Football: League History

Where a club's name is in bold type (on entry to the League) this means that the club has stayed in the League ever since.

1888: the original twelve

The Football League was founded in 1888 on the initiative of William McGregor, a director of Aston Villa FC. The FA had legalised professionalism three years earlier, and as costs escalated McGregor felt that clubs needed regular fixtures in order to generate income. (Previously, each club had arranged its own fixtures and there was no guaranteed income.)

	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total	Notes
Accrington	Not re–elected 1893	Folded 1896					1
Aston Villa		Premiership	7	7	5	19
Blackburn Rovers		Championship	3	6	1	10
Bolton Wanderers		Championship		4		4
Burnley		Championship	2	1		3
Derby County		Championship	2	1		3
Everton		Premiership	9	5		14
Notts County		League Two		1		1
Preston North End		League One	2	2		4
Stoke	Not re–elected 1890 Re–elected 1891	Premiership			1	1	2
West Bromwich Albion		Premiership	1	5	1	7
Wolverhampton Wanderers		Championship	3	4	2	9

1890–1

In 1890 Stoke were not re–elected, having finished bottom of the league in both of its first two seasons. They were replaced by Sunderland (who went on to win the League title in their second, third and fifth seasons). Stoke were accepted by the Football Alliance, which had been founded in 1889 as a rival to the League. In 1890–1 Stoke won the Alliance and were subsequently re–elected to the League; Darwen (another Alliance club) were also elected in 1891, bringing the number of clubs in the League to 14.

	Year	Replaced	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total	Notes
Sunderland	1890	Stoke		Premiership	6	2		8
Darwen	1891	(None – expansion to 14 teams)	Not re–elected 1899	NW Counties League (Level 9)
Stoke	1891	(None – expansion to 14 teams)	Resigned 1908	Premiership					2

1892: Two Divisions

In 1892 the Football League formed a Second Division of 12 clubs, and expanded the First Division to 16 clubs. Eleven of the new members came from the Alliance, which was effectively absorbed into the League.

Darwen, having finished 14th and bottom of the League in 1891–2, suffered the ignominy of being the first club to be relegated. With the expansion of the First Division, this left three vacancies, and these were taken by:

	From	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total	Notes
The Wednesday	Football Alliance	See Note 3	Championship	4	3	1	8	3
Nottingham Forest	Football Alliance		Championship	2	2	4	8
Newton Heath	Football Alliance	See note 4	Premiership	19	11	3	33	4

Admitted to Division Two:

	Joined from	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total	Notes
Ardwick	Football Alliance	See Note 5	Premiership	2	4	2	8	5
Bootle	Football Alliance	Resigned Aug 1893	See Note 6					6
Burslem Port Vale	Midland League	Not re–elected 1896 Re–elected 1898	League Two					7
Burton Swifts	Football Alliance	Not re–elected 1907	See Note 8					8
Crewe Alexandra	Football Alliance	Not re–elected 1896 Rejoined Div 1 (N) 1921	League One
Grimsby Town	Football Alliance	Not re–elected 1910 Re–elected 1911	Conference Premier
Lincoln City	Football Alliance	Not re–elected 1908 Rejoined 1909	Conference Premier
Northwich Victoria	Combination	Resigned 1894	Northern Premier
Sheffield United	Northern League		League One	1	4		5
Small Heath	Football Alliance	See Note 9	Championship			2	2	9
Walsall Town Swifts	Football Alliance	Not re–elected 1895 Re–elected 1906	League One					10

1893

In 1893, Accrington and Bootle resigned, and five new clubs were admitted to the Second Division – bringing the total up to 16 clubs in the First Division and 15 in the Second. One of the five new clubs, Woolwich Arsenal, became the first club from the south of England to compete in the League.

Also in 1893, Notts County became the second club, and the first of the original twelve members of the League, to suffer relegation to the Second Division.

	Joined from	Subsequently	Current status	Notes
Rotherham Town	Midland League	Not re–elected 1896	Dissolved 1896	11
Newcastle United	Northern League		Premiership
Woolwich Arsenal	(No league)		Premiership	12
Liverpool	Lancashire League		Premiership
Middlesbrough Ironopolis	Northern League	Resigned 1894	Dissolved 1894

1894

In 1894 Northwich Victoria and Middlesbrough Ironopolis resigned from the League, and three new clubs were admitted – bringing both divisions up to 16 clubs.

