The Football Conference season of 1987–88 (known as the GM Vauxhall Conference for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the Football Conference.
Overview Lincoln City, who had been relegated to the Conference a year earlier in the first season of automatic promotion and relegation between the Conference and the Fourth Division of the Football League, won the Conference title to reclaim their place in the Football League, where they replaced the bottom placed Fourth Division club Newport County.
The season featured an experimental rule change, whereby no attacker could be offside directly from a free-kick. The change was not deemed a success, as the attacking team invariably packed the six yard box for any free-kick (and had several players stand in front of the opposition goalkeeper). The experiment was swiftly dropped.
New teams in the league this season Lincoln City (relegated from the Football League 1986–87) Fisher Athletic (promoted 1986–87) Macclesfield Town (promoted 1986–87) Wycombe Wanderers (promoted 1986–87)
Final league table
Results
Top scorers in order of league goals Rank Player Club League FA Cup FA Trophy League Cup Total1 Steve Norris Telford United 2406535= Phil Derbyshire Stafford Rangers 2433232= Paul Davies Kidderminster Harriers 24210274 Steve Butler Maidstone United 2234029= Mark Carter Runcorn 2212025= Nicky Evans Barnet 22701307 Nicky Francis Enfield 21143298 Steve Burr Macclesfield Town 1994032= Lenny Dennis Sutton United 1940225= Dave Sansom Barnet 193232711 Kim Casey Kidderminster Harriers 172202112 Phil Brown Lincoln City 1612120= Mark Smith Kettering Town 1602119= Paul Wilson Boston United 1623021= Brett Angell Cheltenham Town 165102216 Steve Biggins Telford United 1513120= John McGinley Lincoln City 1530220= Paul McKinnon Sutton United 1520219
Promotion and relegation
Promoted Lincoln City (to the Football League Fourth Division) Aylesbury United (from the Southern Premier League) Chorley (from the Northern Premier League) Yeovil Town (from the Isthmian League)
Relegated Newport County (from the Football League Fourth Division) Bath City (to the Southern Premier League) Dagenham (to the Isthmian League) Wealdstone (to the Southern Premier League)
References
External links 1987–88 Conference National Results