Right, I've quoted as much as I can because if I link it it will only work for 7 days
article pt 1
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Feeder frenzy provokes challenge to new structure
By Walter Gammie
THE final verdict may be delivered tomorrow or it may not be made public for some time, but the plan to restructure non-league football next season will be decided by a three-man FA arbitration panel that meets over the next two days. Since the FA sanctioned the proposal to introduce north and south feeder leagues to the Nationwide Conference and a radical shake-up farther down the pyramid last June, clubs have been jostling for positions in the new set-up.
The transition to the biggest overhaul since the Conference was established as the Alliance Premier League in 1979 was thrown into confusion last November by the Isthmian League, which mounted a challenge to the changes. The arbitration panel’s task is to determine the validity of the Isthmian League’s case.
Open debate on the issues has been stilled by the leagues’ agreement to keep their silence until the arbitration panel sits. The Isthmian League wants to retain the status quo of three feeder leagues. Its case is that, two years ago, the FA agreed to do just that. The Conference had decided to recognise only the Southern League and Northern Premier League. The FA threw open the issue for debate, stating its preference for a two-feeder system.
The consensus was that the Isthmian League was hard done by and there was no change.
This time the Conference has proposed two new divisions. The existing feeder leagues would survive below the new additions. The Isthmian League’s unhappiness is not just about a new tier being imposed above it. It is also aggrieved that, in the new system, it will have only one of its lower leagues feeding into step three. It was, however, only last season that the Isthmian League adopted the Southern Le ague model of regional first divisions.
There is also a perception among the Isthmian League’s smaller clubs that the restructuring is at the behest of the Conference and the bigger clubs. Geographical reorganisation at their level will not necessarily be to their advantage, they believe. None of this has stopped all 24 of the Isthmian premier clubs applying to join the new Conference divisions and the league has been forced to say that it will not take sanctions against any of those clubs, regardless of the outcome of the arbitration panel.
The Conference, for its part, believes it has a mandate to expand, even though the new feeders have been established under the umbrella of a Football Alliance, comprised of its representatives and those of the three existing feeders. And it receives strong support from the Southern League and the Northern Premier League. They believe that the gap between the Conference and their leagues has become too wide as the Conference has become more professional.
The advent of two-up, two-down has meant that more Conference clubs are former members of the Football League.
The Southern and Northern Premier Leagues believe the new leagues will help clubs to benefit from the higher profile of the Conference, through marketing, sponsorship and grants for ground development. The capacity of leagues to refresh themselves with new, ambitious clubs will enable them to recover from the loss of leading clubs. This happened when the Conference was established. The Conference will give clubs in its feeder divisions three years to bring their grounds up to standards.
The Isthmian League has stoutly maintained its capacity to put forward clubs ready for the Conference — Canvey Island will fit the bill this year. Of the leading clubs in the Northern Premier League only Barrow have applied to the Conference. Unless they finish in the top two, this will mean a reprieve for the club in third bottom place.
In a radical departure, teams that win promotion will not automatically move into a set league. Instead, when all the clubs are known, the composition will be decided geographically. Fine at the higher levels, very tricky at the lower levels. If the panel’s verdict favours restructuring, then it is clear that the work has only just begun.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
part 2
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>WHO GOES WHERE
SORTING out who goes where is a game that you can play with the aid of a map and up-to-date league tables. The Times’s effort was based on the tables on Sunday, February 15. The rules are:
STEP ONE
Relegated from Football League — 2; clubs finishing in top 19 in Conference, minus the two promoted to the third division — 17; clubs promoted from Isthmian, Southern and Northern Premier leagues — 3.
STEP TWO
Relegated from Conference — 3; clubs finishing in the top 13 of the Isthmian, Southern and Northern Premier League premier divisions, minus the three promoted — 36; play-offs that send two clubs up from the Southern League and Isthmian League and one from the Northern Premier League premier division — 5.
STEP THREE
Isthmian premier division clubs not in step two — 9; Southern premier clubs not in step two — 7; Northern Premier League premier division clubs not in step two — 9; clubs finishing in top seven in Southern League east and west divisions — 14; clubs finishing in top six in the Isthmian League north and south divisions — 12; clubs finishing in top 13 in Northern Premier first division — 13; play-off between eighth-placed clubs in Southern east and west divisions — 1; play-off between seventh-placed clubs in Isthmian north and south — 1.
STEP FOUR
Isthmian League south and north clubs not in step three, minus clubs relegated to step five — 31; Southern League east and west division clubs not in step three, minus clubs relegated to step five — 25; Northern Premier first division clubs not in step three, minus clubs relegated to step five — 6; clubs promoted from step five in usual manner — 11; clubs applying from step five — 15.
