1988–89 Football Conference

The Football Conference season of 1988–89 (known as the GM Vauxhall Conference for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season of the Football Conference.

Football Conference
Season1988–89[1]
ChampionsMaidstone United (2nd Football Conference title)
Promoted to the Football LeagueMaidstone United
Conference League Cup winnersYeovil Town
FA Trophy winnersTelford United
Relegated to
Level 6/Folded		Weymouth,
Newport County
Matches played420
Goals scored1,236 (2.94 per match)
Top goalscorerSteve Butler (Maidstone United), 26;
Mark Gall (Maidstone United), 26
Biggest home winMaidstone United – Altrincham 7–2 (27 August 1988);
Wycombe Wanderers – Stafford Rangers 6–1 (11 February 1989);
Boston United – Barnet 5–0 (29 October 1988);
Maidstone United – Yeovil Town 5–0 (22 October 1988);
Runcorn – Aylesbury 5–0 (3 December 1988);
Welling United – Aylesbury 5–0 (12 October 1988)
Biggest away winBoston United – Runcorn 0–6 (28 September 1988)
Highest scoringMaidstone United – Altrincham 7–2 (27 August 1988);
Kidderminster Harriers – Maidstone United 3–6 (8 April 1989)
Longest winning runBoston United, Chorley, Maidstone, Runcorn, 6 matches
Longest unbeaten runMaidstone, 17 matches
Longest losing runFisher Athletic, 6 matches
Highest attendanceWycombe Wanderers v Kettering Town, 4,890 (8 April 1989)
Lowest attendance?
Average attendance1195 (– 4% compared to previous season)

It was the third season that the champions of the Conference were automatically promoted to the Football League after the abolition of the election system.

Overview

Maidstone United, who had been Conference champions once earlier in the decade and once the runners-up, were finally promoted to the Football League Fourth Division after gaining their second title at this level.

Newport County, the club newly relegated to the Conference from the Football League, were wound up due to debts on 27 February 1989. They were then expelled from the Conference for failing to fulfil their fixtures; their record was expunged.

New teams in the league this season

Final league table
Pos Team Pld HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Maidstone United 40 12 5 3 48 22 13 4 3 44 24 +46 84 Football Conference Champions, promoted to Football League Fourth Division
2 Kettering Town 40 16 1 3 35 15 7 6 7 21 24 +17 76
3 Boston United 40 12 3 5 36 28 10 5 5 25 23 +10 74
4 Wycombe Wanderers 40 9 7 4 34 25 11 4 5 34 27 +16 71
5 Kidderminster Harriers 40 10 4 6 32 32 11 2 7 36 25 +11 69
6 Runcorn 40 11 3 6 39 22 8 5 7 38 31 +24 65
7 Macclesfield Town 40 9 5 6 31 26 8 5 7 32 31 +6 61
8 Barnet 40 11 2 7 36 30 7 5 8 28 39 −5 61
9 Yeovil Town[lower-alpha 1] 40 8 5 7 34 30 7 6 7 34 37 +1 56 Conference League Cup winners
10 Northwich Victoria 40 8 5 7 31 30 6 6 8 33 35 −1 53
11 Welling United 40 8 6 6 27 16 6 5 9 18 30 −1 53
12 Sutton United 40 10 5 5 43 26 2 10 8 21 28 +10 51
13 Enfield 40 7 4 9 33 32 7 4 9 29 35 −5 50
14 Altrincham 40 6 8 6 24 23 7 2 11 27 38 −10 49
15 Cheltenham Town 40 7 7 6 32 29 5 5 10 23 29 −3 48
16 Telford United 40 5 5 10 17 24 8 4 8 20 19 −6 48 FA Trophy winners
17 Chorley[lower-alpha 1] 40 6 4 10 26 32 7 2 11 31 39 −14 45
18 Fisher Athletic 40 6 4 10 31 32 4 7 9 24 33 −10 41
19 Stafford Rangers 40 7 4 9 27 32 4 3 13 22 42 −25 40 [lower-alpha 2]
20 Aylesbury United[lower-alpha 1] 40 7 4 9 27 30 2 5 13 16 41 −28 36 Relegated to the Isthmian League
21 Weymouth 40 6 7 7 27 30 1 3 16 10 40 −33 31 Relegated to the Southern League
– Newport County 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Expelled[lower-alpha 3]
Source: [1]
Notes:
  1. New club in the Conference
  2. Stafford Rangers were reprieved from relegation due to Newport County's expulsion.
  3. Newport County were expelled from the Conference and their record was expunged.

