The 2009–10 Football Conference season was the sixth season with the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

consisting of three divisions, and the thirty-first season overall. The Conference covers the top two levels of Non-League football in England. The

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...

is the fifth highest level of the overall pyramid, whilst the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

and Conference South exist at the sixth level. The top team (

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

) and the winner of the play-off (

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

) of the National division were promoted to

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. The bottom four were scheduled to be relegated to the North or South divisions, but in the event two teams ( Salisbury City and Chester City) were expelled and only the bottom two clubs (

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

and

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...

) were relegated with them. The champions of the North and South divisions (

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

and Newport County respectively) were promoted to the National division, alongside the play-off winners from each division (

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

and

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

). The bottom three in each of the North and South divisions were relegated to the premier divisions of the Northern Premier League, Isthmian League or Southern League. For sponsorship reasons, the Conference Premier was frequently referred to as the Blue Square Premier.

Conference Premier

A total of 24 teams contested the division, including 18 sides from last season, two relegated from the Football League Two, two promoted from the Conference North and two promoted from the Conference South.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 2008–09 Conference North * Tamworth * Gateshead Teams promoted from 2008–09 Conference South * AFC Wimbledon * Hayes & Yeading United Teams relegated from 2008–09 League Two * Chester City *

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Luton Town became the first team to drop from the Football League Championship to the Conference in successive seasons and in the process ended an 89-year stay in the Football League. Their matches against eventual playoff winners

made them the first clubs to face each other in all the top five tiers of English football. On 26 February 2010, Chester City were expelled from the Conference for numerous rule breaches. Since no appeal was forthcoming, their results were expunged on 8 March 2010.

League table

Play-offs

Stadia and locations

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

:''Updated to games played on 24 April.'' *1.

Moses Ashikodi Moses Ashikodi (born 27 June 1987) is retired footballer. Having started his career at Millwall, he has also played professionally for West Ham United, Gillingham, Rangers, Watford, Bradford City, Swindon Town, Hereford United and Shrewsbu ...

scored six goals for

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

*2.

Daryl Clare Daryl Adam Clare (born 1 August 1978) is a Jersey-born Irish former professional footballer and coach. He is currently a football coach at Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education. As a player he was a striker from 1996 to 2016 for Grim ...

scored two goals for

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

Scoring

*First goal of the season:

Lee Boylan Lee Martin Boylan (born 2 September 1978) is a former footballer who played as a striker. Boylan began his career with West Ham United in 1995, and progressed through the club's youth academy. He played one game for West Ham in the Premier Lea ...

for

against Tamworth, 12:56 minutes (8 August 2009) *Last goal of the season: Adam Marriott for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

against

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...

, 92:58 minutes (24 April 2010) *First penalty kick of the season:

(scored) for

against Tamworth, 12:56 minutes (8 August 2009) *First own goal of the Season:

Jamie Stuart Jamie Christopher Stuart (born 15 October 1976) is an English footballer who plays for Isthmian League South Division club Greenwich Borough as a defender. He started his career in the Football League with Charlton Athletic, Millwall, Bur ...

(

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ke ...

) for Salisbury City, 46:42 (8 August 2009) *First hat-trick of the season:

Matt Tubbs Matthew Stephen Tubbs (born 15 July 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bashley. Having started his football career, Tubbs joined Salisbury City and quickly made an impact throughout his time at the club, h ...

for Salisbury City against Hayes & Yeading (31 August 2009) *Quickest hat-trick: 7 minutes – Mitchell Cole for

against Eastbourne Borough (2 March 2010) *Fastest goal scored in a match: 36 seconds – Lewis Taylor for AFC Wimbledon against

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

(10 October 2009) *Goal scored at the latest point of a game: 90+6 minutes and 51 seconds – Keith Keane for

against

(9 February 2010) *Widest winning margin: 8 goals **

8–0 Gateshead (13 March 2010) **

8–0 Hayes & Yeading United (27 March 2010) *Widest away winning margin: 6 goals – Eastbourne Borough 0–6

