- Conference National
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Conference National 
Countries 
England
WalesFounded 1979
(as Alliance Premier League)Number of teams 24 Levels on pyramid 5 Promotion to League Two Relegation to Conference North
Conference SouthDomestic cup(s) FA Cup
FA Trophy
Conference League CupCurrent champions Crawley Town
(2010–11)TV partners Premier Sports Website Conference 
2011–12 Football ConferenceConference National (currently named the Blue Square Bet Premier for sponsorship reasons)[1] is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system. While all of the clubs in the top four tiers of English football are full-time professional, the Conference National has a mixture of full-time and semi-professional clubs. The Conference National is the lowest nationwide division in the English football pyramid.
Contents
History
Main article: Football Conference#HistoryThe league was formed as the Alliance Premier League in 1979, coming into force for the 1979–80 season. It was the first attempt to create a fully national league underneath the Football League, drawing its clubs from the Northern Premier League and the Southern League. It greatly improved the quality of football at this lower level, as well as improving the financial status of the top clubs. This was reflected in 1986–87, when the Football League began accepting direct promotion and relegation between the Conference (which the league had been renamed by then) and the bottom division of the Football League which at that time was known as the Football League Fourth Division and is now Football League Two. The first team to be promoted by this method was Scarborough and the first team relegated was Lincoln City, who regained their Football League status a year later as Conference champions.
The league's first sponsors were Gola, who sponsored it during the 1984–85 and 1985–86 seasons. When Gola's sponsorship ceased, carmaker Vauxhall Motors — the British subsidiary of American combine General Motors — took over and sponsored the league until the end of the 1997–98 season. The 1998–99 Conference campaign began without sponsors for the Conference, but just before the end of the season a sponsorship was agreed with Nationwide Building Society. This lasted until the end of the 2006–07 season, after which current sponsors Blue Square took over.
Since 2002–03, the league has been granted a second promotion place, with a play-off deciding who joins the champions in the Football League. Previously, no promotion from the Conference would occur if the winners did not have adequate stadium facilities. As of the start of the 2002–03 season, if a club achieves the automatic promotion or the play-off places but does not have an adequate stadium, their place will be re-allocated to the next highest placed club, that has the required facilities. In 2004–05, the Conference increased its size by adding two lower divisions, the Conference North and Conference South respectively, with the original division being renamed Conference National. For the 2006–07 season, the Conference National expanded from 22 to 24 teams by promoting two teams and relegating four teams, and also introduced a "four up and four down" system between the Conference National and the Conference North and Conference South.
In April 2007, it was announced all the Football Conference had agreed a three year sponsorship deal with online betting firm Blue Square. Under the deal, all three Conference leagues would be sponsored by Blue Square from the 2007–08 season. This would also lead to a renaming of the leagues with the Conference National becoming the Blue Square Premier, the Conference North becoming Blue Square North and the Conference South becoming Blue Square South.[1]
In April 2010, it was announced that Blue Square would continue to sponsor the competition for another three years. From the start of the 2010/11 season the divisions were renamed, with the Blue Square Premier becoming the Blue Square BET Premier, the Blue Square North becoming the Blue Square BET North and the Blue Square South becoming the Blue Square BET South.
Media coverage
In August 2006 Setanta Sports signed a five year deal with the Conference. Under the deal, Setanta Sports started showing live matches in the 2007–08 season, with 79 live matches each season. Included in the deal were the annual Play Off matches as well as the Conference League Cup, a cup competition for the three Football Conference divisions. [2] Setanta showed two live matches a week, with one on Thursday evening and one at the weekend. [3] In Australia the Conference National was broadcast by Setanta Sports Australia. Setanta Sports suffered financial problems and ceased broadcasting in the United Kingdom on 23 June 2009.[4] Sky Sports broadcast the Conference Play-off final 2010 at Wembley Stadium.
On 19 August 2010, Premier Sports announced that it had bought the live and exclusive UK television rights to thirty matches per season from the Conference National for a total of three seasons.[5] The thirty matches selected for broadcast will include all five Conference National play-offs.[6] The deal with the Football Conference is a revenue sharing arrangement whereby clubs receive 50% of revenue from subscriptions, on top of the normal rights fee paid by the broadcaster, once the costs of production have been met. The Conference will also earn 50% from all internet revenue associated with the deal and allow them to retain advertising rights allied to those adverts shown with their matches. During the 2010-11 season, Premier Sports failed to attract enough viewers to its Conference football broadcasts to share any revenue with the clubs beyond the £5,000 broadcast fee paid to home clubs and £1,000 to away clubs.
