In terms of the footballing wealth of the country, where does "The North" actually start?

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

"North of Watford" has always had a geographic context, though whether it meant Watford Herts or the Watford Gap service station on the original M1 , always caused some debate

Currently, I would offer Oxford City...who play in National League North

The wealth of the country does appear to be concentrated in the South!

[Robbie 𝕏 @Robbie_NCFC]

In the case of football wealth the north could be said to be very wealthy.

Man U, Man City, Liverpool, Newcastle, Celtic, Rangers, Forest, Aston Villa, so as far as football is concerned the wealth is evenly distributed between North & South.

I'm sure others could name more northern clubs that have very rich owners.

So I would say Watford Gap is still the dividing line for Footballing riches.

[Chris Website URL Visit Site 𝕏 fmcj10 Instagram fmcj10]

I would have to look at a map. It is interesting and something I haven't thought of before. I just think of games based on where they are, rather than North, South etc.

No idea why this map doesn't include, Notts but it gives some idea as to the clubs locations. It's very random team based, I would say.

 

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

I think we are straying off course.... most football clubs in general rely on financial backing from the chairman.

The wealth of the Premier League distorts the overall picture.

The point I am making is that ambitious clubs at the lower end of the footballing pyramid, shows that if Oxford City are in National League North!, then the wealth of the country is located in London and the South / Southeast.

Bishops Stortford were in NLN the previous season. I rest my case!

[Robbie 𝕏 @Robbie_NCFC]

Notts County played in Division 3 South & Notts are a northern club.

The South East has always had the most wealth in this Country. Nothing is ever going to change in that respect 

The metropolitan elite ensure that will always be the case unfortunately.

[liampie]

london is an expensive city, the prices in football will reflect that. it is surprising how they still manage to find fans who can afford to pay for season tickets despite the costs involved in living. it always surpises me how clubs like newcastle who have money now, previously struggled to sign good players. outside of the signings like michael owen and alan shearer.

i guess where wealthy millionaires and billionaires live with always attract owners who can pay the club.

[Blake]

Most clubs do well based on the wealth of the area they’re in. Oxford is a wealthy area, but their club has only benefited from being a good team to watch in the last decade or so. Now, they’re attracting more supporters, and I imagine that helps bring in sponsors, wealthy fans, and makes the club appealing to rich owners.

[DangerousSausage]

I think I know what you're getting at now @Piethagoram. The line between the NL North and South is drawn a long way south, but is it really such a new thing? When the Conference had a single division, the feeder leagues were the Northern Premier League, the Southern League and the Isthmian League (for London and the south east) - two southern leagues and one northern league. So you've already got an imbalance there, albeit better hidden than it is today.

Why is this? It could be as simple as population density - there are enough people in Greater London to make a country in its own right, while a big swathe of land north of the M62 is pretty sparsely populated. That's going to impact the non-league football scene too. On top of that, the clubs of the Northern League (for the north east, not to be confused with the Northern Premier League) have often rejected promotion to the wider pyramid as they prefer to stay local, and given the distances involved who can blame them?

Spreading wealth and opportunities throughout the country would address the imbalance in many ways (not just in football), but that's a project spanning generations. In the meantime, I think it might be worthwhile splitting the second tier of the National League into three regional divisions. The clubs are mostly semi-pro after all.