National League North

"Conference North" redirects here. For other topics, see North Conference (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with the National League's (MLB) divisions.

National League North

Founded	2004
Country	England
Number of teams	24
Level on pyramid	6 Step 2 (National League System)
Promotion to	National League
Relegation to	Northern Premier League Premier Division Southern Football League Premier Division Central
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup FA Trophy
International cup(s)	Europa League (via FA Cup)
Current champions	Tamworth (2nd title) (2023–24)
Most championships	AFC Fylde Southport Tamworth (2 titles each)
Website	National League
Current: 2024–25 National League North

The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, ^[1] is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League System, and at the sixth tier overall of the English football league system. It consists of teams mostly located in Northern England, the English Midlands and East Anglia. In addition, it can include a small number of teams from the northern-most parts of the South West and South East. Since the start of the 2015–16 season, the league has been known as the National League North. ^[1]

History

The Conference North was introduced in 2004 as part of a major restructuring of English non-League football. ^[2] The champions are automatically promoted to the National League. A second promotion place goes to the winners of play-offs involving the teams finishing in second to seventh place (expanded from four to six teams in the 2017–18 season). ^[3] The three bottom clubs are relegated to Step 3 leagues. Teams from this division, as well as from the National League South, enter the FA Cup at the Second Qualifying Round.

For sponsorship reasons, the division was known as the Nationwide North from its formation in 2004 until 2007, when it was renamed the Blue Square North. In 2010 it was renamed the Blue Square Bet North. When the Blue Square sponsorship ended in 2013, it was renamed the Skrill North until the 2014–15 season, when it was renamed the Vanarama North. A further name change followed in 2015, when the division was renamed the Vanarama National League North.

The National League North was scheduled to expand to 24 teams in 2021. ^{[4] [5]} Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2020–21 National League North season was curtailed and voided after written resolutions were put to a vote. No teams were relegated. ^[6] Expansion would be at last implemented before the 2022–23 season when the bottom club was relegated and four promoted from Step 3. ^[7]

Member clubs for 2024–25

The member clubs for the 2024–25 season are as follows:

Division of Level 6 teams by English Counties (2022–23)

Club	Finishing position 2023–24
Alfreton Town	5th
Brackley Town	3rd
Buxton	14th
Chester	10th
Chorley	4th
Curzon Ashton	7th
Darlington	16th
Farsley Celtic	20th
Hereford	11th
Kidderminster Harriers	22nd (National League)
King's Lynn Town	18th
Leamington	3rd (Southern League)
Marine	3rd (Northern Premier League)
Needham Market	1st (Southern League)
Oxford City	24th (National League)
Peterborough Sports	15th
Radcliffe	1st (Northern Premier League)
Rushall Olympic	19th
Scarborough Athletic	13th
Scunthorpe United	2nd
Southport	17th
South Shields	8th
Spennymoor Town	9th
Warrington Town	12th

League champions

Conference North Trophy awarded to Southport, 2009–10 season.

The winners of the league title and the winners of the play-off final since the league's formation in 2004 are as follows:

Season	Winner	Play-off winner
2004–05	Southport	Altrincham
2005–06	Northwich Victoria	Stafford Rangers
2006–07	Droylsden	Farsley Celtic
2007–08	Kettering Town	Barrow
2008–09	Tamworth	Gateshead
2009–10	Southport (2)	Fleetwood Town
2010–11	Alfreton Town	AFC Telford United
2011–12	Hyde United	Nuneaton Town
2012–13	Chester	FC Halifax Town
2013–14	AFC Telford United	Altrincham
2014–15	Barrow	Guiseley
2015–16	Solihull Moors	North Ferriby United
2016–17	AFC Fylde	FC Halifax Town
2017–18	Salford City	Harrogate Town
2018–19	Stockport County	Chorley
2019–20	King's Lynn Town	Altrincham
2020–21	None, season curtailed and voided
2021–22	Gateshead	York City
2022–23	AFC Fylde (2)	Kidderminster Harriers
2023–24	Tamworth (2)	Boston United

