The National League was formed in 1979 from leading teams in the Northern Premier League and Southern League and was known originally as the
Alliance Premier Football League and from
1986–87 as the
Football Conference. Support for such a league came from
Alan Hardaker, the long serving
Secretary of the Football League. He suggested that an amalgamation of the two strongest lower leagues in England, the
Northern Premier League and the
Southern League, would reduce the number of candidates applying to join the Football League under the
re-election system then in use. It was also thought it would enable the strongest non-league candidate to emerge. In 1977 the Northern Premier and Southern Leagues agreed to only put forward one candidate each for election to the League and this proved successful with
Wimbledon and
Wigan Athletic gaining election to the League in 1977 and 1978. It was then agreed that a new league would be set up comprising 13 Southern League teams and 7 sides from the Northern Premier. Barrow and Northwich had previously been members of the EFL. Barrow failed re-election in
1972, while Northwich resigned from the league in
1894. Barnet, Boston, Maidstone, Scarborough and Yeovil have also tasted EFL football since the formation of the National League, but are now back in the National League or its feeder leagues (Scarborough and Maidstone now in new incarnations). Of the 20 founder members, the last to leave the fifth level were Northwich. They were relegated in 2005, a year after the demise of Telford. Barnet are the only founder member who have remained in the top five levels continuously since 1979. Bangor City have since moved to the
Welsh football league system, while AP Leamington, Maidstone, Nuneaton, Scarborough, and Telford later collapsed and were reconstituted in lower English leagues. Gravesend & Northfleet changed its name to
Ebbsfleet United in 2007. The National League had a single division for the first 25 years of its existence, but since the 2004–05 season has consisted of three divisions. The original division was renamed
Conference National (currently
National League) and two new regional divisions one level down were introduced,
Conference North and
Conference South (currently National League North and South). The new clubs to form this larger competition were drawn from the Northern Premier League, Southern League, and Isthmian League according to guidelines developed by the NLS Committee. Barnet are the only club to have won the National League four times (1991, 2005, 2015, 2025). Macclesfield Town have won it three times (1995, 1997, 2018). Five clubs have become champions twice:
Altrincham (1980, 1981),
Enfield (1983, 1986),
Kidderminster Harriers (1994, 2000),
Maidstone United, (1984, 1989), and
Stevenage Borough (1996, 2010). Kidderminster also finished second in 1997 and 2013.
Lincoln City became the seventh club to win the National League twice (1988, 2017), but subsequent to Barnet's third title. Only Barnet were promoted to the EFL on all three occasions; Maidstone's first title came before the era of automatic promotion, while Kidderminster Harriers, Macclesfield Town and Stevenage Borough were denied promotion because their grounds were not up to the required standard at the time of their first win. However, all three were promoted when they took their second title. Altrincham are the only team in history to retain the title, as at the time there was no automatic promotion to the EFL. One former National League club has reached the
Premier League, although six such clubs did compete in the top tier of football prior to the Premier League, in the
Football League First Division:
Carlisle United,
Leyton Orient,
Oxford United,
Luton Town,
Grimsby Town, and
Notts County. All of them have since returned to the EFL, Luton and Orient by winning the title, and the other four by winning the playoff finals.
Bradford (Park Avenue) also played in the First Division in its previous incarnation, however their current incarnation has only reached as high as the National League North division. The highest league tier a club promoted from the National League has reached is the top flight
Premier League, which (as of May 2023) has been reached by one club, Luton Town. Conversely,
Oldham Athletic became the first former Premier League side to compete in the National League and by extension, any non-League competition, following a home defeat by Salford City, in 2022.
Promotion and relegation Prior to 1987, for National League clubs to enter the EFL, they had to be elected by League members. As a consequence, there was no guarantee that winning the National League would result in promotion, and none of the league's first seven champions were promoted. This changed in 1987, when automatic promotion and relegation between the
Football League Fourth Division and the National League was agreed. The first clubs affected by the new system were Lincoln City, who were relegated and replaced by
Scarborough. However, although the champions of the National League are entitled to a place in the EFL, this was dependent on their stadium meeting the set criteria for membership. This meant that
Northampton Town,
Exeter City, and
Torquay United all avoided relegation from the EFL from 1994 to 1996, although Exeter and Torquay were both relegated to the National League at a later date. For three successive years in the 1990s, the National League champions were denied promotion to the EFL on these grounds. Since 1997, when
Macclesfield Town won the title for the second time in three years, every champion has been promoted. Since 2003, the National League has been awarded a second promotion place. Through 2017, this was decided by a play-off system similar to that of the EFL. The four teams below the National League champions played against each other in semi-finals over two legs, with second playing fifth and third playing fourth. The winners of these ties then played a single final game known as the Promotion Final, with the winners gaining the second promotion place.
Doncaster Rovers were the first team to win the Promotion Final. Prior to 2004, relegation from the National League meant dropping to one of the three feeder leagues below. After
Chester City failed to avoid expulsion in 2010, three teams were relegated instead of four, to either the
Northern Premier League,
Southern League or
Isthmian League, based on geographical criteria. In turn, the champions of these three leagues would be promoted to the National League. The closure of Chester City during the later stages of the 2009–10 season was the first mid-season closure of a club in the division since
Newport County in the second half of the 1988–89 season; on both occasions, the records of both clubs were expunged. In 2004, a restructuring of the National League System saw the creation of a new level immediately below the National League; two regional divisions now named National League North and National League South were created, with the feeder leagues dropping below them. There are two promotion places to the National League's top division from each regional division – the champions are promoted automatically, while the remaining place is again decided by semi-final play-offs and a promotion final. The four teams relegated from the National League (i.e. the highest division) are then allocated to one or other of the regional divisions dependent on their geographical location. In May 2017, the National League proposed a revamp in the play-offs for all three divisions. Under the new system, the number of teams playing for promotion was increased to six. The clubs finishing second and third automatically proceed to a semi-final at their home grounds, while the clubs in fourth and fifth stage compete in qualifying round ties against the teams finishing seventh and sixth. The winners of those matches then complete the semi-finals. These proposals were approved at the National League's annual general meeting on 10 June. In 2019, plans were discussed for the gradual restructuring of the NLS so that the North and South divisions were expected to expand to 24 teams each in 2021–22. Expansion was therefore delayed and it was implemented before the 2022–23 season with eight-team relegations from tier six at the end of that season. To expand, two clubs in Step 2 were relegated and eight promoted from all four Step 3 divisions: the division champions and play-off winners. Four teams in both North and South are relegated starting in 2023. ==Current members==