William McGregor, founder of The Football League

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League Fixtures (1992-2004)

The Football League is a league competition for professional football clubs in England, the oldest such competition in world football. Its 72 clubs are evenly divided into three divisions, the Championship, League One, and League Two. more...

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Promotion and relegation between these divisions is a central feature of the League and is further extended to allow the top Championship clubs to exchange places with the lowest placed clubs in the FA Premier League, and the bottom clubs of League Two to switch with the top clubs of the Football Conference, thus integrating the League into the English football league system. Although primarily a competition for English clubs, three clubs from Wales also take part. Many believe this to be controversial as there is a League in Wales for these teams to compete in.

The Football League is also the name of the governing body of the league competition and this body also organises two knockout cup competitions, the Football League Cup and the Football League Trophy.

For sponsorship reasons, the Football League's league competition is currently known as the Coca-Cola Football League, the Football League Cup as the Carling Cup, and the Football League Trophy as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

Overview

The Football League represents 72 professional football clubs in England and Wales, and runs the oldest professional football league competition in the world. It also organises two knockout cup competitions. The Football League was founded in 1888 with 12 member clubs by a Scotsman and director of Aston Villa, William McGregor. Steady growth and the addition of more divisions meant that by 1950 the League had 92 clubs. Financial considerations led to a major shake-up in 1992 when, in a step to maximise their revenue, the leading members of the Football League broke away to form their own competition, the FA Premier League. The Football League therefore no longer represents the top 20 clubs who belong to this group, although promotion and relegation between the Football League and the FA Premier League continues.

Competition

League

The Football League's 72 member clubs are grouped into three divisions: the Football League Championship , Football League One, and Football League Two (formerly the Football League First Division, Football League Second Division and Football League Third Division respectively, they were renamed for sponsorship reasons). Each division has 24 clubs, and in any given season a club plays each of the others in the same division twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents. This makes for a total of 46 games played each season.

Clubs gain three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. At the end of the season, clubs at the top of their division may win promotion to the next higher division, while those at the bottom may be relegated to the next lower one. At the top end of the competition, three Championship clubs win promotion from the Football League to the FA Premier League, with the bottom three Premier League clubs taking their places. At the lower end, two League Two clubs lose their Football League status with relegation to the National division of the Football Conference, while two teams from Conference National join League Two of the Football League in their stead.