The National League’s 72 clubs have formally asked the English Football League (EFL) to grant the fifth tier a third promotion place from the start of next season.
The request, which was delivered in a letter to the EFL board on Wednesday, is the first step in the National League’s “3UP” campaign, a nationwide effort that will run until the summer.
At present, only the National League champions are guaranteed promotion to League Two, with the next six clubs entering a play-off for a second spot, making England’s fifth tier arguably the hardest division to escape in the football pyramid.
Three teams are promoted from the Championship and League One each season, with three teams coming down to replace them, while it is four-up/four-down between League Two and League One.
The EFL’s leadership has said it is open to the idea of extending three-up/three-down to the fifth tier but wants to introduce it as part of a wider financial reset, the so-called “new deal” with the Premier League.
The National League would like the Premier League to share more of its broadcast income with the rest of the game, too, but does not believe there is any reason to link its case for an extra promotion place with the financial redistribution debate or the related arguments about independent regulation.
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“We simply can’t wait any longer for parity within the game,” said National League chair Jack Pearce. “As well as increased financial stability, ‘3UP’ would mean a fluid football pyramid where teams can win promotion from the bottom to the top fairly. It will give more opportunity to clubs relegated from League Two to ‘bounce back’.
“We have been consistently told that the EFL supports our position in principle but is reluctant to progress any changes whilst it is consulting with the independent football regulator and Premier League in regards to redistribution of football income.
“However, we believe the ‘3UP’ campaign is vital to the overall health of the game and the government’s objectives. Therefore, it should be as high on the agenda as any other matter this year. Otherwise, (our) needs are being overlooked, not least because the specific issues between the EFL and Premier League could potentially take years to reach a conclusion.
“Whilst we recognise and respect the EFL’s verbal support for the National League on three promotion places, our clubs have now made it abundantly clear that they see no reason for a further delay on the official process.
“Rick Parry, the EFL chair, has often said that ‘the EFL should look down as well as up’, so we’d now like that to actually happen.”
Wrexham went from the National League to League One in the space of three seasons between 2022 and 2024 (Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)
That last point is hard to argue against, as the National League has come a long way since it was created in 1979 when the 20 best clubs in the Northern Premier League and Southern League united to form a nationwide competition that would better demonstrate their readiness to join the professional ranks.
At that point, there were only 92 fully professional clubs and they all played in the Football League’s four divisions. There was some movement between “the 92” and “non-League” but it was arbitrary and sporadic. Teams that finished at the bottom of Division Four had to apply for “re-election”, with their fate resting in the hands of their professional peers.
Clubs in this position were almost always reprieved. Hartlepool United, for example, were re-elected 14 times between 1920 and 1987, the year automatic relegation was introduced, on a one-up/one-down basis. The National League, then known as the Alliance Premier League, had been running for seven years by that stage but had seen none of its champions go up.
However, automatic promotion increased the flow of clubs between the EFL and the National League, as it became known in 2015, with more teams in the fifth tier becoming fully professional. That trend accelerated after 2003, when one automatic promotion place became two.
Two regional divisions, the sixth-tier National League North and National League South, were added in 2004 and then expanded to 24 teams each in 2022. There are now fully professional teams at their level, too.
Barnet finished second in the National League last year but failed to win promotion after losing their play-off semi-final against Solihull Moors (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
In fact, where there was once a genuine debate about a gap in quality between League Two and the National League, there is now ample evidence that teams competing for promotion in the latter are better than those struggling to avoid relegation from the former.
In recent seasons, Wrexham, Stockport County and Leyton Orient have all been promoted from the fifth tier and then promoted again to League One, while Luton Town went from the fifth tier to the Premier League in a decade.
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Part of the reason for this is the opportunity relegation provides for bigger clubs to rebuild and start winning again, but the fact that there are no cost controls in the National League is probably the biggest factor and would need to be addressed if EFL clubs are going to be persuaded to vote in favour of three-up/three-down.
If it meant gaining a third promotion place, which would still be gained via a play-off system, National League clubs would almost certainly accept financial controls. But they would also point out that it is a bit rich of League Two clubs to block three-up/three-down between the fourth and fifth tiers when they benefit from four-up/four-down between Leagues One and Two.
“The National League currently has 15 clubs that are former EFL clubs,” said the league’s CEO Mark Ives. “These 15 clubs, along with the others in the league, are being disadvantaged by this unfair structure.”
In response, an EFL spokesperson told The Athletic: “Recognising the strength of the pyramid, the league has been consistent in its commitment to looking both upwards and down when considering future changes.
“As such, we remain willing to consider changes to the position on promotion and relegation in the EFL, but these discussions must be part of a broader package of reforms which benefit all levels of the game.”
(Top photo: Paul Harding/Getty Images)
