Structure & Governance
The Elite Division and the three Alliance Divisions (Two, Three and Four) make up today’s 100-club professional pyramid, 25 clubs per division. The Elite Division has a separate ownership and broadcasting structure from the Alliance Divisions beneath it — it controls the vast majority of TV, advertising and sponsorship rights, giving it a huge financial advantage.
At the close of the 1989 season, the 25 “Alliance Division One” clubs broke away to form their own league (inaugural season 1990). The Alliance structure still oversees playing rules across all four divisions, but Elite Division finances are controlled entirely by the Elite Division’s own owners. Resentment among the 75 Alliance clubs has grown steadily ever since.
Scoring & Season Format
- 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss.
- Level on points → goal difference decides. Still level → goals scored decides.
- 25 teams per division, played home and away — 48 league matches per team per season.
- Season runs August–May, with no breaks except short international windows (top two divisions only).
Match Format
- 11 players per side (10 outfield + 1 goalkeeper). 90 minutes, two 45-minute halves, 15-minute half-time.
- Up to 10 substitutes on the bench; up to 5 may be used across the match. Once subbed off, a player cannot return.
- 1 referee + 2 linesmen. Yellow/red cards for misconduct; two yellows equal a red. A red card reduces the team to 10 men for the remainder of the match, with no replacement.
- VAR is used in the Elite Division only (introduced 2018) — originally goal-line only, since expanded to cover offside, serious foul play, penalty decisions and handball. It adds significant stoppage time and is broadly unpopular with fans, compounded by perceived bias toward the “big 3.”
- The whole ball must cross the line, between the posts and under the crossbar, for a goal.
Squad Rules
- Squad size: 22–30 players.
- Up to 2 loan moves in/out per season, always within the 22–30 squad limit.
- Minimum of 10 UK-born players in the squad at all times.
- Under-21 players are not counted in squad numbers but may play in the first team.
- Transfer windows: December, and between the end of one season and the start of the next.
Financial Rules
- Elite Division clubs may spend up to 80% of revenue on player wages; Alliance Division clubs up to 60%.
- Elite Division clubs may post losses of up to 25% of turnover per season; Alliance Division clubs are permitted no losses at all.
- Breaches — financial rules, administration, squad size or loan limit violations — can result in points deductions, fines, and in serious cases a division demotion.
- Grounds, stadiums and pitches must meet a minimum standard or risk forfeited games, points deductions and fines.
- Clubs are responsible for fan behaviour home and away — bans (including lifetime bans), fines and points deductions can result depending on severity.
Other Rules
- Offside: a player cannot be “waiting” beyond the last defender when a teammate plays them the ball forward.
- Elite Division goalkeepers face a maximum 6-second limit holding the ball before a free kick is awarded inside the box. Alliance Division keepers have no formal limit, though referees will informally ask a keeper to “get on with it” past roughly 15 seconds.
- Elite Division relegation was historically 3 teams, reduced to 2 by a unanimous vote of the 25 Elite clubs — made against the wishes of the other 75 Alliance clubs, and a recurring source of resentment.
Cup Competitions
- The Alliance Cup — for all 100 professional league clubs only.
- The Football Cup — open to the Semi-Pro tier as well as the professional league; professional clubs enter from Round 3.
Money & Ownership
- Billionaire owners run many Elite Division clubs, mostly from outside the UK. Even the “poorer” Elite owners typically have resources in the hundreds of millions. Lower-league clubs operate on very tight budgets, often forced to sell their best players each season to balance the books.
- Top players earn £200,000+ weekly; many are not UK-born, so significant revenue leaves the country through wages.
- The Elite Division does not financially support the Alliance clubs in any way — it protects its own branding and image rights rigidly. The Alliance has its own, less lucrative, collective rights and supports its 75 clubs as best it can.