	Joined from	Subsequently	Current status	Notes
Leicester Fosse	Midland League	See Note 13	Championship	13
Burton Wanderers	Midland League	Not re–elected 1897	See Note 8	8
Bury	Lancashire League		League Two

1895–7

In 1897, Luton Town became only the second club from the south of England (after Woolwich Arsenal) to play in the Football League. They lasted only three years before failing re–election in 1900 – but they rejoined in 1920 to become founder members of the Third Division.

In	Year	Replaced	Subsequently	Current status
Loughborough Town	1895	Walsall Town Swifts	Not re–elected 1900	Dissolved 1900
Blackpool	1896	Burslem Port Vale, Crewe Alexandra and Rotherham Town	Not re–elected 1899 Re–elected 1900	Championship
Gainsborough Trinity	1896		Not re–elected 1912	Conference North
Walsall	1896		Failed re–election 1901	League One
Luton Town	1897	Burton Wanderers	Not re–elected 1900 Rejoined Division 3 1920	Conference National

1898

In 1898, both divisions were expanded to 18 teams. At the same time, automatic promotion and relegation was introduced for the first time after Stoke and Burnley were held to have colluded to ensure that they both played in the First Division in the 1898–9 season.

	Joined from	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total	Notes
Burslem Port Vale	Midland League	See Note 7	League Two					7
New Brighton Tower	Lancashire League	Resigned 1901	Dissolved 1901
Glossop North End	Midland League	Not re–elected 1915	North West Counties League
Barnsley	Midland League		Championship

1899–1904

In 1901, Bristol City became the third club from the south of England (after Woolwich Arsenal and Luton Town) to play in the Football League. Luton having failed re–election in 1900, the Robins remained the only southern club from outside London until 1920, when virtually the entire top division of the Southern League joined to form the Third Division of the Football League. They were runners–up in 1906–7, and losing finalists in the FA Cup in 1909.

	Year	Replaced	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total	Notes
Chesterfield Town	1899	Darwen	Failed re–election 1909	Dissolved 1915					14
Middlesbrough	1899	Blackpool		Championship			1
Blackpool	1900	Luton Town Loughborough Town
Stockport County	1900	Luton Town Loughborough Town	Not re–elected 1904 Re–elected 1905	Conference National
Bristol City	1901	Walsall, New Brighton Tower		Championship
Doncaster Rovers	1901	Walsall, New Brighton Tower	Not re–elected 1903 Re–elected 1904	Championship
Bradford City	1903	Doncaster Rovers		League Two		1		1
Doncaster Rovers	1904	Stockport County	Failed re–election 1905 Re–elected 1923

1905

In 1905 both divisions were expanded to 20 teams (from 18). Doncaster Rovers failed re–election, and five new teams (including Stockport County, who had failed re–election in 1904) were elected to Division Two:

	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total	Notes
Chelsea		Premiership	4	6	4	14
Clapton Orient		League One					15
Hull City		Championship
Leeds City	Expelled 1919	Dissolved 1919
Stockport County	Relegated 2011	Conference National

1906–15

In the four years from 1907 to 1910, one club failed re–election each year: Burton United, Lincoln City, Chesterfield Town and Grimsby Town. In addition, Burslem Port Vale and Stoke resigned for financial reasons in 1907 and 1908 respectively. Five new teams joined the League in this period: Fulham, Oldham Athletic, Bradford (Park Avenue), Tottenham Hotspur, and Huddersfield Town.

Lincoln City were re–elected in 1909 after only one year out, but in 1911 they failed re–election again. Once again they were out for only one year, and in 1912 they were re–elected to replace Gainsborough Trinity.

Similarly, Grimsby Town failed re–election in 1910 but were re–elected after only one year out, when they replaced Lincoln.

