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| After years of clubs playing matches against one another on an ad hoc basis, a programme of pre-arranged games, called fixtures, was set up to form a league. Each club would play all the others, home and away, once in a season. The original Football League comprised twelve member clubs from mid and north England and commenced in 1888/89. At the time the rules required the clubs finishing in the bottom four places to seek re-election for the following season, along with other clubs aspiring for membership. Apart from a few isolated cases caused by unusual circumstances, this close-season voting in and out continued until the end of 1986/87. |
| After the first three seasons the Football League was extended to 14 clubs. The following season it was further extended to 16 and a Second Division of 12 more clubs was added as so many wanted to join. This transferred the requirement for re-election to the bottom four in the Second Division; it also offered the opportunity for promotion and relegation though the arrangements have varied over the years (see Promoted and Relegated Clubs). |
| At the end of 1891/92 West Bromwich Albion were excused applying for re-election as they had won the FA Cup and a year later it was resolved that a new member club could no longer be elected directly into the top division. Meanwhile, the bottom three clubs from the First Division played the top three from the Second in one-off knock-out ‘Test Matches’ for promotion and relegation. These matches continued until a blatantly rigged match halted the system in favour of automatic promotion and relegation, based on final league positions (see Promoted and Relegated Clubs). |
| Expansion continued. A Third Division was added in 1920/21, largely formed of clubs from the Southern League. (The Southern League had been formed in 1894, oddly with nine clubs in its First Division and seven in its Second.) The following season the Football League Third Division was doubled in size with an injection of clubs largely from the north and midlands and split into Third Division North and Third Division South sectors. To keep numbers equal in each of the northern and southern Third Divisions, having taken promotion and relegation into account each year, a few midlands clubs swapped sectors. This arrangement lasted until 1957/58 when the top twelve clubs from each formed the Third Division and the bottom twelve, the Fourth Division. |
| The number of clubs eligible for automatic promotion and relegation from division to division has varied over the years, as has the number needing to seek re-election. At the end of 1986/87 a system of ‘Play Offs’ was introduced to contribute to promotion and relegation issues and this too has varied in the way it has been applied. The automatic relegation of the bottom League club, and promotion of the (then Vauxhall Conference) non-league champions in its place, replaced re-election at the same time – though for various reasons this has not occurred every year (see Promoted and Relegated Clubs). |
| In recent years commercial sponsorship has confused the names of the various leagues and these have been omitted from the table. Furthermore, in its various guises, the top tier of non-league has simply been referred to as just that, also omitting its differing sponsors’ names. |
| From that first season in 1888/89, the league has swelled from 12 to 92 clubs, though over 140 have participated overall (ignoring name changes). By using the main league table, you can trace the complete history of your favourite club, as well as the likes of Darwen, Gateshead, New Brighton Tower, Middlesbrough Ironopolis, Thames Association and all the others. |
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