List of former Football League clubs

The Football League comprises professional football clubs from England and Wales. It was established in 1888 and in 1892 the Second Division was formed, with the existing division being renamed the First Division.cite book
last = Joyce
first = Michael
title = Football League Players' Records 1888 – 1939
publisher = Tony Brown
year = 2004
pages = p295
isbn = 1899468676 ] The First World War caused the league to be postponed from 1915 to 1919 and two seasons following its resumption a Third Division was introduced for one season, before being regionalised as North and South.cite book
last = Joyce
title = Football League Players' Records 1888 – 1939
pages = p297–298 ] The 1958–59 season saw the introduction of a Fourth Division, with the top 12 clubs from the Third Division North and South from the previous season starting in a national Third Division, and the bottom 12 starting in the Fourth Division.cite web
title = The Football League 1958–1959
url = http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/English_Football_League/season/1958-1959.htm
publisher = historicalkits.co.uk
accessdate = 2008-08-09] The introduction of the Premier League, which superseded the First Division as the top-flight of English football, caused a reorganisation of the English football league system in 1992, with the Fourth Division being disbanded.cite web
title = The History Of The Football League
url = http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/History/0,,10794,00.html
publisher = The Football League
accessdate = 2008-08-09] The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were rebranded as the Championship, League One and League Two respectively ahead of the 2004–05 season, which came as part of a sponsorship with Coca-Cola.

From the 1986–87 season, the club finishing bottom of the Football League's basement division was relegated to the Conference National, the highest level of non-league football, [cite book|title=News of the World Football Annual 2007–2008|first=Stuart|last=Barnes|publisher=Invincible Press|date=2007|id=ISBN 0-0072-5555-9|pages=p58] depending on the ability of the Conference champions to meet FA requirements.cite web
title = Guide to the Non-League Pyramid
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_conf/7201054.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
accessdate = 2008-08-11] Before this, clubs would lose their league status by failing to gain re-election after finishing in the bottom four of the bottom division.cite web
title = A SHORT HISTORY OF THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE
url = http://www.soccer.mistral.co.uk/fleg/flhist.htm
publisher = soccer.mistral.co.uk
accessdate = 2008-08-09] Since the 2002–03 season, the bottom two clubs of League Two face relegation to the Conference.cite news
title = The fight for survival
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/2896571.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2003-03-30
accessdate = 2008-08-11]

The list includes clubs that are current members of the Premier League, who lost their Football League status upon promotion, and those which lost their status by other means. This includes clubs which have become defunct, merged with another club or have been relegated to a lower position in the pyramid.

Clubs

The tables show the first and last seasons in which each club competed in the league. Some clubs' membership was intermittent between their first and last seasons. Clubs shown in bold were among the founder members of the league. As of 2008 the only founder member clubs still playing in the league are Preston North End, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County and Notts County.

Current members of the Premier League (2008–09)

See also

*List of former Scottish Football League clubs
*Timeline of English football

Footnotes

:A. note label|Aldershot|A| Aldershot resigned during the 1991–92 season and the club's record was expunged from the table.:B. note label|Leeds City|B| Leeds City resigned during the 1919–20 season and the club's record was expunged from the table.:C. note label|Maidstone United|C| Maidstone United were included in the fixtures for the 1992–93 season but folded after postponing their first match.cite web
title = Maidstone United
url = http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Maidstone_United/Maidstone_United.htm
publisher = historicalkits.co.uk
accessdate = 2008-08-19]

References

;General
*cite web
url=http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/ClubbyClub/ClubIndex.htm
title=footballsite.co.uk
publisher=footballsite.co.uk
accessdate=August 22
accessyear=2008

;Specific