With English football kicking off next weekend it might be appropriate to take a quick look at the sometimes forgotten fifth tier which has undergone a name change for the coming season.
After more than three decades the Football Conference has been renamed the National League, although because of sponsorship reasons it will be known as the Vanarama National League.
Whether a mere name change will make any difference to the league remains to be seen, although it will apparently enjoy wider television coverage, which is not to be sniffed at for a league whose gates average 1,864.
Over the past three decades the Conference has been variously known as the Gola League, Vauxhall Conference, Nationwide, Blue Square, Skrill and since last season, Vanarama.
As the fifth division, the National League plays an important role in the pyramid of English football, forming the vital link between the Football League and non-league clubs. Because of the promotion each year of two clubs from the fifth-tier to League Two, it is theoretically possible for any non-league club to eventually climb as high as the Premier League.
Although Wimbledon reached the top flight from being a non-league team, they never played in the Conference, having been elected to Division Four in 1978 after winning the Southern League for three consecutive years
While no team has made it from the Conference to the Premier League, there are many teams recently in the former Conference now playing in the third tier (League One) including Burton Albion, Doncaster Rovers and Fleetwood Town.
Yeovil Town won the Conference in 2002-03 and performed remarkably well to reach the Championship in 2011-12. Unfortunately, two successive relegations have put the Glovers back into League Two.
The old Conference rose in prominence in 1987 when the Football League dumped the outdated re-election system in which teams that finished in the bottom four of the old Division Four were allowed to apply for re-election. There was no automatic relegation and usually all four were re-elected, but not always.
There was an infamous occasion in the 1959-60 season when Gateshead were kicked out even though they were only third from bottom, above Oldham and Hartlepool.
The first team to benefit from the automatic promotion was Scarborough Town who went up to Division Four in 1987 after winning the Conference, while Lincoln City were relegated.
To ensure promotion, however, the top team also needed its stadium to meet certain standards. Because of this rule, for three years running, 1993-96, the team that won — Kidderminster Harriers, Macclesfield Town and Stevenage Borough — were rejected, much to the delight of Northampton Town, Exeter City and Torquay United who would have been relegated after finishing bottom of Division Four.
Since 2003, a second promotion spot was guaranteed for the Conference with four teams vying in a play-off.
Last season, Barnet won the Conference for the third time and Bristol Rovers triumphed over Grimsby Town in the play-offs to haul themselves back into League Two. Relegated from League Two were Tranmere Rovers, after a 94-year stay in the Football League, and Cheltenham.
Barnet, which entered the Football League for the first time in 1991, had been promoted to the Conference from the Southern League. From 1977-79 Barnet acquired the services of the great Jimmy Greaves who, playing midfield, scored 25 goals for the Bees. Despite battling alcoholism at the time, it was at Barnet that Greaves reckoned he scored his best ever goal, which he joked was witnessed by “three men and a dog”.
So with Barnet back in the “big time”, who’s going to be battling for promotion this year?
Favourites are Grimsby who are showing good form in pre-season matches. Their fans have also raised £110,000 for the club to buy the players it needs for that extra push.
This is just one example of what an important role fans play in the survival of non-league clubs. As one manager commented: “Fans at this level are of a different breed. It is what keeps the game going.”
No doubt Tranmere and Cheltenham will be keen on a quick return to League Two. Last season’s other play-off losers, Eastleigh and Forest Green Rovers are also likely to be in the running.
I will be cheering Aldershot Town, the first professional football team my dad took me to see play at the Recreation Ground back in about 1955 in the old Third Division South. They were simply called Aldershot in those days, but in 1992 went bankrupt and dropped out of the league in mid-season,
What happened to Aldershot after that is a good example of how the pyramid structure works. In the 1992 off season, they were reformed as Aldershot Town and began a new life in the Isthmian League Division Three, in those days five divisions below the old Division Four.
I thought there was no way they would get back into the Football League from those depths, but they climbed through the divisions to reach the Conference in 2003. Finally, in 2007-08 they won promotion to League Two after 16 years in the wilderness.
Unfortunately, by 2013 they were in severe financial trouble and returned to the Conference.
The “Shots” are starting their campaign next Saturday at home to Gateshead at what is now called the EBB Stadium rather than the old Recreation Ground. But I wouldn’t mind betting all the supporters still call it “The Rec”.
For alphabetical reasons, Aldershot begin the season at the top of the league. I suspect that will quickly change.