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List of former English Football League clubs

An action scene from a soccer match, played on a sun-soaked summer's day. Before an old-fashioned terraced stand packed to the rafters with fans, mostly clad in red, a penalty kick has just been taken by a player wearing a red shirt and white shorts. The ball is nestled in the bottom-right-hand corner of the net, with the goalkeeper helpless on the opposite side of his goal. Behind the penalty taker, a few players from each team can be seen on the edge of the penalty area.
Boston United were relegated from the League after a 3–1 defeat to Wrexham on the final day of the 2006–07 season, ending a five-year spell in the League. Wrexham were relegated in 2008, ending an 87-year spell.

The former member clubs of the English Football League are football clubs who lost their status in the League by resigning, or by relegation, by becoming defunct, merging with another club, or expulsion. Clubs presently playing in the Premier League are also included in this article.

The English Football League comprises professional clubs from England and Wales, and was established in 1888 as The Football League (First Division). In 1892, the Second Division was formed. A Third Division was introduced in 1920, before being regionalised as North and South.[1] In 1958 these became the national Third and Fourth Division.[2] The Premier League superseded the First Division as the top-flight of the English football league system in 1992, with the other three divisions renamed the First, Second and Third Divisions.[3] They were rebranded again in 2004 as the Championship, League One and League Two.[3]

Until 1986, clubs could lose their League status by failing to gain re-election after finishing in the bottom four of the bottom division (fourth tier).[4] From the 1986–87 season, the club finishing bottom was relegated to the Conference National (now National League), the highest level of non-League football,[5] depending on the ability of the Conference champions to meet FA requirements.[6] Since 2002–03, the bottom two clubs of League Two face relegation to the National League.[7]

  1. ^ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 – 1939. Tony Brown. pp. 297–298. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
  2. ^ "The Football League 1958–1959". Historical Football Kits. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
  3. ^ a b "History of the Football League". The Football League. 22 September 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  4. ^ "A short history of the Football League". soccer.mistral.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
  5. ^ Barnes, Stuart (2007). News of the World Football Annual 2007–2008. Invincible Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-00-725555-9.
  6. ^ "Guide to the Non-League Pyramid". BBC Sport. 31 March 2008. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  7. ^ "The fight for survival". BBC Sport. 30 March 2003. Retrieved 5 July 2011.

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