Football League Third Division North
The Football League Third Division North was between 1921 and 1958 - like the Football League Third Division South - within the Football League one of the two third-highest divisions in English football .
Overview
After a year earlier with the Football League Third Division, a single-track third division within the Football League, primarily made up of clubs from the Southern League , the League Association reacted to the numerical dominance of the southern English clubs by creating a parallel Northern Division. The desired balance of the two leagues did not succeed completely, as the 22 clubs from the Third Division South initially only opposed 20 clubs in the new Third Division North. The 20 clubs came from the Midland League , Central League , North Eastern League , Lancashire Combination and Birmingham Combination . After two seasons in 1923, the Third Division North was increased to 22 participants.
Only the champions of the Third Division North could move up to the overlying Football League Second Division . The fight for the place in the second division was accordingly difficult and so the field of participants was relatively constant, which was manifested in the fact that eight clubs completed the entire 30 seasons of the Third Division North. The most prominent participants in this "Northern League" were the later English champions Wolverhampton Wanderers and Derby County .
Between 1934 and 1946, the participants of the Third Division North - interrupted by the Second World War - played their own cup competition, the Football League Third Division North Cup .
In 1958, the two third leagues merged into a Football League Third Division and a new fourth-rate Football League Fourth Division .