National League North

National League North
Country	England
Founded	2015
Number of teams	22
Promotion to	National League
Relegation to	Northern Premier League Premier Division Southern Football League Premier Division
Levels on pyramid	6 Step 2 (National League System)
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup FA Trophy FA Challenger Shield
International cup(s)	Europa League (via FA Cup)
Current champions	A.F.C. Fylde (2022–23)
Website	Official website
2022-23

The National League North, formerly Conference North (currently named the Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons), is a division of the National League in England, taking its place immediately below the top division National League. Along with the National League South, it is at Step 2 of the National League System and the sixth overall tier of the English football league system. It consists of teams located in Northern England, Norfolk, the English Midlands and North Wales. From the start of the 2015–16 season, the league has been known as the National League North. As part of a sponsorship deal with Vanarama, the National League North is now known as the Vanarama National League North.

History

The Conference North was introduced in 2004 as part of a major restructuring of English non-League football. 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 fifth place. 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 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.

Member clubs for 2022-23

The member clubs for the 2022-23 season are as follows:

Club	Finishing position 2021-22
A.F.C. Fylde	3rd
A.F.C. Telford United	20th
Alfreton Town	9th
Banbury United F.C.	1st in The Southern League Premier Division (promoted as champions)
Blyth Spartans	19th
Boston United	7th
Brackley Town	2nd
Bradford (Park Avenue)	18th
Buxton	1st in The Northern Premier League Premier Division (promoted as champions)
Chester	16th
Chorley	6th
Curzon Ashton	14th
Darlington	13th
Farsley Celtic F.C.	21st
Gloucester City	17th
Hereford	12th
Kettering Town F.C.	8th
Kidderminster Harriers	4th
King's Lynn Town F.C.	21st in The National League (relegated)
Leamington	15th
Peterborough Sports F.C.	2nd in the Southern League (promoted via the play-off system)
Scarborough Athletic F.C.	3rd in the Northern Premier League (promoted via the play-off system)
Southport	15th
Spennymoor Town	8th

External links

• Football Conference official site
• Conference North league table