2004-05: A vision for the future
STEP ONE
CONFERENCE
Football League (2) Carlisle United, Macclesfield Town Conference (18) Barnet, Aldershot Town, Morecambe, Shrewsbury Town, Exeter City, Accrington Stanley, Woking, Stevenage Borough, Dagenham & Redbridge, Burton Albion, Telford United, Halifax Town, Scarborough, Margate, Gravesend & Northfleet, Forest Green Rovers, Tamworth, Farnborough Town
Southern League (1) Crawley Town
Isthmian League (1) Canvey Island
STEP TWO
CONFERENCE NORTH
Conference (2) Northwich Victoria, Leigh RMI
Northern Premier (14) Hucknall Town, Droylesden, Barrow, Harrogate Town, Worksop Town, Alfreton Town, Gainsborough Trinity, Southport, Lancaster City, Altrincham, Stalybridge Celtic, Radcliffe Borough, Ashton United, Marine
Southern League (6) Worcester City, Stafford Rangers, Nuneaton Borough, Hinckley United, Moor Green, Grantham Town
CONFERENCE SOUTH
Southern League (8) Weymouth, Tiverton Town, Eastbourne Borough, Newport County, Cambridge City, Welling United, Dover Athletic, Havant & Waterlooville
Isthmian League (14) Carshalton Athletic, Hendon, Grays Athletic, Sutton United, Bognor Regis Town, Thurrock, Hornchurch, Bishop’s Stortford, Hayes, Kettering Town, Basingstoke Town, Maidenhead United, Kingstonian, Heybridge Swifts
STEP THREE
NORTHERN PREMIER
Northern Premier (9) Spennymoor United, Runcorn Halton, Whitby Town, Blyth Spartans, Frickley Athletic, Vauxhall Motors, Bradford PA, Burscough, Wakefield & Emley Northern first (13) Hyde United, Matlock Town, Lincoln United, Leek Town, Bamber Bridge, Prescot Cables, Bridlington Town, Farsley Celtic, Witton Albion, Gateshead, Workington Town, Guiseley, Bishop Auckland
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
Southern Premier (6) Merthyr Tydfil, Hednesford Town, Weston-super-Mare, Dorchester Town, Chippenham Town, Bath City
Southern first (10) Redditch United, Rugby United, Sutton Coldfield Town, Gloucester City, Halesowen Town, Team Bath, Cirencester Town, King’s Lynn, Histon, Stamford Town
Isthmian Premier (3) Bedford Town, Hitchin Town, Aylesbury United
Isthmian first (3) Windsor & Eton, Dunstable Town, Cheshunt
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE
Isthmian Premier (6) Ford United, Northwood, Harrow Borough, Braintree Town, Billericay Town, St Albans City
Isthmian first (10) Yeading, Leyton, Hemel Hempstead Town, Boreham Wood, Lewes, Hampton & Richmond Borough, Dulwich Hamlet, Slough Town, Staines Town, Worthing
Southern premier (1) Chelmsford City
Southern first (5) Tonbridge Angels, Salisbury City, Eastleigh, Folkestone Invicta, Staines Town, Worthing
STEP FOUR
SOUTHERN LEAGUE WEST Southern first (13) Bromsgrove Rovers, Mangotsfield United, Clevedon Town, Evesham United, Swindon Supermarine, Yate Town, Stourport Swifts, Taunton Town, Banbury United, Bashley, Newport (IoW), Burnham, Corby Town
Isthmian first (5) Chesham United, Thame United, Oxford City, Bracknell Town, Marlow Town
Southern feeders (4) Didcot Town, Paulton Rovers, Bideford, Wimborne
SOUTHERN LEAGUE EAST Southern first (6) Ashford Town, Sittingbourne, Chatham Town, Dartford, Hastings United, Erith & Belvedere
Isthmian first (9) Harlow Town, Ashford Town (Middx), Arlesey Town, Waltham Forest, Barton Rovers, Wivenhoe Town, Great Wakering Rovers, Leatherhead, Horsham
Southern feeders (5) Buckingham Town, Winchester City, East Preston, Chichester City United, Diss Town
Isthmian feeder (2) Dorking, Romford
ISTHMIAN FIRST
Isthmian first (17) Wingate & Finchley, Wealdstone, Aveley, East Thurrock United, Uxbridge, Berkhamsted Town, Tilbury, Tooting & Mitcham United, Banstead Athletic, Whyteleafe, Molesey, Metropolitan Police, Egham Town, Croydon, Croydon Athletic, Walton & Hersham, Bromley
Southern first (1) Fisher Athletic
Isthmian feeders (3) Hertford Town, AFC Wimbledon, Beaconsfield Sycob
Southern feeder (1) Cray Wanderers
NORTHERN LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION
Northern first (7) Kidsgrove Athletic, Colwyn Bay, Stocksbridge PS, Belper Town, North Ferriby United, Chorley, Rossendale United
Southern first (4) Solihull Borough, Gresley Rovers, Bedworth United, Ilkeston Town Northern feeders (11) Rocester, Brigg Town, Clitheroe, Selby Town, Ossett Albion, Mossley, Woodley Sports, Fleetwood Town, Buxton, Alsager Town, Sheffield <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
An graphic that you'll need to view for yourself 
New Pyramid Structure - today's Times 
. Do they reorganize the Conf. South and Conf. North or does one team get stuck in the "wrong" division geographically? Anyone able to shed some light?
Linear Mode
