The FA has two standing Committees that are responsible for the management and control of football for the NLS - the Alliance Leagues Committee is responsible for Steps 1 to 4 of the NLS and the Leagues Committee being responsible for Steps 5 & 6 and the Regional NLS Feeder Leagues.
Each Committee will be responsible for the allocation of Clubs within its respective scope. Any members of either Committee which would be considered to be conflicted do not take part in discussions.
The process for the allocation of Clubs is as follows:
- The season ends
- Those Clubs who are promoted and relegated are moved into pools at their respective Step Levels
- The starting point is to ensure the allocations remain as close to the previous season as possible, in order to prevent unnecessary disruption for Clubs
- Those Clubs in a promotion/relegation pool are 'overlaid' on to the other Clubs at that Step Level and distributed accordingly
- Once a preliminary allocation is conducted, checks will be made to ascertain if any allocations are unduly unreasonable
- At this stage the allocations are presented to the two Committee's and any requests for lateral movement or for the placement of a New Club are considered
- A date is agreed with both Committee's for the release of the allocations. Historically, this has been within 7-10 days of the season concluding at Steps 1 to 4 and within 10-14 days of the conclusion of the season at Steps 5 and 6