'Football League' redirects here. For other uses, see.English Football LeagueFounded1888; 132 years ago ( 1888)CountryEngland (68 teams)Other club(s) fromWales (3 teams)DivisionsNumber of teams(71 for 2019–20 season due to expulsion of )Level on pyramid2–4totoDomestic cup(s)International cup(s)Current championsTV partners(Highlights only)WebsiteThe English Football League ( EFL) is a league competition featuring professional clubs from.

Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in. It was the top-level football league in England from its foundation until 1992, when the top 22 clubs split away to form the.The three leagues below the Premier League are known as the, and, normally with 24 clubs in each division (72 in total; in the 2019–20 season, League One was reduced to 23 following the expulsion of ). 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 Premier League, and the bottom clubs of League Two to switch with the top clubs of the, thus integrating the League into the.

This is a list of current and defunct leagues of American football and Canadian football. Contentsshow Current Football Leagues List of current leagues in North America Professional outdoor leagues: Canadian Football League, 1958- Originally Canadian Football Council (1956-1958) in the.

Although primarily a competition for English clubs, clubs from Wales – currently, and – also take part, while in the past, and have been members.The Football League was associated with a title sponsor between 1983 and 2016. As this sponsor changed over the years the league too has been known by various names. Starting with the 2016–17 season, the league has moved away from having a title sponsor, rebranding itself as the English Football League (EFL), in much the same way the Premier League is known as the 'EPL' internationally.The English Football League is also the name of the governing body of the league competition, and this body also organises two knock-out cup competitions, the and the. The operations centre of the Football League is in, while its commercial office is in London. The commercial office was formerly based in, after its original spell in Preston.

Contents.Overview The Football League consists of 69 professional association football clubs in England and 3 in Wales. It runs the oldest professional football league competition in the world. It also organises two knockout cup competitions, the. The Football League was founded in 1888 by then- director, originally with 12 member clubs.

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, which was renamed the in 2007. The Football League therefore no longer includes the top 20 clubs who belong to this group, although between the Football League and the Premier League continues. In total, 136 teams have played in the Football League up to 2013 (including those in the Premier League, since clubs must pass through the Football League before reaching the former).Competition. This section does not any.

Unsourced material may be challenged and.Find sources: – ( September 2012) League The EFL's 72 member clubs are grouped into three divisions: the, and (previously the, and 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 defeat. 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 Premier League, with the bottom three Premier League clubs taking their places. Founder of The Football LeagueAfter four years of debate, finally permitted professionalism on 20 July 1885. Before that date many clubs made payments to 'professional' players to boost the competitiveness of their teams, breaking FA rules and arousing the contempt of those clubs abiding by the laws of the amateur Football Association code.

As more and more clubs became professional the ad-hoc fixture list of FA Cup, inter-county, and matches was seen by many as an unreliable stream of revenue, and ways were considered of ensuring a consistent income.A director of Birmingham-based, William McGregor, was the first to set out to bring some order to a chaotic world where clubs arranged their own fixtures, along with various cup competitions. On 22 March 1888, he wrote to the committee of his own club, Aston Villa, as well as to those of, and; suggesting the creation of a league competition that would provide a number of guaranteed fixtures for its member clubs each season. His idea might have been based upon a description of a proposal for an early American college football league, publicised in the English media in 1887 which stated: 'measures would be taken to form a new football league. consisting of a schedule containing two championship games between every two colleges composing the league'. Preston North End FC, the first champions in 1888The first meeting was held at Anderton's Hotel in London on 23 March 1888 on the eve of the FA Cup Final. The Football League was formally created and named in Manchester at a further meeting on 17 April at the Royal Hotel. The name 'Association Football Union' was proposed by McGregor but this was felt too close to '.