Conference National clubs 2011–12
Club Finishing position last season AFC Telford United 2nd in Conference North Alfreton Town 1st in Conference North Barrow 18th Bath City 10th Braintree Town 1st in Conference South Cambridge United 17th Darlington 7th Ebbsfleet United 3rd in Conference South Fleetwood Town 5th Forest Green Rovers 20th Gateshead 14th Grimsby Town 11th Hayes & Yeading United 16th Kettering Town 13th Kidderminster Harriers 6th Lincoln City 23rd in League Two Luton Town 3rd Mansfield Town 12th Newport County 9th Southport 21st (Reprieved) Stockport County 24th in League Two Tamworth 19th Wrexham 4th York City 8th Past Conference National winners
Season Winner Playoff Winner 1979–80 Altrincham1 1980–81 Altrincham1 1981–82 Runcorn1 1982–83 Enfield1 1983–84 Maidstone United1 1984–85 Wealdstone1 1985–86 Enfield1 1986–87 Scarborough 1987–88 Lincoln City 1988–89 Maidstone United 1989–90 Darlington 1990–91 Barnet 1991–92 Colchester United 1992–93 Wycombe Wanderers 1993–94 Kidderminster Harriers2 1994–95 Macclesfield Town2 1995–96 Stevenage Borough2 1996–97 Macclesfield Town 1997–98 Halifax Town 1998–99 Cheltenham Town 1999–00 Kidderminster Harriers 2000–01 Rushden & Diamonds 2001–02 Boston United3 2002–03 Yeovil Town Doncaster Rovers 2003–04 Chester City Shrewsbury Town 2004–05 Barnet Carlisle United 2005–06 Accrington Stanley Hereford United 2006–07 Dagenham & Redbridge Morecambe 2007–08 Aldershot Town Exeter City 2008–09 Burton Albion Torquay United 2009–10 Stevenage Borough Oxford United 2010–11 Crawley Town AFC Wimbledon - ^1 No promotion to the Football League until 1987.
- ^2 No promotion to the Football League due to stadium not being adequate for the Football League until 1997.
- ^3 Boston United were allowed to retain their championship title and subsequent promotion to the Football League despite having been found guilty of serious financial misconduct during their title winning season. Following their later relegation back from the Football League at the end of the 2006–07 season, due to ongoing financial concerns and irregularities at the club, Boston were relegated a further division and placed in the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League.
Conference National play-off results
Conference National stadia 2010–11
Home Club Stadium Name Capacity Wrexham Racecourse Ground 15,500 Gateshead Gateshead International Stadium 11,800 Stockport County Edgeley Park 10,500 Luton Town Kenilworth Road 10,226 Mansfield Town Field Mill 10,000 Darlington The Darlington Arena 25,000 [notes 1] Cambridge United Abbey Stadium 9,847 Grimsby Town Blundell Park 9,546 York City Bootham Crescent 9,196 Bath City Twerton Park 8,840 Hayes & Yeading United Church Road 6,500 Kettering Town Nene Park 6,441 Kidderminster Harriers Aggborough 6,238 Southport Haig Avenue 6,008 Fleetwood Town Highbury Stadium 5,500 Forest Green Rovers The New Lawn 5,147 AFC Wimbledon Kingsmeadow 4,720 Newport County Newport Stadium 4,700 Barrow Holker Street 4,256 Tamworth The Lamb Ground 4,000 Histon Bridge Road 3,800 - ^ The Darlington Arena can seat up to 25,000, but is restricted to 10,000 by local planning laws.
Records
- Most wins in a season: 31 4 — Aldershot Town (2007–08), Crawley Town (2010-11)
- Most consecutive wins: 12 — Burton Albion (2008–09)
- Fewest defeats in a season: 3 — Yeovil Town (2002–03), Crawley Town (2010-11)
- Most goals scored in a season: 103 — Barnet (1990–91), Hereford United (2003–04)
- Fewest goals conceded in a season: 24 — Kettering Town (1993–94) / Stevenage Borough (2009–10)
- Most points in a season: 105 4 — Crawley Town (2010-11)
- Fewest points in a season: 18 5 — Leigh RMI (2004–05)
- Highest goal difference: 63 — Yeovil Town (2002–03), Crawley Town (2010-11)
- Biggest win: 9–0 — Runcorn beat Enfield (3 March 1990), Sutton United beat Gateshead (22 September 1990), Hereford United beat Dagenham & Redbridge (27 February 2004), Rushden & Diamonds beat Weymouth (21 February 2009)
- Record attendance: 11,963 Oxford United vs Rushden & Diamonds at The Kassam Stadium (Play-off semi-final second leg, 3 May 2010)
- ^4 Stevenage Borough would have achieved 32 wins and amassed 105 points in the 2009–10 season, but 2 wins (and therefore the six points from those games) against Chester City were expunged, after Chester were expelled from the league before the season ended. This left Stevenage on 30 wins and 99 points from 44 games.
- ^5 Redditch United also finished on 18 points in the 1979–80 season. However, this was under 2 points for a win, and would equate to 23 points under the current system.
References
- ^ a b "Conference announces new sponsors". BBC News. 11 April 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_conf/6544241.stm. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
- ^ Banham, Mark (29 August 2006). "Setanta signs five-year deal for Conference games". Benchmark Capital. Archived from the original on 21 September 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070921182433/http://www.benchmark.com/news/europe/2006/08_29_2006.php. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
- ^ "Conference Signs TV Deal". Benchmark Capital. 29 August 2006. http://www.footballeconomy.com/archive/archive_2006_aug_08.htm. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
- ^ Setanta goes off air in Great Britain Digital Spy, 23 June 2009
- ^ "Premeir Sports Secure Conference TV Rights". Vital Football. 19 August 2010. http://www.broadcasting.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7505416.
- ^ "Football Conference Signs Unique TV Deal". Blue Square Bet Premier. 20 August 2010. http://www.bluesqfootball.com/story/0,20970,13040_6325011,00.html.
External links
Football in England National teams National Football Centre St George's Park (Burton)League system Premier League · The Football League (Championship • League One • League Two) · Football Conference (National • North • South) · Northern Premier · Southern League · Isthmian League · Levels 9–23Domestic cups FA Cup · Football League Cup · FA Community Shield · Football League Trophy · FA Trophy · Conference League Cup · FA Vase · FA Inter-League CupOthers Masters FootballLists Categories:- Football leagues in England
- Football Conference
- 1979 establishments
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