| Season: | 1988–89 |
| Winners: | Maidstone United (2nd Football Conference title) |
| Continentalcup2: | Conference League Cup winners |
| Continentalcup3: | FA Trophy winners |
| Continentalcup4: | Relegated to Level 6/Folded |
| League Topscorer: | Steve Butler (Maidstone United), 26; Mark Gall (Maidstone United), 26 |
| Biggest Home Win: | Maidstone United – Altrincham 7–2 (27 August 1988); Wycombe Wanderers – Stafford Rangers 6–1 (11 February 1989); Boston United – Barnet 5–0 (29 October 1988); Maidstone United – Yeovil Town 5–0 (22 October 1988); Runcorn – Aylesbury 5–0 (3 December 1988); Welling United – Aylesbury 5–0 (12 October 1988) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Boston United – Runcorn 0–6 (28 September 1988) |
| Highest Scoring: | Maidstone United – Altrincham 7–2 (27 August 1988); Kidderminster Harriers – Maidstone United 3–6 (8 April 1989) |
| Matches: | 420 |
| Total Goals: | 1236 |
| Longest Wins: | Boston United, Chorley, Maidstone, Runcorn, 6 matches |
| Longest Unbeaten: | Maidstone, 17 matches |
| Longest Losses: | Fisher Athletic, 6 matches |
| Highest Attendance: | Wycombe Wanderers v Kettering Town, 4,890 (8 April 1989) |
| Lowest Attendance: | ? |
| Average Attendance: | 1195 (– 4% compared to previous season) |
| Nextseason: | 1989–90 |
The Football Conference season of 1988–89 (known as the GM Vauxhall Conference for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season of the Football Conference.
It was the third season that the champions of the Conference were automatically promoted to the Football League after the abolition of the election system.
Maidstone United, who had been Conference champions once earlier in the decade and once the runners-up, were finally promoted to the Football League Fourth Division after gaining their second title at this level.
Newport County, the club newly relegated to the Conference from the Football League, were wound up due to debts on 27 February 1989. They were then expelled from the Conference for failing to fulfil their fixtures; their record was expunged.
| width=20 | Rank | width=155 | Player | width=155 | Club | width=50 | League | width=50 | FA Cup | width=50 | FA Trophy | width=50 | League Cup | width=50 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Butler | Maidstone United | 26 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | ||||||||
| = | Mark Gall | Maidstone United | 26 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 29 | ||||||||
| 3 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 34 | ||||||||||
| = | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | ||||||||||
| 5 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 26 | ||||||||||
| 6 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 26 | ||||||||||
| = | 21 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 25 | ||||||||||
| = | 20 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 29 | ||||||||||
| = | 20 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 26 | ||||||||||
| 11 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | ||||||||||
| = | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 13 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | ||||||||||
| = | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 15 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 23 | ||||||||||
| = | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 21 | ||||||||||
| = | 15 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 21 | ||||||||||
| 18 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 | ||||||||||
| = | 14 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 20 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 18 | ||||||||||
| = | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | ||||||||||
| = | 13 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 17 |