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The Football League is an association football league based in England, although a small number of clubs from Wales have also taken part. Established in 1888 with an initial membership of 12 clubs, it is the oldest football league in the world,[1] and was the highest-level league in English football until 1992 when the top clubs broke away to form the Premier League.[2] The Football League added a second division in 1892 and a third division in 1920, which was re-designated the Third Division (South) a year later when a parallel Third Division (North) was formed. In 1958 the two lowest divisions were re-organised into national Third and Fourth Divisions. This remained the League's structure until the creation of the Premier League, which reduced the Football League to three divisions.[3]
From the formation of the League until 1987, the clubs which finished at the bottom of the League were required to apply to be re-elected for the following season. The number of clubs required to seek re-election varied between two and four, and any club playing outside the League was eligible to apply alongside those seeking re-election.[4] From the total pool of applicants, the chairmen of existing League clubs voted for those which they felt should play in the League in the following season. If the rules required four teams to seek re-election, for example, each chairman voted for four applicants, which could simply be the four seeking re-election or could include one or more non-League clubs. Any non-League clubs that gained more votes than any of those seeking re-election gained entry to the League in place of the outvoted club(s).[5] In practice, however, it was extremely rare for clubs seeking re-election to fail to achieve it, and the process was derided as an "old pals' act", with the League clubs looking out for the interests of their fellow members.[6] In 1987 the re-election process was abandoned and the team finishing bottom of the League was automatically relegated, to be replaced by the champions of the Football Conference.[7]
The team with the most applications for League membership was Yeovil Town. The Somerset-based club applied unsuccessfully on 28 occasions, including every year from 1947 to 1960 inclusive, before finally gaining membership in 2003, following the introduction of automatic promotion from the Conference.[8] On many occasions the club received no votes at all, but in 1975 Yeovil gained 18 votes, only 3 fewer than re-applying League members Workington.[9] Clubs which made unsuccessful applications but later gained League membership and became League champions included Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Liverpool, whose postal application in 1892 was rejected before voting even took place.[10]
List of unsuccesful applicants
[edit]Season listed for each application refers to the season at the end of which the voting took place. The total number of votes cast varied due to changes in the number of chairmen voting and changes in the weighting given to the votes of clubs from the higher divisions.[4]
| Season | Club | Votes received | Total votes cast | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1888–89 | Mitchell St. George's | 5 | 48 | [5] |
| 1888–89 | Sheffield Wednesday ‡ | 4 | 48 | [5] |
| 1888–89 | Bootle ‡ | 2 | 48 | [5] |
| 1888–89 | Sunderland ‡ | 2 | 48 | [5] |
| 1888–89 | Newton Heath ‡ | 1 | 48 | [5] |
| 1888–89 | Grimsby Town ‡ | 0 | 48 | [5] |
| 1888–89 | South Shore | 0 | 48 | [5] |
| 1888–89 | Sunderland Albion | 0 | 48 | [5] |
| 1888–89 | Walsall Town Swifts | 0 | 48 | [5] |
References
[edit]General
- Twydell, Dave (2001). Denied F.C.: The Football League Election Struggles. Yore Publications. ISBN 1-8744-2798-4.
Specific
- ^ Scott, Les (2010). 555 Football Facts To Wow Your Mates!. Random House. p. 158. ISBN 978-1-4464-0531-4.
- ^ Bateson, Bill (1992). News of the World Football Annual 1992–93. Invincible Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-8554-3188-1.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "History of The Football League". The Football League. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ a b Twydell, p.191
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Twydell, p.11
- ^ Titford, Roger. "Fifth amendment". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Blue Square Bet Premier: Chief cautious over third promotion spot". BBC. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Yeovil Town". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ Twydell, p.22
- ^ Twydell, p.103