WHICH IS THE STRONGEST STEP THREE/TWO LEAGUE?

SEASON	NPL	ISTHMIAN	SOUTHERN
86/87	MACCLESFIELD TOWN	WYCOMBE WANDERERS	FISHER ATHLETIC
87/88	CHORLEY	YEOVIL TOWN	AYLESBURY UNITED
88/89	BARROW	LEYTONSTONE/ILFORD	MERTHYR TYDFIL
89/90	COLNE DYNAMOES* (GATESHEAD)	SUTTON UNITED	DOVER ATHLETIC
90/91	WITTON ALBION	REDBRIDGE FOREST	FARNBOROUGH
91/92	STALYBRIDGE CELTIC	WOKING	BROMSGROVE ROVERS
92/93	SOUTHPORT	CHESHAM UNITED*	DOVER ATHLETIC
93/94	MARINE*	STEVENAGE BOROUGH	FARNBOROUGH TOWN
94/95	MARINE (MORECAMBE)	ENFIELD FC* (SLOUGH TOWN)	HEDNESFORD TOWN
95/96	BAMBER BRIDGE*	HAYES	RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS
96/97	LEEK TOWN	YEOVIL TOWN	GRESLEY ROVERS* (CHELTENHAM TOWN)
97/98	BARROW	KINGSTONIAN	FOREST GREEN ROVERS
98/99	ALTRINCHAM	SUTTON UNITED	NUNEATON BOROUGH
99/00	LEIGH RMI	DAG & RED	BOSTON UNITED
00/01	STALYBRIDGE CELTIC	FARNBOROUGH TOWN	MARGATE
01/02	BURTON ALBION	GRAVESEND & N	KETTERING TOWN
02/03	ACCRINGTON STANLEY	ALDERSHOT TOWN	TAMWORTH
03/04	HUCKNALL TOWN	CANVEY ISLAND	CRAWLEY TOWN
****	******************	******************	********************
04/05	HYDE UNITED Workington	YEADING Eastleigh	HISTON Hednesford Town
05/06	BLYTH SPARTANS Farsley Celtic	BRAINTREE TOWN Fisher Athletic	SALISBURY CITY Bedford Town
06/07	BURSCOUGH AFC Telford United	HAMPTON & RICH Bromley	BATH CITY Maidenhead United
07/08	FLEETWOD TOWN Gateshead	CHELMSFORD CITY AFC Wimbledon	KINGS LYNN Team Bath
08/09	EASTWOOD TOWN Ilkeston Town	DOVER ATHLETIC Staines Town	CORBY TOWN Gloucester City
09/10	GUISLEY Boston United	DARTFORD Boreham Wood	FARNBOROUGH Nuneaton Town
10/11	FC HALIFAX TOWN Colwyn Bay	SUTTON  UNITED Tonbridge Angels	TRURO CITY Salisbury City
11/12	CHESTER FC Bradford Park Avenue	BILLERICAY TOWN AFC Hornchurch	BRACKLEY TOWN Oxford City
12/13	NORTH FERRIBY UTD Hednesford Town	WHITEHAWK Concord Rangers	LEAMINGTON Gosport Borough
13/14	CHORLEY AFC Fylde	WEALDSTONE Lowestoft Town	HEMEL HEMPSTEAD T St Albans City
14/15	FC UTD MANCHESTER Curzon Ashton	MAIDSTONE UNITED Margate	CORBY TOWN Truro City
15/16	DARLINGTON 1883 Salford City	HAMPTON & RICH East Thurrock United	POOLE TOWN Hungerford Town
16/17	BLYTH SPARTANS Spennymoor Town	HAVANT & WATER Bognor Regis Town	CHIPPENHAM TOWN Leamington
17/18	ALTRINCHAM Ashton United	BILLERICAY TOWN Dulwich Hamlet	HEREFORD Kings Lynn Town

KEY

RED denotes reached the football league 

* denotes non promotion (teams in brackets promoted in place of non-promoted teams)

BLUE denotes reached the Vanarama National 
From 04/05 the teams in CAPITALS are Champions and teams in lower-case are play-off winners. 

"Which is the strongest step three league?" is a discussion many non-league football fans have up and down the country which is where the above updated table comes in which was first published on TCE in 2011. We start the table in 1986/87 when automatic promotion to the football league from non-league's top division was introduced and the three divisions were at step two in the pyramid. 

Since then five clubs (Macclesfield Town, Morecambe, Burton Albion, Accrington Stanley and Fleetwood Town) have reached the football league from the Northern Premier League.  Six clubs (Wycombe Wanderers, Yeovil Town, Stevenage Borough, Dagenham & Redbridge, Aldershot Town and AFC Wimbledon) from the Isthmian League and five clubs from the Southern League have reached at least League Two (Crawley Town, Boston United, Forest Green Rovers, Cheltenham Town and Rushden & Diamonds). 

Since the non-league re-organisation and the creation of the Vanarama South and North divisions which shifted the divisions down to Step Three only Fleetwood Town and AFC Wimbledon have reached the football league and no teams from the Southern Premier League have done so.

Since then nine teams from the NPL and Isthmian League have been promoted to the Vanarama National compared to just five from the SPL.

Morecambe (promoted in place of Marine in 1995) and Cheltenham Town (in place of Gresley Rovers in 1997) are now both members of the football league. Marine were relegated at the end of the recent 2018/19 season after an incredible 40 year stay in the Northern Premier League's top division. Gresley Rovers liquidated at the end of the 2008/09 season and reformed as 'Gresley FC' starting at step 6 in the East Midlands Counties League - they finished bottom of the Northern Premier League First Division (East) at the end of the current season.  

With Salford City, AFC Fylde and Eastleigh involved in The National League play-offs this season the Northern Premier League and Isthmian League total could go up in the next few weeks.