English football league system
The English football league system, also
known as the football pyramid, is a series of
interconnected leagues for club football in
England (although for historical reasons a
small number of Welsh clubs also compete).
The system has a hierarchical format with
promotion and relegation between leagues at
different levels, and allows even the smallest
club to dream of rising to the very top of the
system. There are over 140 leagues, contain-
ing over 480 divisions.[1] The exact number
of clubs varies from year to year as clubs join
and leave leagues or fold altogether, but an
estimated average of 15 clubs per division
implies that over 7,000 clubs are members of
a league in the English football
league
system.
About the system
The system consists of a hierarchy of
leagues, bound together by the principle of
promotion and relegation. Clubs that are suc-
cessful in their league can rise higher in the
pyramid, whilst those that finish at the bot-
tom can find themselves sinking further
down. In theory it is possible for a lowly local
amateur club to rise to the pinnacle of the
English game and become champions of the
Premier League. While this may be unlikely
in practice (at the very least, not in the short
run), there certainly is significant movement
within the pyramid. The number of teams
promoted between leagues or divisions var-
ies, and promotion is usually contingent on
meeting criteria set by the higher league, es-
pecially concerning appropriate facilities and
finances.
The top five levels contain one division
each. Below this, the levels have progress-
ively more parallel leagues, which each cover
progressively
smaller
geographic
areas.
Many leagues have more than one division.
At the lower levels the existence of leagues
becomes
intermittent, although in some
areas there are as many as twenty layers.[2]
There are also leagues in various parts of the
country which are not officially part of the
system as they do not have formal agree-
ments with other leagues, but are recognised
a