England - National League South

England - National League South

Links
National League Instagram Wikipedia

Wikipedia - National League South

The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the two second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the National League System, and is the sixth tier overall of the English football league system, and includes teams from the South East, London, and the South West, as well as teams from Essex.

The National League South was introduced in 2004 as part of a major restructuring of the National League System. Each year the champion of the league is automatically promoted to the National League. A second promotion place goes to the winner of a play-off involving the teams finishing in second to seventh place (expanded from four to six teams in the 2017–18 season). The three bottom clubs were relegated to Step 3 leagues.

For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Blue Square South (2007–2010), Blue Square Bet South (2010–2013), Skrill South (2013–2014), the Vanarama Conference South (2014–2015), the Vanarama National League South (2015–2019) and the Motorama National League South following a three-year sponsorship deal announced in January 2019. Since the start of the 2015–16 season, the league is known as the National League South.

The National League South was reduced to 21 clubs for 2020–21 and was expected to expand to 24 teams in 2021–22. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2020–21 National League South season was curtailed and voided after written resolutions were put to a vote. No teams were relegated. Expansion would be implemented before the 2022–23 season, when the bottom club was relegated and four were promoted from Step 3. There are four relegations from the South since 2023.

Den engelske National League South er den sjette højeste række i det engelske fodboldsystem. Ligaen består af 22 hold, der spiller om to oprykninger til National League. De to nederste hold rykker ned til National League North eller National League South.

Ligaen blev oprettet i 2004 som en del af en genstrukturering af det engelske fodboldsystem. De første vindere af ligaen var Salisbury City, der rykkede op i National League.

I de senere år har National League South været domineret af klubber fra Sydengland, med klubber som Aldershot Town, Ebbsfleet United og Maidstone United som faste bestanddele i toppen af tabellen.

Den nuværende mester i National League South er Havant & Waterlooville, der vandt titlen i sæsonen 2021-22.