The FA Council met on Thursday to consider the proposals by the Alliance and Leagues Committees that were announced earlier this month to restructure the National League System.

Members approved all the recommendations and these have now been ratified, meaning the next phase will now take place.

Under the plans, three clubs from the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division will be invited to apply for promotion to help create a new division in Step 4 with three Division One clubs being invited to take their places at Step 5.

The clubs that will be approached will be the top three sides in both divisions when Points Per Game (PPG) are taken into account over the past two seasons.

By our reckoning, that means Liversedge, Yorkshire Amateur and Bridlington Town will be invited from the Premier Division, and Winterton Rangers, Emley AFC and Skegness Town from Division One, but that is yet to be confirmed by the FA.

The application process will begin on Monday (26th) with clubs having until the following Monday (3rd May) to confirm or turn down the invitation.

If an eligible club decides not to take promotion, the next best ranked club will be invited (and so on) subject to any cut off point deemed appropriate by the FA Committees.

The meeting to approve applications will then take place on 10th May, 2021, with the league constitutions for Season 2021/22 confirmed seven days later.

Click here to see the original article on the restructuring plans, including the full FA statement.