Instead, 'The Football League' was proposed by Major, representing Preston, and quickly agreed upon. Although the Royal Hotel is long gone, the site is marked with a commemorative red plaque on the Royal Buildings in. The first season of the Football League began a few months later on 8 September with 12 member clubs from the and:, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, Stoke (renamed Stoke City in 1926), West Bromwich Albion and.Each club played the others twice, once at home and once away, and two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw. This points system was not agreed upon until after the season had started; the alternative proposal was one point for a win only. Preston won the first league title without losing a game, and completed the first league–cup by also taking the.In 1890 Stoke were not re-elected to the league, and were replaced for the 1890–91 season by, who won it in their second, third and fifth year.

Stoke were re-elected for the 1891–92 season, along with, to take the league to 14 clubs.Preston North End, Aston Villa and Sunderland dominated the early years of the game; in the first fourteen seasons the only other clubs to win (single) league titles were Everton, Sheffield United and Liverpool.Addition of the Second Division. The team in 1897, after winning both the and the Football League.A new Second Division was formed in 1892 with the absorption of the rival. Alliance clubs, (later Sheffield Wednesday) and (later Manchester United) were added to the new First Division, and Darwen were reallocated to the new Second, bringing the First Division total to 16 clubs. With the addition of (from ), (later Port Vale, from the ) and (from the ), the Second Division started with 12 clubs, as Alliance club disbanded at that point. The bottom clubs of the lower division were subsequently required to apply for re-election to the League at the end of each season.Accrington F.C.

Were relegated from Division 1, however chose to resign from the Football League rather than play in the 2nd division. Were dissolved because of financial problems. The Second Division increased to 15 clubs for season 1893–94. Instead of three clubs expanding the division, five were added to make the number to fifteen. The additional clubs were from the, and from the Northern League, from the Midland League, and (later Arsenal), who became the first team from the to compete.For the following season 1894–95, the third season of the division, there was a net increase to 16 with the addition of from the Lancashire League, (later Leicester City) and (who later joined with existing Second Division club to form ) from the Midland League along with, while Northwich resigned and Middlesbrough Ironopolis disbanded.Both Liverpool and Bury won the division at the first attempt.In 1895 replaced.

In 1896 from the Lancashire League and from the Midland League replaced Burslem Port Vale. In 1897 from the United League replaced Burton Wanderers.Automatic promotion and relegation for two clubs was introduced in 1898 when the previous system of between the bottom two clubs of the First Division and the top two clubs of the Second Division was brought into disrepute when Stoke and Burnley colluded in the final match to ensure they were both in the First Division the next season. At this point both Divisions of the League expanded to eighteen, with the addition of from the Midland and Leagues, Burslem Port Vale, from the Midland League, and from the Lancashire League to the Second Division.

Early 20th century After a few years other northern clubs began to catch up, with the likes of Newcastle United and Manchester United joining the League and having success. Football League logo, 2004–2016 2004 Football League rebranding was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League Two respectively. Replaced the as title sponsor.The Football League's collection of historic materials is held by the.2016 rebranding On 12 November 2015, The Football League announced that it would be officially renamed the English Football League, with the abbreviation EFL to be emphasised, effective from the beginning of the 2016–17 season. The rebranding would include a new logo consisting of a circle composed of three swathes of 24 smaller circles each. The three swathes are to represent the three divisions and the 24 circles in each swathe (making a total of 72 circles) represent the 72 clubs in the league system.

Each club is to be presented with its own bespoke version of the logo. Football League Chief Executive Shaun Harvey said: “The new EFL name rightly emphasises the central role our clubs play at the heart of English professional football. In an increasingly challenging global sports market, it is absolutely essential that sports properties can project a modern identity that not only resonates with their regular audience but is also easily recognisable to a broader audience of potential fans, viewers and commercial partners.

We believe the EFL name and brand will give our competitions an identity that is new and distinct, while at the same time retaining our unique heritage. As such, it will be something that all fans can identify with – whether they be young or old, at home or abroad.”2019 review of EFL financial regulations The EFL expulsion of and the threatened expulsion of after both League One clubs became insolvent during the summer of 2019 prompted the EFL to commission an independent review of its regulations concerning the financial sustainability of member clubs.

