UK Football Leagues
This is the UK football leagues’ information page. This is where you will find links to the individual leagues that we cover.
Of course, each link shows the teams that compete in that particular league. We also highlight all the results, fixtures, and league tables.
English Football Leagues:
English Football League System
This system is a pyramid-type series of leagues from men’s association football clubs in England. However, Welsh clubs can participate in this system if they so wish, as well as others who meet the criteria.
Football teams can indeed enter the system through a promotion or relegation system. With this in mind, even a small non-league club can enter the system and end up winning the Premier League! The total number of football clubs varies from year to year, but around 140 leagues are in existence right now.
English Premier League
English Premier LeagueThis league is the top league in the English Football League system, of course. Indeed, many people refer to this league as the Premiership. At this time, 20 clubs compete in the English Premier League. Running from August to May, each team in the English Premier League plays 38 league matches.
Each team plays the other teams both home and away. In effect, the English Premier League came into existence in 1992 when it broke away from the Football League. Before this date, the top league in England had the plain name of the First Division. The teams finishing in the bottom three of the Premier League drop into the Championship League below.
English Championship
English ChampionshipThe full name of this league is the English Football League Championship. But most people just refer to it as the Championship. This league is the second most important league in England.
Before 2004, this league would have been the top league in England: the Football League First Division. However, since the Premier League came into existence, the Championship is now equivalent to the old Second Division.
At this time, there are 24 teams in the Championship League. Each team plays the others in the league twice. Therefore, each team plays 46 league matches throughout a season. In short, the top two get promotion to the Premier League automatically. However, teams that finish in positions 3 to 6 go head to head for the third promotion slot.
In effect, the Championship play-off final is the biggest prize in English football. The bottom three clubs drop into League One below.
English Football League One
English League OneLeague One is the second-highest league in the English Football League. In effect, League One is the third most important league in the English Football League System.
Before the Premier League’s formation, this league was the old Third Division. Also, as with The Championship above, the top two and bottom three are subject to automatic promotion and relegation, respectively.
Those teams finishing in positions 3 to 6 follow the same routine as in the Championship League. At this time, 24 teams are competing in League One. Obviously, they play a total of 46 league games each.
English Football League Two
English League TwoLeague Two is the fourth tier in the English Football League System, of course. Before the Premier League’s formation, League Two had the name of League Division Four.
At this time, 24 league clubs compete in League Two, and they play each other twice. In short, they play each other both home and away, making 46 league games in total. Promotion and relegation are also similar to those of the Championship League.
Scottish Football Leagues:
Scottish Professional Football League
The Scottish Professional Football League came into being in 2013. This was because of a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. The following is a description of the top leagues that are part of the SPFL.
Scottish Premiership
Scottish PremiershipThe Scottish Premiership is the top league in the Scottish Professional Football League. Indeed, the Scottish Premiership came about in 2013. This was through a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League.
At this time, the Scottish Premiership has 12 teams that compete with each other both home and away.
Relegation to the Scottish Championship happens to the club that finishes bottom of the league. The club that finishes 11th can also suffer relegation. But this relies on play-offs with the play-off winner in the Scottish Championship.
Scottish Championship
Scottish ChampionshipThe Scottish Championship is the second tier in the SPFL and came about in 2013. At this time, there are only ten teams that compete with each other in the Scottish Championship.
Obviously, the team finishing top wins promotion to the Scottish Premiership. Then, the teams finishing in positions 2 to 4 compete in play-offs for the next promotion place. However, the play-off winner here plays the club that finishes 11th in the Scottish Premiership. The winner of that game gains or keeps its place in the Scottish Premiership League.
UK Football Leagues: In Summary
The UK league system allows football clubs and supporters to see how well their team has been performing throughout the season. The higher in the league that a football team is, you would naturally assume it has been performing better than those below.
It is also a reasonably fair system that helps improving football teams gain promotion. In contrast, those that underperform can suffer relegation.
So, whether you support a top team in the English leagues like Chelsea or a team in the lower half of the Scottish leagues like Peterhead, the Football Fan Base has it covered.