League stadiums for 2024–25

The home stadiums for all of the teams in the league for the 2024–25 season are listed below:

Alfreton Town

Brackley Town

Buxton

Chester

Chorley

Curzon Ashton

Darlington

Farsley Celtic

Hereford

Kidderminster Harriers

King's Lynn Town

Leamington

Marine

Needham Market

Oxford City

Peterborough Sports

Radcliffe

Rushall Olympic

Scarborough Athletic

Scunthorpe United

South Shields

Southport

Spennymoor Town

Warrington Town

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Locations of the National League North 2024–25 teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Alfreton Town	Alfreton	Impact Arena	3,600
Brackley Town	Brackley	St. James Park	3,500
Buxton	Buxton	The Silverlands	5,200
Chester	Chester	Deva Stadium	6,500
Chorley	Chorley	Victory Park	4,100
Curzon Ashton	Ashton-under-Lyne	Tameside Stadium	4,000
Darlington	Darlington	Blackwell Meadows	3,300
Farsley Celtic	Farsley	The Citadel	3,900
Hereford	Hereford	Edgar Street	5,250
Kidderminster Harriers	Kidderminster	Aggborough	6,238
King's Lynn Town	King's Lynn	The Walks	8,200
Leamington	Leamington	Your Co-Op Community Stadium	3,050
Marine	Crosby	Marine Travel Arena	2,200
Needham Market	Needham Market	Bloomfields	4,000
Oxford City	Oxford (Marston)	RAW Charging Stadium	3,500
Peterborough Sports	Peterborough	Lincoln Road	2,300
Radcliffe	Radcliffe	Stainton Park	3,500
Rushall Olympic	Walsall (Rushall)	Dales Lane	2,000
Scarborough Athletic	Scarborough	Flamingo Land Stadium	2,833
Scunthorpe United	Scunthorpe	Glanford Park	9,088
South Shields	South Shields	1st Cloud Arena	4,000
Southport	Southport	Haig Avenue	6,008
Spennymoor Town	Spennymoor	The Brewery Field	4,300
Warrington Town	Warrington	Cantilever Park	3,500

League records

Record home win	Chorley 9-0 Gloucester City, 4 September 2021
Record away win	Redditch United 0–9 Boston United, 21 August 2010 [8]
Highest-scoring game	AFC Fylde 9–2 Boston United, 19 November 2016 [9]
Most points in a season	107 points – Chester (2012–13)
Most wins in a season	34 – Chester (2012–13)
Fewest defeats in a season	3 – Chester (2012–13)
Most goals scored in a season	109 – AFC Fylde (2016–17)
Largest positive goal difference	71 – Chester (2012–13)
Most league titles	2 – AFC Fylde (2016–17, 2022–23) and Southport (2004–05, 2009–10)
Most consecutive wins	15 games (21 February 2006 to 22 April 2006) – Northwich Victoria
Most consecutive clean sheets	10 games (30 August 2010 to 9 November 2010) – Boston United
Longest unbeaten run	30 games (15 September 2012 to 6 April 2013) – Chester
Largest attendance	8,036 (27 April 2024) – Scunthorpe United (vs Boston)

See also

• National League
• National League South

References

1. "Football Conference to be renamed as National League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
2. "Football Conference – History". Football Conference. Archived from the original on 16 September 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
3. "National League North 2017-18 Season Preview". Vanarama National League. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
4. Edkins, Matt (17 April 2019). "EXCLUSIVE: FA outline second phase of Non-League restructuring". The Non-League Football Paper (Interview).
5. "Update on non-League, women's & grassroots football seasons". The Football Association. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
6. Osborn, Oliver (18 February 2021). "National League Statement | Outcome Of Written Resolutions". Vanarama National League. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
7. "National League: Football Association confirms promotion and relegation for 2021-22". BBC Sport. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
8. "Redditch United 0-9 Boston United". BBC Sport. 21 August 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
9. "AFC Fylde: 10 Things". FC Halifax Town. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2018.

External links

• The National League official site