What is English football league system?
{{EngvarB|date=November 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} The '''English football league system''' is a [[series]] of [[League system|leagues that are connected]] for men's [[association football]] clubs in [[England]]. Five teams also come from [[Wales]], one team comes from [[Guernsey]] and one comes from [[Jersey]]. It is also called the '''football pyramid.''' The system has a [[Hierarchy|hierarchical]] format. It has [[promotion and relegation]] between leagues at different levels. This means that in theory, even the smallest club can get to the top of the system. In the system, there are more than 140 leagues, and more than 480 divisions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepyramid.info/stats/stats.htm|title=Thepyramid.info: Statistics|date=7 November 2006|access-date=19 January 2007}}</ref> The total number of clubs changes every year. This is because clubs join and stop playing in leagues. Sometimes it is also because a club stops existing or [[wikt:merge|merges]] with another club. An [[average]] of 15 clubs per division means that more than 7,000 teams of nearly 5,300 clubs are in a league in the English men's football league system. There are no official definitions of any level below 11. This means that the structure at level 12 and below is not [[wikt:definitive|definitive]]. The pyramid for [[women's football in England]] is not the same. It has nine levels. Also, some English men's football clubs play [[List of association football clubs playing in the league of another country|outside the English football league system]]. ==History== {{main|History of football in England}} Aston Villa director William McGregor [[wikt:create|created]] the (English) Football League in 1888. The biggest clubs were the ones who were in support of [[Professional|professionalism]]. The twelve first clubs were six from [[Lancashire]] ([[Accrington F.C.|Accrington]], [[Blackburn Rovers]], [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]], [[Bolton Wanderers]], [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] and [[Preston North End]]) and six from the [[Midla