	Year	Replaced	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total
Fulham	1907	Burton United Burslem Port Vale		Premiership
Oldham Athletic	1907	Burton United Burslem Port Vale		League One
Bradford (Park Avenue)	1908	Stoke Lincoln City	Not re–elected 1970
Tottenham Hotspur	1908	Stoke Lincoln City		Premiership	2	8	4	14
Lincoln City	1909	Chesterfield Town	Not re–elected 1911
Huddersfield Town	1910	Grimsby Town		League One	3	1		4
Grimsby Town	1911	Lincoln City	Not re–elected 1920
Lincoln City	1912	Gainsborough Trinity	Not re–elected 1920

1919

Glossop North End failed re–election in 1915, but the League was then suspended for the duration of World War I. On the resumption in 1919, Leeds City were compulsorily wound up by the League after making illegal payments to players during the war. The two Potteries clubs, Stoke and Port Vale, were elected to replace Glossop and Leeds, and four new clubs were admitted, as both divisions were expanded to 22 teams.

	Replaced	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total	Notes
Coventry City			Championship		1		1
West Ham United			Championship		3		3
Rotherham County			League Two					11
South Shields		Not re–elected 1960	Conference National					16
Port Vale	Glossop North End Leeds City
Stoke	Glossop North End Leeds City		Premiership

1920: three divisions

In 1920 the Football League formed a Third Division, by effectively absorbing the First Division of the Southern League (as it had the Football Alliance 28 years earlier).

Grimsby Town and Lincoln City, who had finished in the bottom two places of the Second Division in 1919–20, failed re–election; but Grimsby were granted a reprieve by being elected to the new Third Division. The vacant places in the Second Division were taken by Cardiff City, who had finished fourth in the Southern League in 1919–20, and Leeds United, who had been formed just one year earlier following the compulsory winding up of Leeds City.

The Third Division was thus made up of Grimsby Town and the remaining 21 of the 22 clubs from the Southern League's First Division. Grimsby's nearest neighbours in the new division were Norwich (87 miles by road in 2011, using the M1 – which obviously wasn't possible in 1920) and Northampton (93 miles by the same reckoning).

The 22 clubs from the Southern League included the League's first four Welsh clubs: Merthyr Town, Newport County and Swansea Town, as well as Cardiff. They also included just one that had previously competed in the Football League: Luton Town.

Admitted to the Second Division:

	Replaced	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total
Cardiff City			Championship		1		1
Leeds United	Lincoln City		Championship	3	1	1	5

Founder members of the Third Division:

	Subsequently	Current status
Brentford		League One
Brighton & Hove Albion		League One
Bristol Rovers	Relegated 2014 Promoted 2015	League One
Crystal Palace		Championship
Exeter City	Relegated 2003 Promoted 2008
Gillingham	Not re–elected 1938
Grimsby Town	Relegated 2010
Luton Town	Relegated 2009
Merthyr Town	Not re–elected 1930
Millwall		League One
Newport County	Not re–elected 1931
Northampton Town		League Two
Norwich City		League One
Plymouth Argyle		Championship
Portsmouth		Premiership
Queens Park Rangers		Championship
Reading		Championship
Southampton		League One
Southend United		League One
Swansea Town		Championship
Swindon Town		League One
Watford		Championship

1921: two Third divisions

In 1921, the Football League decided that its new Third Division gave the League as a whole too much of a southern bias, so it created a Third Division (North) and the one–year–old Third Division was renamed the Third Division (South). Stockport County, who had finished bottom of the Second Division in 1920–1, and Grimsby Town, who (as we have seen) had been somewhat isolated amongst all the southern sides of the Third Division, joined a further 18 teams taken from various northern leagues. Crystal Palace, who had topped the Third Division in its first season, were promoted to the Second; the places in the Third Division (South) vacated by Grimsby and Palace were taken by two Athletics: Aberdare and Charlton.

Aberdare became the first of the League's 86 clubs alphabetically, an honour which had been held by Arsenal since 1913 when they dropped the word "Woolwich" from their name. (They were officially known as "The Arsenal" until 1927, so it's debatable whether the honour actually fell to them or Aston Villa. In 1921 The Arsenal – or Villa – slipped to third, as Accrington Stanley also joined the new division. Their predecessors, Accrington FC, were the original holders until they failed to get re–elected in 1893, when it passed to Villa.)

At the same time, Wrexham replaced Wolverhampton Wanderers as the League's last club alphabetically – an honour that Wolves had held since the League's foundation in 1888.

