What's in a name?
By Martin Haworth, Secretary, Northern League Club
Just because someone else does something, there is no reason to follow suit. Call me petty, small-minded or just plain obstinate, I cannot understand the reasoning behind some leagues renaming their top tier a “Premier League”.
With the FA’s version forming in 1992, the main thinking behind that was to make it identifiably different from the divisions run by the Football League. I admired the latter for sticking with a 1-2-3 structure for a number of years, before renaming their top tier the “Championship”, and now the “First Divison” is now the third tier. I can image that part of that renaming is due to make the package sound more attractive to investors, rather than “the bits left over after the Premier League was formed”.
The FA Premier League was formed in 1992, but non-league in the North was ahead of them, with the Northern Premier League founding their Premier Division (if that doesn’t sound confusing, I don’t know what does), in 1987-88, when they added a second tier. Why couldn’t they be Division One and Two?
Although the Northern Counties East League beat them to it. When this League was formed in 1982, as a result of the merger between the Yorkshire League and the Midland League they had five divisions. A Premier League at the top, with a two division North and South section. They have now slimmed down to a Premier League and Division One.
I don’t see the need to re-label divisions. You know where you are with numbers. I’m sure you all know the problems in trying to explain the Pyramid to a casual football fan without muddying the waters somewhat with talk of “Premier” leagues as well as numbers. Going a stage further is the Central Midlands League.
They seem to have been on a mission to confuse. They started out with Supreme, Premier First and Premier, then to Central, Premier First and Premier, and seemed change their naming every couple of years, including a couple of years of Premier North and South, and a Supreme division.
Now they have settled since 1994 with Premier and Supreme. Just looking at those names, it’s not obvious as to which of the two is higher. For those still struggling, it’s the Supreme. It’s confusing, when all those who do rename their top tier, find that one League’s Premier Division isn’t their top tier. What next? Ultimate? Utterly Brilliant?
Now from this season, the North West Counties League has decided to rename their divisions from the good, honest “One” and “Two”, to “Premier” and “First”, and that leaves the Northern League and the Sussex County as the only Step 5 leagues who have more than one division, and have “Division One” as their top tier. I think it is a needless change and only adds to confusion.
I can see a case for it being used to top a structure that is split geographically, in the manner that the Northern Premier League (Unibond League) now has it, but not in a structure like ours. It may well be that at some point, the move may be proposed at an AGM, and like one other recent amendment, was proposed “because all the other leagues allow it”.
It may sound irrational, and making a mountain out of a molehill, but I’m completely against the idea of it. In what must make me sound like an accountant, I take the view that at least you know where you are with numbers.
This article was first published in the Northern League Club Newsletter, “Northern Wisdom”.
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