At Level 8 there are six leagues such as Northern Premier League Division One North. At Level 9 there are fourteen leagues. The only way every Level 8 league could relegate the same number of clubs and every Level 9 league could promote the same number of clubs is if Level 8 leagues relegated 7 clubs each and Level 9 leagues promoted 3 clubs each or a multiple of that such as 14 and 6. Since I doubt leagues relegate seven clubs, how does promotion and relegation work?
It has to do with finances and ground-grading, and whether teams are actually capable of competing at the higher level. At the beginning of each season all the Level 9 clubs who would like to be promoted announce their intention to move up a division, should they end up winning or coming second in their league. It's not mandatory to do this for any club, and it often happens that a club which didn't apply for promotion wins the division. During the course of the season each club who has applied for promotion has their finances inspected and their ground graded by members of the FA and representatives from the Northern Premier League, Southern League and Ithsmian league. They are all given a rating: some pass and don't have to do anything, others fail the grading and then have a certain length of time to make the necessary ground improvements (things like floodlights, crowd safety and security, public facilities etc.) and/or improve their financial status to meet the standards of a Level 8 league. At the end of the season, the 28 teams (each division's champion and runner-up) are looked at again - the ones which didn't apply for promotion in the first place are discounted, as are the ones which failed to make the necessary stadium improvements or meet the financial requirements. Usually, that leaves 7 or 8 teams which applied for promotion at the beginning of the season AND which pass all the Level 8 grading requirements AND which finished in the top 2 in their division. These teams are then promoted to the closest geographical Level 8 league. To balance this, the worst 7-8 from across Level 8 (the bottom team from each league, and then say the two next-worst teams) are relegated to Level 9 (they don't have a choice). Then, working on the basis of the best geographic distribution, teams are moved around so that each Level 8 division has 22 teams.
Post above pretty much sums it up. The bottom two teams from each level 8 (or step 4, as it is usually referred to as) league are supposed to be relegated at the end of each season. In reality this never happens due to there not being enough teams wanting to move up from step 5, and teams going bust, or being relegated through from above. Step 1 is the Conference, the highest level of non-league football. Step 2 conf north/south etc. etc.
Thank you. I'm surprised only a quarter or a little more than that of the possible promotion spots are used.
I think they allow a max of 18-up-18-down in any given year. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that each Level 9 division finished with the top 2 in each division having applied for promotion and passed the requirements. With 18-up-18-down, the bottom 3 from each Level 8 league would go down, and the 14 divisional champs plus the four best second place teams would go up. They work it out on a formula for average # points per game, because not all L9 divisions have the same number of teams. And, actually, looking at the stats, I was wrong before - more teams come up each year than I thought. 12 teams came up at the end of 2009-10 (NEEDHAM MARKET, FAVERSHAM TOWN, WHITEHAWK, BARWELL, NEWCASTLE TOWN, RAINWORTH MINERS WELFARE, AYLESBURY, DAVENTRY TOWN, NORTH GREENFORD UNITED, ALMONDSBURY TOWN, BIDEFORD and WIMBORNE TOWN). 12 teams came up at the end of 2008-09. 17 teams came up at the end of 2007-08. So, yeah, it's actually a pretty comprehensive chaneover each year at the bottom of the pyamid.
If a Level 9 champion is not able to be promoted and the second place club in that league can be promoted, does the promotion spot get passed down within the league or does the second place club have to be compared to all the other Level 9 second place clubs?
There is no provision for 18-up, 18-down. There are two relegation places in each of the six step four leagues, making a total of twelve. In practice there are usually several repreives for these teams, since teams further up the pyramid go bankrupt, fail ground gradings, merge with other teams, or decide that they want to play at a level with less travelling and more local matches.
The top team from that league gets promoted as long as some people have said the ground is up to scratch.The teams who finished in 2nd,3rd,4th,5th play in a play off with 2nd v 5th and 3rd v 4th then a final which could be played at a neutral venue or the team which finished highest in the league.
There are also some teams which suffer heavy travelling costs due to more London based teams in the southern divisions.
Droylsdenfan, you are getting your steps mixed up. The question is about promoting into the lower tiers of the NPL, SL and IL.
