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      VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE
2018/19
 

Leading League goalscorer:
 Danny Rowe
(AFC Fylde)
 27 goals

After two seasons playing non-league football  
Leyton Orient won their place back in the Football League after finishing as champions of the National League in 2018/19.
Tragically a month later their manager, ex-Spurs player Justin Edinburgh, died following a heart attack. He was just 49 years old.


 
The Play Off final victors were Salford City who - almost inevitably - won a place in the Football League for the first time. It was their fourth promotion in five seasons. You just know that the club - owned by ex-Manchester United team-mates Gary and Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and David Beckham plus Singapore businessman Peter Lim - will be making a few more headlines in years to come!

One disappointment though was the size of the Wembley crowd for the Promotion final against Fylde. It was the first Wembley National League play off final which  involved two clubs who hadn't previously played in the Football League. The attendance was just 8,049, half the size of the previous years crowd.

Barnet were the National League side who progressed furthest in the FA Cup. They beat Sheffield United 1-0 away in the 3rd Round before losing to Brentford in a Fourth Round replay.

   P W D L F A Pts
    1 Leyton Orient 46 25 14 7 73 35 89 Promoted
    2 Solihull Moors 46 25 11 10 73 43 86 Play Off
    3 Salford City 46 25 10 11 77 45 85 Promoted
    4 Wrexham 46 25 9 12 58 39 84 Play Off
    5 AFC Fylde 46 22 15 9 72 41 81 Play Off
    6 Harrogate Town 46 21 11 14 78 57 74

Play Off
    7 Eastleigh 46 22 8 16 62 63 74 Play Off
    8 Ebbsfleet United 46 18 13 15 64 50 67
    9 Sutton United 46 17 14 15 55 60 65
    10 Barrow 46 17 13 16 52 51 64

    11 Bromley 46 16 12 18 68 69 60
    12 Barnet 46 16 12 18 45 50 60
    13 Dover 46 16 12 18 58 64 60

    14 Chesterfield 46 14 17 15 55 53 59
    15 FC Halifax Town 46 13 20 13 44 43 59
    16 Hartlepool United 46 15 14 17 56 62 59
    17 Gateshead 46 19 9 18 52 48 57 * Relegated
    18 Dagenham & Redbridge 46 15 11 20 50 56 56
    19 Maidenhead United 46 16 6 24 45 70 54
    20 Boreham Wood 46 12 16 18 53 65 52
    21 Aldershot Town 46 11 11 24 38 67 44
    22 Braintree Town 46 11 8 27 48 78 41 Relegated
    23 Havant & Waterlooville 46 9 13 24 62 84 40

Relegated
    24 Maidstone United 46 9 7 30 37 82 34 Relegated
   
   

Promoted Promoted
Champions Leyton Orient were automatically promoted back to the Football League.  Salford City were promoted to the Football League for the first time through the play-offs. Notts County and Yeovil Town were relegated from the Football League to the National League.

* Gateshead had nine points deducted and then were demoted a division to the National League North at the end of the season for 'multiple breaches of membership rules', mainly financial infringements. 

Relegated
The bottom 3 clubs in the National League - Braintree Town, Havant & Waterlooville and Maindstone United - were all relegated to the National League South - Aldershot Town were saved from relegation with the demotion of Gateshead. Taking their places next season in the 2019/20 National League were Northern champions Stockport County and play-off winners Chorley and from the National League South the champions were Torquay United and play-off winners Woking.
   
Play Off Qualifiers Play Off
Wed May 1 AFC Fylde 3 - 1 Harrogate Town
Thu May 2 Wrexham 0 - 1 Eastleigh
Play Off Semi Finals
Sat May 4 Solihull Moors 0 - 1 AFC Fylde
Sun May 5 Salford City 1 - 1 Eastleigh
        Salford won 4-3 on penalties
Play Off Final (at Wembley)
Sat May 11 Salford City 3 - 0 AFC Fylde
Salford City were promoted to the Football League.