Founder members of the the Third Division (North):

	Subsequently	Current status
Accrington Stanley	Resigned March 1962
Ashington	Not re–elected 1929
Barrow	Not re–elected 1972
Chesterfield		League Two
Crewe Alexandra		League Two
Darlington	Relegated 1989 Promoted 1990 Relegated 2010
Durham City	Not re–elected 1928
Halifax Town	Relegated 1993 Promoted 1998 Relegated 2002 Dissolved 2008
Hartlepool United		League One
Nelson	Not re–elected 1931
Rochdale		League Two
Southport	Not re–elected 1978
Stalybridge Celtic	Resigned 1923
Tranmere Rovers		League One
Walsall		League One
Wigan Borough	Resigned 1932
Wrexham	Relegated 2008

Admitted to the Third Division (South):

	Subsequently	Current status
Aberdare Athletic	Not re–elected 1927
Charlton Athletic		League One

1922–39

In 1923, Wolverhampton Wanderers finished bottom of the Second Division and thus became the first of the original twelve members of the Football League to play in either of the Third Divisions. Rotherham County, who had finished one place above Wolves, were also relegated to the Third Division (North).

Also in 1923, Stalybridge Celtic resigned from the League. With Nelson being promoted to the Second Division as champions of the division, this left 20 teams in the Third Division North. Doncaster Rovers and New Brighton were elected to the League to bring the division up to 22 clubs, the same as the other three, and the total number of League clubs to 88. (Doncaster had had two brief spells in the League from 1901 to 1905; New Brighton were no relation to New Brighton Tower, who had been dissolved in 1901 after resigning from the League).

Bristol City were promoted as champions of Division Three (South); their place was taken by Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic (who changed their name from Boscombe FC at the same time).

In the 1926–7 season, Coventry City became the first club to play in the Third Division North and South. Relegated to the Third Division (North) in 1925, they moved to the Third Division (South) a year later as Stoke City and Stockport County were relegated. The following season, two more Northern clubs (Darlington and Bradford City) were relegated, and Walsall made the move South.

From 1927, the League began exacting retribution on its bottom–placed teams. In successive years, Aberdare Athletic, Durham City, Ashington and Merthyr Town failed to get re–elected; their respective places were taken by Torquay United, Carlisle United, York City, and Thames.

Of these four changes, two were in the Third Division North and two in the South. The former lost two clubs from the far North East of England (and gained two from the North West) and the latter lost two Welsh clubs. The League also lost the first club in alphabetical order that had ever competed in it (or has to the present day) and gained the last – Aberdare and York respectively.

In 1931, two teams were voted out: Nelson, who finished bottom of the Third Division (North), and Newport County who finished last but one in the southern division. Why Newport were ejected rather than Norwich City, who finished rock bottom, is not clear. Newport's exile was short however, as they were re–elected the following year (1932) to replace Wigan Borough who'd gone out of business a couple of months into the 1931–2 season. As this was a club from the South replacing one from the North, Walsall moved back to the Third Division (North) to even up the numbers.

Also in 1932, after two years in the League during which they'd finished 20th and 22nd in the Third Division South, Thames chose not to apply for re–election and the club was wound up. Their place was taken by Aldershot.

In the next 18 years, which included the seven–year break for World War II, there was only one change: in 1938, Gillingham failed to get re–elected and were replaced by Ipswich Town.

In 1936, Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers were both relegated for the first time. They were the last two of the original twelve member clubs that had never been relegated.

	Year	Replaced	Subsequently	Current status	Champs	FA Cup	Lge Cup	Total
Doncaster Rovers	1923	Stalybridge Celtic (resigned); Third Division North expanded to 22 clubs (from 20)	Relegated 1998 Promoted 2003	League One
New Brighton	1923		Not re–elected 1951
Bournemouth	1923			Premier League
Torquay United	1927	Aberdare Athletic	Relegated 2007 Promoted 2009 Relegated 2015	Conference Premier
Carlisle United	1928	Durham City	Relegated 2004 Promoted 2005
York City	1929	Ashington	Relegated 2004
Thames	1930	Merthyr Town	Resigned 1932
Chester	1931	Nelson	Relegated 2000 Promoted 2003 Relegated 2009
Mansfield Town	1931	Newport County	Relegated 2008
Newport County	1932	Wigan Borough	Relegated 1988
Aldershot	1932	Thames	Resigned 1992
Ipswich Town	1938	Gillingham		Championship	1	1		2

1950–1

In 1950, the League expanded for the last time to date when two extra clubs were admitted to each of the two Third Divisions: Scunthorpe United and Shewsbury Town in the North, and Colchester United and Gillingham (the latter having been replaced by Ipswich in the previous change, in 1938) in the South.

