By Nathan Jackson
February 22 2007

Accrington Stanley are continuing the seemingly annual trend of the Conference Champions struggling against relegation back. It's yet another justification of denying the Conference a 3rd promotion place, as the best they have to offer nearly always struggle drastically.

Our look at the recent history of teams being promoted from the Conference starts with Kidderminster Harriers. They won the Conference back in the 1999/2000 season, entering the League in the 2000/1 season. It started well for them and they even looked like potential contenders for the Playoff places, however a bad run towards the end of the season ended those hopes and they finished a respectable 16^th, 8 points above relegated Barnet.

 

Rushden & Diamonds were the next Conference winners. They spent the majority of the season hovering in the high midtable positions. A late run however saw them eventually secure a playoff place with a 4-2 win over relegated Halifax on the final day. They beat Rochdale 4-3 on aggregate in the semis, but lost 3-1 in the final to another former winner of the Conference, Cheltenham Town. Still, it wasn’t a bad start to League life for the Diamonds. Kidderminster also nearly made it to the playoffs as well, they finished 10^th just 5 points behind Hartlepool.

 

Boston “won” the Conference in 2001/2, entering the league in the 2002/3 season with a 4 point deduction because of financial irregularities. Despite this they also finished a respectable 15^th, although they did spend a lot of the season fighting relegation. Ironically, just as Cheltenham were being relegated from Division 2, Rushden & Diamonds were winning Division 3, securing the title with a  1-1 draw at home to Hartlepool on the final day. Kidderminster had another good season which included them being in the automatic promotion places for several weeks, they eventually finished 11^th on 63 points.

 

Then the fun began, it had been announced the previous summer that the Conference would get a Playoff system, meaning it would become 2 up, 2 down between Division 3 and the Conference. Yeovil won the Conference, with Doncaster coming up via the playoffs. Donny were favourites for the drop but amazingly went on to win Division 3 at the first attempt. Yeovil weren’t quite as lucky, finishing 8^th, just outside the playoffs on goal difference. Rushden were relegated from Division 2, Boston finished 11^th and Kidderminster finished an uninspiring 18^th.

 

The 2003/4 Conference Champions were Chester City, with Shrewsbury Town winning the Playoffs just one year after getting relegated. Despite Yeovil winning what was now called League 2, it was generally a bad season for recent Conference teams. Kidderminster finished 23^rd and were relegated, only saved from finishing bottom by Cambridge’s 10 point deduction for going into administration. Rushden & Diamonds finished just one place above them, Shrewsbury above them, and Chester above Shrewsbury. It’s the only time since the Conference Playoffs started that the Champions finished above the playoff winners in the following season.

 

Barnet won the 2004/5 Conference, with Carlisle winning the Playoffs. Carlisle won a very weak League 2 in 2005/6, with Barnet finishing an uninspiring 18^th. Rushden & Diamonds became the second team in as many years to be relegated back the Conference after just 5 years in the League. Boston again finished 11^th, with Shrewsbury just one place above them.

Then we get to this season, with Conference Champions Accrington struggling against

relegation, and Hereford challenging for the Playoff place, it could be considered the annual event. Shrewsbury are again hovering around the bottom of the top half, whereas Boston are 22^nd, just one place above the relegation spot. Only 2 of the teams that have won promotion to the League since the beginning of the 2000/1 are in the top half of League 2.

 

The Conference are still trying to gain another automatic promotion place, but looking at the recent history of the promotees, it’s hard to justify giving them one as the majority of teams that have come up, have either struggled, or are struggling against relegation back to the Conference. Whereas in that same timespace, 2 clubs have returned immediately after being relegated, and 3 of the current 4 teams in the Conference Playoff places played League football during this time frame.

 

It also seems strange how the winners of the Conference, with the exception of the 2004/5 season, always finish below the team that came up with them via the playoffs. If the best Conference team from the previous season is near enough always fighting relegation, what justification do the Conference have in asking for a 3^rd promotion place?

 

In my personal opinion, I don’t think that until the promoted sides are constantly doing well in League Football, you can’t justify giving the Conference another promotion place, because all it does is make League 2 weaker. Conference officials, teams, and supporters will point to teams like Yeovil, Doncaster, Carlisle, and Rushden all doing well in their first seasons. As well as they have done, in the same time frame mentioned above, Cardiff, Plymouth, Luton, Hull, and Southend have all got promoted from Division 3/League 2 up to the Championship.

 

Add to that fact, that the team currently at the top of League 1 was just a mediocre team in this division just 2 years ago. The gap between League One and League 2 is much smaller than the gap between League 2 and the Conference. Before the Conference attempts to try and shift more than 2 teams a season, they’ve got to have more teams that can actually make an impact at this level, because the vast majority that come up either struggle against relegation, or make no impact on the table at all.