The Football Conference was formed in 1979 by 20 leading teams from the Northern Premier and Southern Leagues. For the first 25 years of its existence, in consisted of just one division, but was extended to 3 divisions, as part of the restructuring of the National League System which took effect from the 2004-05 season. Since 2007-08, under a 3-year sponsorship deal with bookmakers Blue Square, the divisions are known as the Blue Square Premier, Blue Square North and Blue Square South respectively. The Premier has 24 clubs and the North and South divisions 22 each. At a season's end, 2 clubs are promoted from the Premier to Football League Two; the divisional winners and the playoff winners between clubs finishing 2nd-5th.

Past Winners

6 teams have won the Conference twice. Of these, only Barnet were promoted on both occasions and Altrincham were the only team to retain the title, prior to automatic promotion.

Available Betting

Betting opportunities on the 2009-10 Blue Square Premier League are limited. Oxford United have an 8-point lead at the head of the table and are at odds of 1/2 in the outright win market and 2/7 in the promotion betting. Chester seem doomed for relegation on -7 points and getting a bet on the relegation market will prove well nigh impossible.

Individual match betting is always popular, with odds offered for home, away and draw in 90-minutes play. Other bets relating to individual matches include Correct Score, Double Result (requires successful forecasting of the result at half and full-time), Draw No Bet and Double Chance (offers odds on home OR draw, away or draw and home OR draw).

Goal betting markets include Home / Away Team to Score in Both Halves, Home / Away Team Clean Sheet, To Win to Nil and To Win Both Halves.