One year later, New Brighton failed to get re–elected and were replaced by Workington.

	Year	Replaced	Subsequently	Current status
Shrewsbury Town	1950		Relegated 2003 Promoted 2004
Scunthorpe United	1950		Championship
Gillingham	1950		League One
Colchester United	1950		Relegated 1990 Promoted 1992
Workington	1951	New Brighton		Not re–elected 1977

1958–86

1958 saw the first major change in the League's format for 36 years, when the Third Divisions (North) and (South) were re–organised into the Third and Fourth Divisions. The twelve teams that finished in the top half of each Third Division went into the new Third Division, and the remainder went into the Fourth.

It's worth noting that in the Fourth Division's first season (1958–9), only one of the teams that finished in the bottom half of the table had come out of the Third Division (South). This was Watford, who finished in 14th place. The only team from the North that finished in the top half was York City – who finished 3rd and just missed out on promotion. It was a similar story in 1959–60, when, of the bottom 11 clubs, the most southerly–based was Crewe Alexandra. The only club from the South that failed to make it into the top half of the table was Aldershot – and they finished 12th (top of the bottom half!) All of the four teams that got promoted in the first two seasons of the Fourth Division were from the Midlands (and had played in the Third Division (South)): Port Vale, Coventry City, Walsall and Notts County.

Meanwhile, also in 1958, Sunderland finished 21st in the First Division and were relegated for the first time. They were the last remaining club that had never played outside the First Division. Joining the League in 1890 to replace Stoke, they had played 55 consecutive seasons in the First Division following the foundation of the Second Division in 1892. This remained a record until 1981–2, when Arsenal played their 56th consecutive season in the First Division, having been promoted in decidedly dodgy circumstances in 1919 as the League resumed after World War I.

It was in February 1958 that the Manchester United squad was devastated by the accident at Munich airport. United were second in the League at the time, 6 points behind Wolves with 14 games to play. United had been champions in the previous two seasons and were unbeaten in their previous 11 League games. They won their first game after the crash – 3–0 against Sheffield Wednesday (who ended up in last place that season) – but failed to win any more League games that season and finished in 9th place. They also reached the FA Cup Final (they'd won their Fourth Round tie two weeks before Munich) but lost 2–0 to Bolton Wanderers.

In 1960, Gateshead failed to get re–elected and were replaced by Peterborough United. Gateshead had taken over South Shields FC, who had joined the Second Division in 1919 when the League expanded to 44 teams (from 40). Peterborough became the first club to start its League career in the Fourth Division, and they made an immediate impact, finishing the 1960–1 season as champions of that division. A major factor in their success was the goals of Terry Bly – his 52 League goals in that season still stands as a post–war record (his nearest rival is Derek Dooley with 46 goals for Sheffield Wednesday in 1951–2).

Peterborough remained in the Third Division for seven years, but in 1967–8 they were fined 19 points for offering illegal bonuses. They finished bottom (six points from safety) and were relegated; without the 19–point fine, they would have finished 8th.

Also in 1967–8, Port Vale were expelled from the League for financial irregularities. They were allowed to apply for re–election for the 1968–9 season; their application was successful and they continued to play in the Fourth Division without a break.

Meanwhile, in 1960–1, Tottenham Hotspur became the first club to win the coveted League and Cup double since Aston Villa in 1896–7 (and only the third in history).

In March 1962, Accrington Stanley resigned from the League after revealing debts of just under £50,000. Their results for the 1961–2 season were expunged from the records, and for 1962–3 they were replaced by Oxford United.

In 1970 Bradford FC (also known – particularly since then – as Bradford Park Avenue, to distinguish them from Bradford City) failed to get re–elected. They had finished bottom of the League for the past three seasons, winning only 18 games in that time and losing 91 (out of 138). They were replaced by Cambridge United.

