Conference Premier
The Conference National (current designation due to a sponsorship name: The Skrill Premier) is the top division of the Football Conference. It is also the highest league within the National League System and fifth highest league in English football as a whole.
History
The league was founded in 1979 as an association of clubs in the Northern Premier League and the Southern League under the name Alliance Premier League. This was the first attempt to install a national league underneath the Football League and led to a significant improvement in quality of football in the lower leagues and the financial situation of the top clubs in amateur football. A further consequence was that the Football League from 1986 an automatic promotion and relegation between the Conference control ( as it is now called in the short form ) and the lowest division in professional football accepted (then the Fourth Division ).
From the 2002/03 season the league was granted a second promotion place, which is played in a play-off mode between the clubs who are at the end of a season in the final table at a position between the second and fifth place. Before the automatic advancement scheme of the League could be denied a promotion place when the master did not have the economic conditions for professional football. Then this place to the next ranked each club was passed, which could fulfill this. In the 2004/05 season was the Football Conference with two more unterklassige leagues, the Conference North and Conference South expanded. The last three clubs from the Conference National rise at the end of the season either in the Conference North or Conference South, depending on regional location, from.
At the end of the season 2005/ 06 the National Conference of 22 was expanded to 24 participating clubs. This is realized by the fact that only two clubs had to dismount, but four climbers from the Conference North and Conference South were added. After the initial control rise from the 2006 /07 from four clubs, which continue to be added every four climbers from the lower leagues.
In 2013, sponsorship was completed with the online payment service provider Skrill. Since then, the league named The Skrill Premier
Teams in the 2013/14 season
- Aldershot Town
- Alfreton Town
- Barnet FC
- Braintree Town
- Cambridge United
- Chester FC
- Dartford FC
- Forest Green Rovers
- FC Gateshead
- Grimsby Town
- FC Halifax Town
- Hereford United
- FC Hyde
- Kidderminster Harriers
- Lincoln City
- Luton Town
- Macclesfield Town
- Nuneaton Town
- Salisbury City FC
- FC Southport
- Tamworth FC
- Welling United
- Woking FC
- Wrexham FC