Pic: Andy Nunn
STEP 4 clubs will be battling it out for two automatic promotion spots next season as part of the Football Association‘s restructure of the National League system.
As part of the FA’s bid to cut travelling times and costs across the Pyramid, an extra division at both Step 3 and 4 is set to come into effect from the 2018-19 season.
The Southern League will run the new Step 3 division while the Isthmian League will take charge of the additional Step 4 division.
The shake-up means a re-jig of the club numbers in the National League System and the FA have confirmed it will be done on the field in the upcoming campaign.
For one season only, just one club will be relegated from the three Step 3 leagues. From the six Step 4 divisions, 19 clubs will be promoted – the six champions, six runners-up, six play-off winners and the highest-ranked third-place team on a Points Per Game basis. In that division, the team finishing in seventh will compete in the play-offs.
In the others, the play-offs will be made up of the clubs finishing third to sixth. Like at Step 3, just one club will be relegated from each division.
There will be 26 clubs automatically promoted to Step 4 from Step 5. The 14 leagues’ champions will be joined by 12 second-placed clubs, again based on a PPG basis.
Relegated from Step 3 to Step 4 = 3 (bottom clubs in each division)
Promoted from Step 4 to Step 3 = 19 (12 clubs in 1st and 2nd, highest ranked 3rd place on PPG basis, 6 play-off winners – note, one division’s play-offs will go down to 7th due to best 3rd-placed team going up)
Relegated to Step 5 = 6 (bottom clubs in each division)
Promoted to Step 4 = 26 (14 champions and 12 second-placed clubs on a PPG basis)