In 1972, the League was unable to resist the temptation to elect Hereford United to its ranks. The Bulls had attracted considerable attention through beating Newcastle United in a Third Round replay in the FA Cup. Ronnie Radford's 85th–minute equaliser in that game, in reply to Malcolm MacDonald's opener three minutes earlier, has become one of the most celebrated goals of all time through being shown on BBC TV's Match of the Day. The commentary was one of the very first to be provided by John Motson. (The match was played at the same time as other Fourth Round ties, the first match having been postponed twice and the replay three times.)

The club that lost out in the wake of Hereford's success, failing to win re–election, was Barrow. They had finished in 23rd place in the Fourth Division in 1970, and 24th in 1971, but in 1972 they actually finished 22nd – above both Crewe Alexandra and Stockport County. Their isolation at the far end of the Furness peninsula in Cumbria was doubtless a factor in the vote, as was the club's decision to install a speedway track in their stadium in an effort to increase revenues.

The other club from the Cumbrian coast – Workington – finished bottom of the League in 1976 and 1977, and in the latter season (1976–7) they won only four matches. They failed to get re–elected in 1977 and were replaced by Wimbledon. This left Carlisle United as the only League club in the newly–formed county of Cumbria; five years earlier, had it been around, it would have had three.

In 1978 Rochdale finished bottom, and many expected them to follow Workington out of the League; but in fact it was Southport, who had finished last but one not only that year but also in the two previous seasons (when Workington had finished at the bottom) that failed re–election in favour of Wigan Athletic. The first ballot resulted in a tie between Southport and Wigan, but the latter eventually won in the second ballot.

Wigan were the first club from the North of England to join the League since Workington in 1951.

In 1981 the League began awarding three points for a win, in order to encourage more positive football. This policy was not adopted by FIFA until the 1994 World Cup.

Year	In	Replaced	Subsequently	Current status
1960	Peterborough United	Gateshead		League One
1962	Oxford United	Accrington Stanley	Relegated 2006 Promoted 2010
1970	Cambridge United	Bradford (P.A.)	Relegated 2005
1972	Hereford United	Barrow	Relegated 1997 Promoted 2006
1977	Wimbledon / MK Dons	Workington		League One
1978	Wigan Athletic	Southport		Premiership

1987–92

At some time in the mid–1980s, it was decided to reduce the First Division to 20 teams and increase the Second to 24. (Previously both had had 22.) This adjustment was staggered over two years: 1987 and 1988.

In 1987, the First Division was reduced to 21 teams and the Second increased to 23. The bottom three teams in the First Division were relegated, and the top two from the Second promoted. This made the numbers right, but in order to give a third team a chance of promotion the play–off system was introduced. The teams that finished third, fourth and fifth respectively in the Second (Oldham Athletic, Leeds United and Ipswich Town) played off against Charlton Athletic, who finished fourth from bottom of the First. Charlton beat Leeds in the final to earn the right to remain in the First Division for the 1987–8 season – but only after a replay, and extra time in that.

The play–off system was felt to be such a good idea that it was also used to settle the third promotion place from the Third division, and the fourth from the Fourth. In these divisions the teams that just escaped automatic relegation were not involved, and in each case the four teams that just missed out on automatic promotion competed against each other for the final promotion place. In the Division Two & Three play–offs, Swindon beat Gillingham in the final (also after a replay); in Division Three & Four, Aldershot beat Wolves.

Also taking effect in the 1986–7 season, after many years of lobbying from the so–called "non–league" clubs, the League agreed to automatic promotion and relegation between the Fourth Division and the Football Conference (known at the time as the GM Vauxhall Conference). The first club to suffer automatic relegation was Lincoln City; the first to benefit from automatic promotion was Scarborough.

At the end of the 1987–8 season, four clubs were relegated from the First Division and only three were promoted. In a similar arrangement to that of the previous season, the three teams that finished third, fourth and fifth respectively in the Second (Middlesbrough, Bradford City and Blackburn Rovers) played off against the team that finished fourth from bottom of the First (Chelsea). This time the third–placed team from the Second Division was successful: Middlesbrough beat Chelsea in the final and took their place in the First Division.

This completed the reduction of the First Division to 20 clubs and the expansion of the Second to 24.

