NLS Allocations: 23 teams at Step 6 – that’ll fix things

The National League System allocations for Steps 1-6 of the English Football Pyramid are out and make for some interesting reading.

Thatcham Town might – you would guess – be appealing their allocation to the Southern League Division One South, taking them to the likes of Falmouth Town and Mousehole, and Berks County have been promoted despite being losing play-off finalists.

The eye-watering moment though is when you realise all the noise about fixture congestion, weather, ground shares and number of matches that caused teams to play back-to-back-to-back matches in April has come to absolutely nothing.

The FA in their wisdom have allocated 23 [Twenty Three] teams to the Combined Counties League Division One.

TWENTY-BLOODY-THREE.

Aside from the *gulp* 24 team Step 5 North West Counties League Premier Division, that is the largest number of teams in a division between steps 2 and 6.

Geography and the Great British road network may be key factors here in deciding who goes where, and maybe the FA’s hands are tied on this – place teams elsewhere and they’d probably appeal.

Last season’s CCL Division One had 22 teams and there are matches that were never played. That just seems wrong.

So to fix it, add another team to the mix and make it a 44 game season and lets hope it never rains again.

Combined Counties League Division One (Step 6)