(2 March 2010) *Most goals in one half: 7 goals –

8–0 Hayes & Yeading United (27 March 2010) *Most goals in one half by a single team: 7 goals –

8–0 Hayes & Yeading United (27 March 2010) *Most goals scored by the losing team: 4 goals –

5–4

(12 September 2009) *Most own goals scored in one match: 2 goals – AFC Wimbledon 2–2

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

(30 March 2010)

Discipline

*First yellow card of the season: Jason Walker for Barrow against

, 2 minutes and 57 seconds (8 August 2009) *First red card of the season:

Sean Newton Sean Michael Newton (born 23 September 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Buxton, on loan from club York City. He has played in the Football League for Chester City and Notts County. Club career Early car ...

for Barrow against

, 52 minutes and 31 seconds (8 August 2009) *Card given at latest point in a game:

Damian Batt Damian Alexander Nathaniel Batt (born 16 September 1984) is an English footballer who most recently played for Dagenham & Redbridge. Career Batt was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. He started his career in the youth system at Norwic ...

(red) at 90+8 minutes and 17 seconds for

against Tamworth (16 January 2010)

Sequences

*Longest winning run: 9 games –

, ended 10 April 2010. *Longest unbeaten run: 17 games –

, ended 1 December 2009. *Longest losing run: 8 games –

, ended 27 February 2010. *Longest run without winning: 20 games –

, ended 13 April 2010. *Longest run of successive home wins: 7 games **

– from 9 March 2010 to 17 April 2010. **

– from 1 January 2010 to 3 April 2010. *Longest run of successive away wins: 8 games –

, from 24 February 2010 until end of season.

Clean sheets

*Most clean sheets: 27 –

. *Fewest clean sheets: 7 – Eastbourne Borough and

. *Consecutive clean sheets: 6 games without conceding: ** AFC Wimbledon – from 24 November 2009 to 1 January 2010. **

– from 29 August 2009 to 22 September 2009. **

– from 5 April 2010 until end of season.

Monthly awards

Conference North

A total of 22 teams contested the division, including 17 sides from last season, one relegated from the Conference Premier and four promoted from the lower leagues. In April 2009, the Conference decided to demote King's Lynn at the end of the 2008–09 season, because their ground did not meet Conference standards. Farsley Celtic resigned from the league on 8 March 2010 and their playing record was expunged on 12 March. Both

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

and

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors LimitedCompany No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. () is a British car compa ...

were reprieved from relegation following Farsley Celtic's withdrawal from the league, Chester's expulsion from the

and

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

's demotion to the Northern Premier League under financial rules.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 2008–09 Northern Premier League Premier Division *

Eastwood Town Eastwood Town Football Club was an English football club based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The club last participated in the Northern Premier League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football. A new club, Eastwood C.F.C., was f ...

* Ilkeston Town Teams promoted from 2008–09 Southern League Premier Division *

Corby Town Corby Town Football Club is a football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Steel Park. History The club was established in 1948, taking over from Stewarts & Lloyds as the main team ...

* Gloucester City Teams relegated from 2008–09 Conference Premier *

League table

Play-offs

Stadia and locations

Results

Monthly awards

Conference South

A total of 22 teams contested the division, including 17 sides from last season, three relegated from the Conference Premier and two promoted from the Isthmian League.

Team Bath TeamBath is the University of Bath's sporting organisation. In addition to entering teams in BUCS intervarsity competitions, TeamBath has also entered teams in national leagues and competitions. Team Bath F.C. reached the first round proper of t ...

announced that they were to leave the Football Conference from the end of the 2008–09 season. The club decided to fold, after being informed they could not be promoted to the professional leagues, which also led to them no longer being able to play FA Cup games. Thus Thurrock were reprieved from relegation.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 2008–09 Isthmian League Premier Division *

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...

Teams relegated from 2008–09 Conference Premier * Lewes * Woking * Weymouth

League table

Play-offs

Stadia and locations

Results

Monthly awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 Football Conference National League (English football) seasons Eng 5