It was decided that this gave the Football League overall too much of a southern bias, so the Third Division North was created in 1921–22 to redress the balance.
The original 20 teams were: Stockport County, Darlington, Grimsby Town, Hartlepools United, Accrington Stanley, Crewe Alexandra, Stalybridge Celtic, Walsall, Southport, Ashington, Durham City, Wrexham, Chesterfield, Lincoln City, Barrow, Nelson, Wigan Borough, Tranmere Rovers, Halifax Town and Rochdale.
Eight teams, Accrington Stanley, Barrow, Crewe Alexandra, Halifax Town, Hartlepools United, Rochdale, Southport and Wrexham, were ever-present in the division for the 30 years of its existence.
Of the teams that played in Third Division North, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Derby County were later English football champions.
From 1934 to the outbreak of World War II there was a short-lived knockout competition Football League Third Division North Cup.