Results
Home \ Away ALT AYL BAR BOS CHL CHO ENF FIS KET KID MAC MDS NOR RUN STA SUT TEL WEL WEY WYC YEO
Altrincham 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–2 3–1 1–3 0–1 2–2 1–2 2–1 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 2–2 2–2
Aylesbury United 1–2 1–3 1–2 0–0 4–3 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–5 1–2 1–2 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 4–1 0–2 3–2
Barnet 3–0 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–4 2–1 2–3 3–2 0–2 1–4 2–1 2–0 3–2 1–2 1–1 1–3 2–3 4–1 1–0 2–0
Boston United 3–1 2–0 5–0 1–1 2–0 3–2 2–4 1–1 0–2 3–2 1–4 2–1 0–6 2–1 3–1 1–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–1
Cheltenham Town 2–1 0–0 1–2 3–1 2–2 3–2 2–2 2–1 4–1 3–0 0–4 2–2 2–1 1–2 2–3 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1
Chorley 1–0 1–1 2–3 0–1 1–4 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–3 0–1 1–3 3–1 1–3 3–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 0–0 3–2 2–3
Enfield 2–1 2–1 4–0 1–2 3–4 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–3 2–1 1–1 1–2 0–3 4–2 1–1 0–1 0–1 3–0 3–4 1–1
Fisher Athletic 1–1 0–2 1–2 1–3 2–0 4–0 1–2 3–0 2–0 2–2 0–2 2–4 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–3 3–2 3–3 4–2
Kettering Town 0–1 5–2 3–1 1–2 2–0 3–0 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–0 3–3 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0
Kidderminster Harriers 2–3 4–3 1–0 0–2 3–2 0–2 1–3 2–1 1–1 0–1 3–6 1–1 2–1 3–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–0 2–2
Macclesfield Town 1–0 3–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 3–2 1–1 2–2 0–1 1–1 4–3 0–2 3–2 2–1 1–3 2–1 3–0 2–0 0–1 2–3
Maidstone United 7–2 1–1 3–2 3–0 2–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 0–0 0–3 3–3 4–1 2–2 3–0 1–1 1–3 3–0 3–0 1–3 5–0
Northwich Victoria 4–3 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–4 2–2 3–0 1–1 2–4 3–2 2–0 0–1 1–1 4–2 1–0 0–2 2–0 2–3 1–2
Runcorn 3–0 5–0 3–0 1–2 2–1 3–0 1–2 1–1 2–1 1–3 2–2 0–1 3–1 4–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 1–0 2–3 2–1
Stafford Rangers 0–2 3–1 1–2 4–1 1–1 3–2 3–1 0–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–4 1–1 1–3 3–0 1–0 1–1 2–6
Sutton United 3–2 5–2 5–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 3–1 2–1 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 3–3 3–1 2–0 1–2 0–1 3–1 3–0 5–2
Telford United 0–1 0–1 0–3 0–1 2–0 2–1 3–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–3 1–2 1–4 1–1 2–2 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–2 0–1
Welling United 0–0 5–0 1–1 3–2 0–2 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 4–0 1–3 1–1 0–1 4–0 0–1 0–2
Weymouth 1–3 0–0 1–1 2–2 3–2 2–3 2–3 1–0 3–0 3–1 1–2 1–3 2–2 1–1 1–0 2–2 0–0 1–0 0–3 0–2
Wycombe Wanderers 2–1 1–0 2–3 2–1 1–0 1–1 3–2 3–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–3 1–4 3–3 6–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–1
Yeovil Town 2–3 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–3 2–1 1–2 1–2 2–2 1–3 2–0 1–2 2–1 2–2 2–0 0–0 4–3 4–0 2–3 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Jack Rollin (ed.), Rothmans Football Yearbook 1989–80. Queen Anne Press, Macdonald Futura Publishers, London & Sydney, 1989.[1]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Locations of the Football Conference teams 1987–1988
Locations of the Football Conference teams 1988–1989

Top scorers
Rank Player Club League FA Cup FA Trophy League Cup Total[1]
1 Steve Butler Maidstone United 2600127
= Mark Gall Maidstone United 2620129
3Chris CamdenStafford Rangers2390234
=Mark CarterRuncorn2300124
5Ken CharleryMaidstone United2240026
6Steve BurrMacclesfield Town2105026
=Don PageRuncorn2110325
8Paul DaviesKidderminster Harriers2010425
=Lenny DennisSutton United2031529
=Mark WestWycombe Wanderers2042026
11Ronnie EllisAltrincham1820020
=Derrick ParkerNorthwich Victoria1822022
13Phil PowerChorley1610017
=Guy WhittinghamYeovil Town1600016
15Chris CookBoston United1561123
=Dean NealFisher Athletic1560021
=Paul WilsonBoston United1551021
18Frank MurphyBarnet1420218
=Malcolm O'ConnorNorthwich Victoria1461122
20Gary AbbottEnfield1341018
=Phil DerbyshireMacclesfield Town1300013
=Ernie MossKettering Town1313017

Promotion and relegation

Relegated

References
  1. Jack Rollin (ed.), Rothmans Football Yearbook 1989–90. Queen Anne Press, MacDonald & Co., London and Sydney, 1989.
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