In 1990, Swindon Town won the Second Division play–offs but were denied promotion after their board admitted financial irregularities. Their place in the First was taken by Sunderland, whom they'd beaten in the play–off final. Swindon were originally relegated to Division Three, their place in Division Two to be taken by Tranmere Rovers (who'd won the Third Division play–offs) but this decision was reversed on appeal and Swindon stayed in the Second Division for the 1990–1 season.

In 1991, the League was expanded to 93 clubs. Barnet, champions of the Conference, were promoted to Division Four, but Wrexham, who finished bottom of the League, were spared relegation. Four teams were promoted from each of the Second and Third divisions, and only two relegated from the First and Second; five were promoted from the Fourth, and only three relegated from the Third. This left 22 teams in the First Division, 24 in each of the Second and Third, and 23 in the Fourth. The intention was to increase the number to 94 the following year.

In the course of the 1991–2 season however (on the 25th of March, to be precise), Aldershot FC went out of business and resigned from the League. They were followed by Maidstone United, who were unable to fulfil their first fixture of the 1992–3 season and resigned two days later. They were immediately liquidated.

Year	Out	In since	Years in	In	Out since	Years out	Comments
1987	Lincoln City	1921	59	Scarborough	(New members)
1988	Newport County	1932	49	Lincoln City	1987	1
1989	Darlington	1921	61	Maidstone United	(New members)
1990	Colchester United	1950	40	Darlington	1989	1
1991	None			Barnet	(New members)		League expanded to 93 clubs
1992	Aldershot	1932	53	Colchester United	1990	2	Aldershot resigned in March 1992

1992–2004

1992 saw the biggest upheaval in the League's history, when the 22 clubs in the First Division resigned en masse to form the Premier League. The Second Division was renamed the First Division, the Third became the Second, and the Fourth became the Third.

In 1995, the Leagues finally resolved the anomaly that had arisen from the aborted expansion of 1991–3: the Premier League was reduced to 20 clubs, and the recently–renamed Third Division reverted to 24. Four teams were relegated from each of the top two divisions, and in each case only two were promoted to replace them; five were relegated from the Second Division to the Third, and only three were promoted to replace them. This left 20 clubs in the Premier League, and 24 in each division of the Football League – and this is how it's stayed ever since.

In 1992, Maidstone United defaulted on their first fixture of the 1992–3 season and resigned from the League two days later. They were not replaced, and the League reverted to 92 clubs.

Year	Out	In since	Years in	In	Out since	Years out
1993		Maidstone United	1989	4	(None)
1993		Halifax Town	1921	65	Wycombe Wanderers	(New members)

In the three years from 1994 to 1996, the League stagnated as the three clubs that finished as Conference champions were refused entry into the League; their grounds were ruled not to be up to the required standards. The three clubs affected were Kidderminster Harriers, Macclesfield Town and Stevenage Borough.

The three clubs that escaped automatic relegation were Northampton Town, Exeter City and Torquay United.

Year	Out	In since	Years in	In	Out since	Years out
1997	Hereford United	1972	25	Macclesfield Town	(New members)
1998	Doncaster Rovers	1923	68	Halifax Town	1993	5
1999	Scarborough	1987	12	Cheltenham Town	(New members)
2000	Chester City	1931	62	Kidderminster Harriers	(New members)
2001	Barnet	1991	10	Rushden & Diamonds	(New members)
2002	Halifax Town	1998	4	Boston United	(New members)
2003	Exeter City	1920	76	Yeovil Town	(New members)
2003	Shrewsbury Town	1950	53	Doncaster Rovers	1998	5

2004 until the present day

In 2004 the Football League was "rebranded". The First Division (previously the Second Division) was renamed the Football League Championship, and the Second and Third Divisions (previously the Third and Fourth Divisions) were renamed Football League One and Football League Two respectively. Sponsorship (previously provided by the Nationwide Building Society) was taken over by Coca–Cola.

At the same time, the number of clubs to be automatically promoted and relegated between the League and the Conference each year was increased to two.

