TWO DECADES ON - WHAT A ROLLERCOASTER IT HAS BEEN

LOOKING BACK ON 20 YEARS OF THE CONFERENCE NORTH & SOUTH DIVISIONS

- MARK STILLMAN

IT'S 20 years since the Non-League pyramid was given a shake-up at the top. Three feeder divisions to Conference Premier became two as teams Northern, Isthmian and Southern Premiers were effectively merged into Conference North and South.

Two years after play-offs were introduced in Step 1, they were now in play for Steps 2-4.

It was a radical set of changes. The 2003/04 season saw teams finishing second to 13th in Northern, Isthmian and Southern Premier automatically gain a spot in the new set-up.

A set of extra play-offs confirmed the other places, those that missed out would be effectively demoted to Step 3.

Liam Watson's Southport had little to panic over. After relegation from the Conference a year earlier, they finished sixth in Northern Premier and joined Conference North.

Fourteen of their league rivals joined them plus five from the Southern Premier, Redditch United from Southern Midlands/West and Kettering Town from Isthmian Premier.

"I didn't feel like there were any gimmes we lost to all three teams that were relegated in that first year!" Watson told The NLP. "There were some big sides, the likes of Altrincham, Stafford, Nuneaton and Worcester. Kettering were a massive club too.

"I knew if we'd get four or five strong players that summer we'd be tough to beat. The crown jewel was Terry Fearns, who scored 41 goals in all competitions. No-one had anything like our front three of him, Steve Daly and Neil Robinson.

"We had to beat Harrogate on the final day to win the league. They needed a win for the play-offs. After an hour we were 5-0 up. We were by far the best team in the league."

Watson left during the following season following Southport's transition to fulltime, but returned in the summer of 2008.