England National League South Odds
Following the dynamic restructuring of the Conference back in 2004, the league now known as the National League South was formed. The diversity in the Southern league is significantly lower than that of the Northern Leagues as the Southern teams are much closer together in comparison with most teams being situated in London and it's neighbouring boroughs or the likes of Norfolk, Anglia and Essex. The first team to win the competition was Grays Athletic and it was arguably the most comfortable league title victory in the competitions history. However, one that comes close is last season's winners Ebbsfleet who accumulated over 100 points and won the league by 20. Could we see another dominant title win this year?
In this division, it is vitally important that teams win their retrospective leagues as the only team that gets promoted from the National Leagues are the title winners and the play-off winners. However, there have been many times where a team has dominated the league, finished second and missed out in the play-offs, rendering many National League South bets as losses. The two teams that are victorious will be promoted to the National League. This happens alongside the teams that gets promoted from the National League North as well.
At the other end of the table, four teams are relegated and are subsequently relegated to the Northern Premier League or the Southern Football League, depending on the location of the teams across the two leagues.
If you're looking for the top National League South odds for these markets, you'll be able to find them at BetUK.
National League South Promotion Odds
A large portion of the National League South betting odds are related to the promotion markets, simply because of how difficult it is for teams to get promoted. If you can pick out a team early on and place your bets, you could find fantastic odds for these markets to win, especially in comparison to betting on a single match.
Typically, one of the teams that sit in the top three of the betting odds at the start of the season will end up winning the league, the winners of the last five full seasons can be found below.
| Year | Title Winner | Play-Off Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | Ebbsfleet United | Oxford City |
| 2021/22 | Maidstone United | Dorking Wanderers |
| 2020/21 | N/A | N/A |
| 2019/20 | Wealdstone | Weymouth |
| 2018/19 | Torquay United | Woking |
| 2017/18 | Havant & Waterlooville | Braintree Town |
However, when betting on the play-offs, the National League North has shown that it isn't always the best team in the league that ends up promoted. How does that compare to the National League South? Find out below.
| Position | Play-Off Winner | Play-Off Final Loser |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | Nine | Three |
| 3rd | Four | Six |
| 4th | Two | Four |
| 5th | One | Three |
| 6th | One | Two |
Surprisingly the National League South's play-offs have worked out differently to the North and the position teams have finished in, matches their final league position. If a team finishes in second, they are historically, the team most likely to achieve promotion by a considerable distance with double the amount of wins than any other position.
National League South Relegation Odds
With four relegation spots in the National League competitions, there are often exciting battles across the country when the end of the season comes, none perhaps more exciting than the relegation battle. In 2021/22, which wasn't THAT long ago, only eight points separated 19th and 12th. Meaning that one difficult spell with injuries could lead to a mid-table team dropping down the division very quickly.
Typically, to avoid relegation, teams need to get at least 40 points, similar to that of the Premier League. However, the marker for Premier League teams doesn't guarantee safety here. Here is the total number of points needed to secure survival in each of the last 10 seasons.
- 2022/23 - 49 Points
- 2021/22 - 37 Points
- 2018/19 - 40 Points
- 2017/18 - 43 Points
- 2016/17 - 37 Points
- 2015/16 - 48 Points
- 2014/15 - 31 Points
- 2013/14 - 41 Points
*2020/21 and 2019/20 saw no relegations from the league following the season being cancelled.
So, the average points total needed for survival is 41. However, in 2022/23, 2017/18 and 2015/16, this would actually lead to the team being relegated. Last season, teams would finish second bottom if they picked up 41 points - which demonstrates just how competitive this league is.