National League North

National League North

File:Blue Square Bet North logo.png
Founded	2004
Country	England Wales
Number of teams	22
Level on pyramid	6 Step 2 (National League System)
Promotion to	Conference National
Relegation to	Northern Premier League Premier Division Southern League Premier Division
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup FA Trophy Conference League Cup
Current champions	Chester (2012–13)
Website	Football Conference
Current: 2012–13 Football Conference

The Conference North also known as Blue Square Bet North for sponsorship reasons, is a division of the Football Conference in England, taking its place immediately below the Conference National. Along with the Conference South. It is at Step 2 of the National League System and the sixth overall tier of the English football league system. It consists of teams located in northern England, the English Midlands and North Wales.

It has been known as the Blue Square Bet North since the start of the 2007–08 season.

History

The Conference North was introduced in 2004 as part of a major restructuring of English non-League football. The champions are automatically promoted to Conference National. A second promotion place goes to the winners of play-offs involving the teams finishing in second to fifth place. The winners of the play-offs are also promoted to Conference National. The three bottom clubs are relegated to Step 3 leagues. Teams from this division, as well as from the Conference South, enter the FA Cup at the Second Qualifying Round. On the last day of the 2010–11 season, Eastwood Town set a new record of 19 games unbeaten in the league, passing Southport and Solihull Moors previous joint record of 18 games.

Current member clubs 2012–13

The current member clubs for the 2012–13 season are as follows:

The area covered by Conference North is coloured in red. Conference North teams also come from counties bordering Conference South (purple).

Club	Finishing position 2011–12
Altrincham	8th
Bishop's Stortford	10th
Boston United	3rd
Brackley Town	1st in Southern Premier League
Bradford Park Avenue	4th in Northern Premier League
Chester	1st in Northern Premier League
Colwyn Bay	12th
Corby Town	17th
Droylsden	9th
F.C. Halifax Town	3rd
Gainsborough Trinity	4th
Gloucester City	14th
Guiseley	2nd
Harrogate Town	15th
Hinckley United	20th (reprieved)
Histon	16th
Oxford City	2nd in Southern Premier League
Solihull Moors	19th
Stalybridge Celtic	6th
Vauxhall Motors	18th
Worcester City	7th
Workington	13th

League champions

Blue Square North Trophy awarded to Southport, 2009–10 season.

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

Season	Winner	Playoff Winner
2004–05	Southport	Altrincham
2005–06	Northwich Victoria	Stafford Rangers
2006–07	Droylsden	Farsley Celtic
2007–08	Kettering Town	Barrow
2008–09	Tamworth	Gateshead
2009–10	Southport	Fleetwood Town
2010–11	Alfreton Town	AFC Telford United
2011–12	Hyde	Nuneaton Town Current league stadia The stadiums of all teams in the league for the 2012–13 season are listed below in capacity order: Home Club Stadium Name Capacity F.C. Halifax Town The Shay 14,061 Gloucester City Whaddon Road 7,066 Boston United York Street 6,643 Stalybridge Celtic Bower Fold 6,500 Altrincham Moss Lane 6,085 Chester Exacta Stadium 5,376 Worcester City St Georges Lane 4,850 Hinckley United Greene King Stadium 4,429 Gainsborough Trinity The Northolme 4,304 Histon Bridge Road 4,300 Bishop's Stortford Woodside Park 4,000 Corby Town Steel Park 3,893 Harrogate Town Wetherby Road 3,800 Brackley Town St. James Park 3,500 Bradford Park Avenue Horsfall Stadium 3,500 Vauxhall Motors Rivacre Park 3,300 Workington Borough Park 3,101 Solihull Moors Damson Park 3,050 Guiseley Nethermoor Park 3,000 Droylsden Butchers Arms Ground 3,000 Colwyn Bay Llanelian Road 2,500 Oxford City Court Place Farm 2,000 League records Record Home Win Fleetwood Town 8–0 Redditch United, 14 November 2009 Record Away Win Redditch United 0–9 Boston United, 21 August 2010 Highest Scoring Game Stalybridge Celtic 3–7 Hyde, 1 January 2007 Most Points in a Season Chester - 103 points, Season 2012 - 2013 (4 games still to play) Most Wins in a Season Chester - 33, Season 2012 - 2013 (4 games still to play) Most Goals Scored in a season Chester - 100, Season 2012 - 2013 (4 games still to play) Most League Titles 2 – Southport Longest Unbeaten Run 30 games (29 Sep 2012 to 06 Apr 2013) – Chester See also Conference South Conference National References External links Football Conference official site Conference North clubs' locations