In 1986–87 automatic promotion and relegation between the Football League and non-league was introduced, with the bottom club in the league being relegated to the Conference. The first club to suffer automatic relegation from the Football League was Lincoln City, who were replaced by the GM Vauxhall Conference champions Scarborough, only to regain their league status a year later. That first relegation place in 1987 had very nearly been occupied by Burnley, league champions 27 years earlier and First Division members until just over a decade earlier, but victory in their final league game of the season secured their league survival.