See also:Since 1983 the League has accepted lucrative sponsorships for its main competition. Locations of the Football League clubs by division– Championship – League One – League TwoPast League winners NB: League and FA Cup double winners are highlighted in bold.1888–1892 When the Football League was first established, all 12 clubs played in just one division.No.SeasonChampions123 In 1892 the Football League absorbed 11 of the 12 clubs in the rival after it folded, meaning the League now had enough clubs to form another division. The existing division was renamed the First Division and the new division was called the Second Division.No.SeasonFirst Division championsSecond Division champions7–1915–19League suspended due to2 In 1920 the Football League admitted the clubs from the first division of the Southern League (the Southern League continued with its remaining clubs) and, who had failed to be re-elected to the Second Division the season before and been replaced by (of the Southern League). The clubs were placed in the new Third Division:No.SeasonFirst Division championsSecond Division championsThird Division champions2 After just one season under the old format, the League expanded again. This time it admitted a number of clubs from the north of England to balance things out, as the last expansion brought mainly clubs from the south. The existing Third Division was renamed the Third Division South, and the new division was named the Third Division North. Grimsby Town transferred to the new northern division.

Championship Play-off final, 2006. (Leeds United v. Watford, )The Football League Play-offs are used as a means of determining the final promotion place from each of the league's three divisions.

This is a way of keeping the possibility of promotion open for more clubs towards the end of the season.The format was first introduced in 1987, after the decision was made to reduce the top flight from 22 to 20 clubs over the next two seasons; initially, the play-offs involved the team finishing immediately above the relegation places in a given division and the three teams who finished immediately below the promotion places in the division below – essentially one team was fighting to keep their place in the higher division while the other three teams were attempting to take it from them. In 1989, this was changed—instead of teams from different divisions playing each other, the four teams below the automatic promotion places contested the play-offs. The first season of this arrangement saw the final being contested in home and away legs. The four teams play-off in two semi-finals and a final, with the team winning the final being promoted. Originally the semi-finals and the final were all two-legged home-and-away affairs, but from 1990 onwards the final is a one-off match. It is in this format that the play-offs continue today.

A proposal to have six teams rather than four competing for the final place was defeated at the league's AGM in 2003. Play-off winners SeasonSecond DivisionThird DivisionFourth Division1986–888–8990–911991–92SeasonFirst DivisionSecond DivisionThird Division1992–994–996–998–900–002–032003–04SeasonChampionshipLeague OneLeague Two2004–006–008–010–112–114–116–118–191: Due to financial irregularities, Swindon were prevented from taking their place in the First Division, which was awarded to the losing finalists,. See also. – holder of the Football League Collection. – burial place of the League's founderNotes.

After its title sponsors, the Football League has formerly been known as the League, the League, the League, the League, the Football League, the Football League and the The Football League. The Daily Telegraph. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2016. English Football League. Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC On This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year.

Pitch Publishing Ltd. (PDF). Premier League. Archived from (PDF) on 4 March 2009.

Retrieved 22 November 2006. Tony Brown (27 February 2013). The Football League. Archived from on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.

^, BBC News, Paul Fletcher, 26 February 2013. The Football League.

Archived from on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2013., 27 March 1887. The Leeds Mercury Issue 15289, 9 April 1887. ^ Butler, Bryon (1998). 100 Seasons of League Football. England: Queen Anne Press.

19 July 2000. Archived from on 24 October 2005.

Retrieved 8 April 2009. Fchd.info. Bowser, Paul (2019). Bootham Crescent: A Second Home – Part 1. Minsterman Books. The Guardian.

23 January 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2018. HM Courts Service. Kirby star allies walkthrough. Archived from on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2006. Premier League.

Archived from on 18 November 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2008. Premier League. Archived from on 18 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2007.

27 March 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2014.

The Football League. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2017. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.

The Coca-Cola Company. 12 March 2007. Archived from on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2009. 16 March 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.

The Football League. 18 July 2013. Archived from on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013. Archived from on 18 November 2015. 15 December 2007 at the, www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk, 6 November 2007.

English Football League. The Football League.

Archived from on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2009.External links.