagues themselves. The North Berks League, Salisbury & District League, Swindon & District League and Trowbridge & District League all claim to promote to the Wiltshire Senior League which gives them a status of Level 12 which is not quite right. That Wiltshire competition needs a second division to rectify the situation.

So far from level 11 onwards I have found 114 leagues, 324 divisions and 3,907 teams but as I keep on finding new leagues with every passing season I am sure there is a long way to go. I note the name every time I come across a new league name and I am excluding junior leagues and veteran leagues so if I add those in there is a massive football following in this country.

I think there is so much to mention in "The Big Mashup" that I will cover each league and maybe each division individually. Certainly I think if this sticks then the old "US and THEM" leagues have gone for good and we will have a reasonably well divided league system capable of allowing the correct level of promotion and relegation in the years to come.


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