Year	Out	In since	Years in	In	Out since	Years out	Notes
2004	Carlisle United	1928	69	Chester City	2000	4
2004	York City	1929	68	Shrewsbury Town	2003	1
2005	Kidderminster Harriers	2000	5	Carlisle United	2004	1
2005	Cambridge United	1970	35	Barnet	2001	4
2006	Oxford United	1962	44	Hereford United	1997	9
2006	Rushden & Diamonds	2001	5	Accrington Stanley	(New members)		1
2007	Boston United	2002	5	Dagenham & Redbridge	(New members)
2007	Torquay United	1927	73	Morecambe	(New members)
2008	Mansfield Town	1931	70	Aldershot Town	(New members)		17
2008	Wrexham	1921	80	Exeter City	2003	5
2009	Chester City	2004	5	Torquay United	2007	2
2009	Luton Town	1920	82	Burton Albion	(New members)
2010	Grimsby Town	1911	88	Oxford United	2006	4
2010	Darlington	1990	20	Stevenage Borough	(New members)
2011	Lincoln City	1988	23	Crawley Town	(New members)
2011	Stockport County	1905	95	A.FC Wimbledon	(New members)		18
2012	Hereford United	2006	6	Fleetwood Town	(New members)
2012	Macclesfield Town	1997	15	York City	2004	8
2013	Barnet	2005	8	Mansfield Town	2008	5
2013	Aldershot Town	2008	5	Newport County	1988	25	19
2014	Bristol Rovers	1921	76	Luton Town	2009	5
2014	Torquay United	2009	5	Cambridge United	2005	9
2015	Tranmere Rovers	1921	77	Barnet	2013	2
2015	Cheltenham Town	1999	16	Bristol Rovers	2014	1
2016	Dagenham & Redbridge	2007	9	Cheltenham Town	2015	1
2016	York City	2012	4	Grimsby Town	2010	6
2017	Hartlepool United	1921	96	Lincoln City	2011	6
2017	Leyton Orient	1905	112	Forest Green Rovers	(New members)

Notes

Notes
1	There is no connection between any of the three clubs that have represented Accrington in the Football League (Accrington 1888–93, Accrington Stanley 1921–62, and Accrington Stanley since 2006)
2	The town of Stoke was granted city status in 1925; Stoke FC was renamed Stoke City in 1928
3	The Wednesday FC was renamed Sheffield Wednesday in 1929
4	Newton Heath FC was renamed Manchester United in 1902
5	Ardwick FC was renamed Manchester City in 1894
6	Bootle FC folded after leaving the League in 1893. The current club of the same name is not connected
7	Renamed Port Vale in 1907
8	Burton Swifts merged with Burton Wanderers (League club 1894–7) in 1901 to form Burton United. Burton United failed re–election in 1907 and folded in 1910
9	Birmingham City FC was known as Small Heath FC until 1906 (originally Small Heath Alliance)
10	Founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts when Walsall Town and Walsall Swifts merged, they became Walsall FC in 1896
11	The original Rotherham Town FC folded in 1896 after not bothering to apply for re–election to the League. A later club, originally formed in 1899, changed its name to Rotherham Town in 1905. In 1919, a third club (Rotherham County) was elected to the League, and in 1925 this club merged with the Town to form Rotherham United.
12	Woolwich Arsenal FC dropped the word Woolwich from their name on moving to Highbury in 1913
13	Renamed Leicester City in 1919
14	After Chesterfield Town FC went into voluntary liquidation in 1915, a new club with the same name was formed. This club was shut down in 1917 after the FA suspended its players and management over illegal payments. The local council formed a club in 1919 and named it Chesterfield Municipal FC; the following year, the FA forced the club to become independent and the name was changed to Chesterfield FC. See 1921
15	Renamed Leyton Orient in 1945. Also known as Orient from 1966 to 1987 (Leyton Orient since 1987)
16	South Shields FC folded 1930 and was taken over by Gateshead FC (which inherited their place in the League)
17	Aldershot Town FC was founded in 1992, shortly after Aldershot FC was wound up in the High Court. Aldershot resigned from the League in March 1992
18	AFC Wimbledon was founded in 2002, weeks after the controversial decision of the FA and the Football League to sanction Wimbledon FC's relocation to Milton Keynes
19	The original Newport County FC (founded 1912) was declared bankrupt in February 1988, in their first season after becoming the second club to suffer automatic relegation to the Conference. A new club was formed in June 1989, and claims continuity with its predecessor. (On its foundation, Newport City Council considered the new company to be a continuation of the old and refused permission to use Somerton Park on the grounds of unpaid rent.)

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