National League South

"Conference South" redirects here. Not to be confused with Big South Conference, Conference League South, or Southern Conference.

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

National League South

Conference South Trophy
Founded	2004
Country	England
Number of teams	24
Level on pyramid	6 Step 2 (National League System)
Promotion to	National League
Relegation to	Isthmian League Premier Division Southern League Premier Division South
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup FA Trophy Conference League Cup (defunct)
International cup(s)	Europa League (via FA Cup)
Current champions	Yeovil Town (1st title) (2023–24)
Top goalscorer	Shaun Jeffers (129)
Website	National League
Current: 2024–25 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). ^[1] 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), ^[2] 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. ^[3]

The National League South was reduced to 21 clubs for 2020–21 ^[4] and was expected to expand to 24 teams in 2021–22. ^{[5] [6]} 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. ^[7] Expansion would be implemented before the 2022–23 season, when the bottom club was relegated and four were promoted from Step 3. ^[8] There are four relegations from the South since 2023.

Current member clubs, 2024–25

The current 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
Aveley	7th
Bath City	6th
Boreham Wood	21st in National League (relegated)
Chelmsford City	2nd
Chesham United	1st in Southern League (promoted)
Chippenham Town	12th
Dorking Wanderers	23rd in National League (relegated)
Eastbourne Borough	19th
Enfield Town	3rd in Isthmian League (promoted)
Farnborough	8th
Hampton & Richmond Borough	9th
Hemel Hempstead Town	20th
Hornchurch	1st in Isthmian League (promoted)
Maidstone United	4th
Salisbury	3rd in Southern League (promoted)
Slough Town	10th
St Albans City	11th
Tonbridge Angels	14th
Torquay United	18th
Truro City	16th
Welling United	17th
Weston-super-Mare	13th
Weymouth	15th
Worthing	3rd

Current league stadia 2024–25

London

Bath

Chelmsford City

Chesham

Chippenham

Dorking

Eastbourne Borough

Farnborough

Hemel Hempstead

Maidstone United

Salisbury

Slough

St
Albans

Tonbridge Angels

Torquay United

Truro City

Weston-super-Mare

Weymouth

Worthing

London  and environ teams
Aveley
Boreham Wood
Enfield Town
Hampton & Richmond
Hornchurch
Welling United

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Locations of the National League South 2024–25 teams (Greater London and Essex shown in more detail below)

Hampton & Richmond Borough

Welling

Aveley

Boreham Wood

Enfield Town

Hornchurch

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Locations of the National League South 2024–25 teams (Greater London and environ clubs)

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

Home club	Stadium name	Capacity
Bath City	Twerton Park	8,840
Farnborough	Cherrywood Road	7,000
Weymouth	Bob Lucas Stadium	6,600
Torquay United	Plainmoor	6,500
Chesham United	The Meadow	5,000
Salisbury	Raymond McEnhill Stadium	5,000
Boreham Wood	Meadow Park	4,502
St Albans City	Clarence Park	4,500
Dorking Wanderers	Meadowbank Stadium	4,250
Maidstone United	Gallagher Stadium	4,200
Eastbourne Borough	Priory Lane	4,151
Welling United	Park View Road	4,000
Worthing	Woodside Road	4,000
Aveley	Parkside	3,500
Hampton & Richmond Borough	Beveree Stadium	3,500
Hornchurch	Hornchurch Stadium	3,500
Weston-super-Mare	Woodspring Stadium	3,500
Hemel Hempstead Town	Vauxhall Road	3,152
Chelmsford City	Melbourne Stadium	3,000
Chippenham Town	Hardenhuish Park	3,000
Tonbridge Angels	Longmead Stadium	3,000
Truro City	Truro City Stadium	3,000
Enfield Town	Queen Elizabeth II Stadium	2,500
Slough Town	Arbour Park	2,000

Past winners

Season	Winner	Playoff winner
2004–05	Grays Athletic	Eastbourne Borough **
2005–06	Weymouth	St Albans City
2006–07	Histon	Salisbury City
2007–08	Lewes	Eastbourne Borough
2008–09	AFC Wimbledon	Hayes & Yeading United
2009–10	Newport County	Bath City
2010–11	Braintree Town	Ebbsfleet United
2011–12	Woking	Dartford
2012–13	Welling United	Salisbury City
2013–14	Eastleigh	Dover Athletic
2014–15	Bromley	Boreham Wood
2015–16	Sutton United	Maidstone United
2016–17	Maidenhead United	Ebbsfleet United
2017–18	Havant & Waterlooville	Braintree Town
2018–19	Torquay United	Woking
2019–20	Wealdstone	Weymouth
2020–21	None, season curtailed and voided
2021–22	Maidstone United	Dorking Wanderers
2022–23	Ebbsfleet United	Oxford City
2023–24	Yeovil Town	Braintree Town

** Not promoted. In 2004–05 only three promotion places were available to the Conference National. The third place was decided in a Playoff at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium, which Eastbourne lost 2–1 to the Conference North playoff winners, Altrincham.

