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Non-League football describesfootball leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used forfootball in England, where it is specifically used to describe all football played at levels below those of thePremier League (20 clubs) and the three divisions of theEnglish Football League (EFL; 72 clubs). Currently, a non-League team would be any club playing in theNational League or below that level. Typically, non-League clubs are eithersemi-professional oramateur in status, although the majority of clubs in theNational League division (level 5) are fullyprofessional, some of which are former EFL clubs who have sufferedrelegation.
The termnon-League was commonly used in England long before the creation of the Premier League in 1992, prior to which the topfootball clubs in England all belonged toThe Football League (from 2016, the EFL); at this time, the Football League was commonly referred to as simply "the League" and its clubs were "League clubs", so all clubs which were not members of the Football League were therefore 'non-League' clubs. Since 1992, the term "non-League" has come to mean clubs at a lower level than the Football League, as the original definition of being outside the Football League would include Premier League clubs.
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The "League" (with a capital 'L') in "non-League football" originally referred specifically to The Football League (now the English Football League, which thePremier Leaguesplit from in 1992), rather than being amisnomer, as "non-League" clubs do play the majority of their football within a league (with a lower-case 'l') competition. There are many leagues below the level of the EFL, and some, such as theNorthern League, are almost as old as the EFL itself. The most senior of these leagues are loosely organised byThe Football Association, the sport's governing body in England, into aNational League System (NLS). The NLS has six levels orsteps and includes over 18 separate leagues, many with more than one division.
Prior to the 1986–87 season, there was no automatic promotion and relegation between The Football League and the leagues of non-League football for nearly a hundred years. Instead,the process of re-election existed; at the end of each season, the bottom clubs of the EFL were required to re-apply for membership, whilst ambitious non-League clubs put themselves up as candidates for admittance against them. All member clubs of the Football League then voted for their choice. In most cases, this was a mere formality; member clubs would typically vote for other existing members and the system ensured that Football League membership remained relatively static, with non-League clubs having very little chance of joining. Since the process began, thirteen non-League clubs had achieved enough votes to win election as a member of the Football League.
However, a major change came in 1986 when automatic promotion and relegation of one club between the League and theFootball Conference, the top league in non-League football, was introduced, subject to the eligible club meeting the required facility and financial standards.Scarborough became the first non-League club to win automatic promotion to the League, andLincoln City became the first League club to be relegated to the ranks of non-League football. Since the 2002–03 season, two clubs from the Conference, now National League (the champions and the winners of a play-off) have been promoted at the end of each season.
The entireEnglish football league system includes the Premier League, the EFL, theNLS leagues, and any local leagues that have feeder relationships with an NLS league.
Many non-League clubs enter theFA Cup, where they hope to become "giant-killers" by progressing from the qualifying rounds, and first and second rounds proper, to meet and beat opposition from the Premier League orEFL Championship. Since the end of theSecond World War, onlyeleven non-League clubs have reached the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, and only one (Lincoln City in2016–17 season) has reached the quarter-final stage. The only non-League team to have won the competition since The Football League started isTottenham Hotspur in1901, although at that time the League had only two divisions, consisting almost entirely ofNorthern andMidland clubs. The leading clubs in theSouth played in theSouthern Football League, which was of a comparable standard to the League clubs.[1] From its inaugural match in 1908 until 1912, theFA Charity Shield was contested between the champions of the League and the Southern Football League.
TheFootball Association Challenge Trophy was introduced in 1969 to offer semi-professional non-League clubs a realistic chance of winning an FA competition. Amateur clubs could enter the FA Amateur Cup until 1974 when the Football Association abolished the distinction between professionals and amateurs. The Amateur Cup was replaced by theFA Vase in 1974 which is currently contested by clubs at Step 5 and 6 of the NLS and below while the Trophy is contested by clubs at Steps 1–4.
Inwomen's football, thenon-League term is used for those clubs in the divisions below theFA Women's Championship. Formerly it referred to the clubs in theFA Women's Premier League's two regional second divisions.
In Germany, there is a similar term,unterklassig (literally "under-class"), which usually refers to regional leagues below the three national leagues1. Bundesliga,2. Bundesliga and3. Liga. The highest level of regional leagues, calledRegionalliga, may or may not be included in the term.
In theRepublic of Ireland, football outside the top two divisions consists of regional senior leagues based on which province the club comes from; although again these leagues are commonly referred to as 'non-League'.
InScotland, "non-League football" refers to leagues outside the top four divisions of the nationalScottish Professional Football League. These consist of a number of regional senior leagues which are part of theScottish football pyramid system.
Football below the professional level in Spain is commonly referred to asfútbol modesto (literally "modest football").[2][3]
