The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Most Conference National clubs are fully professional, but some Conference National and most Conference North and Conference South clubs are semi-professional (see full listing of clubs below). Conference National is the fifth and lowest of the five nationwide football divisions in England, below the Premier League and the three divisions of the Football League, and is the top tier of the National League System of non-League football. Conference North and Conference South form the sixth tier of English football. The Football Conference consisted of only one division up until 2004, but expanded as part of an extensive restructuring of the National League System which took effect beginning with the 2004–05 season.
As part of a sponsorship deal with Blue Square Bet, Conference National is known as the Blue Square Bet Premier and the tiers below as Blue Square Bet North and Blue Square Bet South.
Read more about Football Conference: Organisation, History, Conference Clubs, 2012–13, Past Conference Winners, Conference League Cup, Former Conference Clubs Now in The Football League, Media Coverage
Famous quotes containing the words football and/or conference:
“People stress the violence. That’s the smallest part of it. Football is brutal only from a distance. In the middle of it there’s a calm, a tranquility. The players accept pain. There’s a sense of order even at the end of a running play with bodies stewn everywhere. When the systems interlock, there’s a satisfaction to the game that can’t be duplicated. There’s a harmony.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)
“Politics is still the man’s game. The women are allowed to do the chores, the dirty work, and now and then—but only occasionally—one is present at some secret conference or other. But it’s not the rule. They can go out and get the vote, if they can and will; they can collect money, they can be grateful for being permitted to work. But that is all.”
—Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876–1958)