The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest tier overall in the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

, after the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, the EFL leagues and the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

and is contested by 24 clubs. National League North consists of teams mostly located in

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

, the

English Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshi ...

and

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

. In addition, it can include a small number of teams from the northern-most parts of the South West and South East. Since the start of the 2015–16 season, the league has been known as the National League North.

History

The Conference North was introduced in 2004 as part of a major restructuring of English

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

. 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 seventh place (expanded from four to six teams in the 2017–18 season). 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 The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

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 the 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. The National League North was scheduled to expand to 24 teams in 2021. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

, the 2020–21 National League North season was curtailed and voided after written resolutions were put to a vote. No teams were relegated. Expansion would be at last implemented before the 2022–23 season when the bottom club was relegated and four promoted from Step 3.

Member clubs for 2025–26

The member clubs for the 2025–26 season are as follows:

League champions

The winners of the league title and the winners of the play-off final since the league's formation in 2004 are as follows:

League stadiums for 2025–26

The home stadiums for all of the teams in the league for the 2025–26 season are listed below:

League records

References

External links

The National League official site
{{UEFA sixth level leagues 6 2 2004 establishments in England Sports leagues established in 2004 Northern England Eng