Attendances

Since the 2015–16 season, ^[3] the highest average National League South attendance was in the 2021–22 season with 1,002 per game, this was also the season for the highest average for a club with 2,712 for Dulwich Hamlet. ^[9] The lowest average league attendance was in the 2017–18 season with an average of 551 per game. ^[10] As of January 2024, the league average is at 1,154, with the highest average for Yeovil Town at 3,660. ^[11]

Average attendances

  Attendance broke the previous National League South record

Season	League average attendance	Highest average
		Club	Attendance
2012–13	487	Salisbury City	886 [12]
2013–14	461	Ebbsfleet United	1,090 [13]
2014–15	521	Bromley	1,081 [14]
2015–16 [lower-alpha 1]	653	Maidstone United	2,222 [16]
2016–17	586	Ebbsfleet United	1,350 [17]
2017–18	551	Dartford	1,053 [10]
2018–19	877	Torquay United	2,551 [18]
2019–20	855	Dulwich Hamlet	2,200 [19]
2020–21	No attendances due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22	1,002	Dulwich Hamlet	2,712 [9]
2022–23	899	Dulwich Hamlet	2,464 [20]
2023–24	1,185	Yeovil Town	3,916 [21]

1. Inaugural season of the National League South ^[15]

Records

Biggest home win	8 – Maidenhead United 8–0 Truro City, 8 September 2012 Ebbsfleet United 8–0 Bishop's Stortford, 21 March 2017, Dorking Wanderers 8-0 Havant and Waterlooville, 26 December 2021
Biggest away win	7 – Dorchester Town 0–7 Grays Athletic, 23 October 2004
Highest scoring match	11 – Bognor Regis Town 6–5 Welling United, 11 September 2004 Bath City 7–4 Farnborough, 17 February 2015
Consecutive wins	12 – Welling United, 2012–13
Consecutive games unbeaten	25 – Sutton United, 2015–16
Most wins in a season	32 – Newport County 2009–10
Fewest wins in a season	4 – Dover Athletic 2023-24
Most defeats in a season	34 – Fisher Athletic 2008–09
Fewest defeats in a season	3 – Newport County 2009–10
Most draws in a season	18 – Hampton & Richmond Borough 2017–18
Fewest draws in a season	3 – Redbridge 2004–05 Eastleigh 2005–06 Fisher Athletic 2008–09
Most goals scored in a season	118 – Grays Athletic, 2004–05
Fewest goals scored in a season	22 – Fisher Athletic 2008–09
Most goals conceded in a season	103 – Weymouth 2009–10
Fewest goals conceded in a season	26 – Newport County, 2009–10
Most clean sheets in a season	23 – Newport County 2009–10
Most points in a season	103 – Newport County 2009–10 & Ebbsfleet United 2022-23
Most individual goals in a season	44 – Dave Tarpey (Maidenhead United), 2016–17
Top goalscorer	129 – Shaun Jeffers (St Albans City, Chelmsford City, Hampton & Richmond Borough) [22]
Most individual goals in a game	6 – Mitchell Bryant, Weymouth 0–6 Basingstoke Town, 13 February 2010
Highest attendance	6,462 – Yeovil Town vs. Torquay United, 29 March 2024 [23]
Highest average attendance	3,916 – Yeovil Town, 2023–24 [24]
Lowest home attendance	52 out of 2,812 - Truro City vs. Torquay United, 1 January 2019
Highest away attendance	2,760 out of 2,812 - Truro City vs. Torquay United, 1 January 2019

See also

• National League
• National League North

References

1. "National League South 2017-18 Season Preview". Vanarama National League. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
2. "Skrill announced as new Football Conference sponsor". Non-League Bets. 26 July 2013.
3. "BBC Sport – Football Conference to be renamed as National League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
4. "National League South to have 21 Clubs". North Kent Non League. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
5. Edkins, Matt (17 April 2019). "EXCLUSIVE: FA outline second phase of Non-League restructuring". The Non-League Football Paper (Interview).
6. "Update on non-League, women's & grassroots football seasons". The Football Association. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
7. Osborn, Oliver (18 February 2021). "National League Statement | Outcome Of Written Resolutions". Vanarama National League. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
8. Osborn, Oliver (1 July 2021). "National League Statement | OAGM Round-Up". Vanarama National League. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
9. "Vanarama National League South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2021-2022". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
10. "National League South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2017-2018". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
11. "Vanarama National League South – Average Attendances – Home Matches". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. 1 February 2024. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
12. "Blue Square Bet South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2012-2013". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
13. "Skrill South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2013-2014". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
14. "Vanarama Conference South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2014-2015". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
15. McVeigh, Niall (6 April 2015). "Football Conference to become National League in high-profile rebranding". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 19 February 2024.
16. "National League South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2015-2016". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
17. "National League South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2016-2017". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
18. "National League South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2018-2019". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
19. "Vanarama National League South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2019-2020". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
20. "Vanarama National League South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2022-2023". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
21. "Vanarama National League South – Average Attendances – Home Matches – 2023-2024". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
22. "Top goalscorers in National League South history". Be Soccer. 15 April 2024.
23. Hughes, Richard (30 March 2024). "Torquay United disappointment after defeat at Yeovil Town". Devon Live. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
24. "Vanarama National League South | Average Attendances | Home Matches". Football Web Pages. 13 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.

External links

• The National League official site