Former Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson throws his support behind National League's 3UP campaign
Former Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson has thrown his support behind the National League's 3UP campaign.
The National League launched their push for the addition of a third promotion place into the Football League in February, with last weekend's games kicking off at the later time of 3:03pm in a bid to raise further awareness of their cause.
Grayson, who has spent most of his long and successful managerial career in the Football League, leading Blackpool, his hometown club Leeds, Huddersfield and Preston to promotion, got his first taste of the National League during a five-month stint as Pools boss earlier this year.
While the 55-year-old was sacked in October after winning just four of his 15 games at the helm, becoming the latest in a long line of Pools managers to fall victim to controversial chairman and owner Raj Singh's notorious lack of patience, he spent enough time at Victoria Park to form a positive impression of life in non-league.
As such, Grayson has joined the likes of Hartlepool's Labour MP Jonathan Brash, who raised the issue in parliament, as well as lifelong fan and former Pools president Jeff Stelling in throwing his support behind the campaign.
"It's only by title that this is not another league in the EFL," he told the BBC.
"Most of the clubs are now full-time with a handful of exceptions, while the budgets and fanbases of one or two of the clubs are miles in front of a lot of teams in League Two.
"Players want to stay in the EFL, but when you're getting big crowds at the likes of York, Carlisle, Southend and you're earning good money, it's another league to be playing in and it's only going to get stronger as it keeps progressing.
"That is attracting a certain level of player. They are maybe thinking they won't get the buzz of playing in front of 2,000 or 3,000 in League Two when they can drop into the National League and play in front of 6,000 or 7,000."
What do the fans think?
More than 90 per cent of football fans support the National League's 3UP campaign, according to a survey conducted by the Football Supporters' Association.
The National League launched their campaign in order to call for a third promotion place from the fifth division to League Two. At the moment, only the champions and the play-off winners are promoted, making the National League a notoriously difficult division to get out of. All 72 National League clubs wrote to the Football League to demand a third promotion place earlier in the year.
The FSA surveyed 1,980 Premier League, Football League and National League fans. Of those, 93 per cent agreed with 3UP in principle, while 87 per cent agreed that it should be put in place for next season. A staggering 77 per cent of League Two fans - whose clubs would face additional jeopardy from a third relegation place - are in favour of reform. 84 per cent of Premier League and Football League fans felt that a third promotion place from the National League would enhance the attractiveness of the football pyramid.
Although there have been improvements - there was no automatic promotion from the National League until 1987, while a second promotion place wasn't introduced until 2003 - the competitive nature of the division means the calls for a third spot have become stronger and stronger.
A number of clubs that have won promotion from the National League have gone on to thrive in the Football League. Luton Town are perhaps the ultimate success story and managed to reach the Premier League within a decade, while Hollywood-backed Wrexham have won three successive promotions and are currently just five points outside the Championship play-off places. Dave Challinor's Stockport are top of League One, while Notts County are fourth in League Two.
Last season's two promoted teams have both acquitted themselves well at the level above - Barnet are 11th, while Oldham are 15th - and it is almost unheard of for a side to be relegated straight back down to the National League.
As Pools fans well know, there is little to no difference between the bottom end of League Two and the top end of the National League. Pools finished 17th in their first season following relegation from the Football League in 2017/18. After winning promotion in 2021 but suffering another relegation in 2023, Pools have limped to successive underwhelming mid-table finishes, 12th in 2024 and 11th last term.
There are 15 former Football League sides currently in the National League, while only eight of the last 19 teams relegated from League Two have won promotion back into the Football League.
There is, of course, a whole host of talent throughout non-league. The likes of Jamie Vardy, a Premier League winner, Max Kilman, England internationals Chris Smalling, Jordan Pickford, Jarrod Bowen, Kalvin Phillips and Callum Willson all cut their teeth in non-league.
For some, it is simply a matter of fairness - given the amount of competition in the National League, it seems about time the division is given a third promotion place - and for others it is about fostering the talent that exists in the National League and further developing English football.
Inevitably, not everyone is likely to be in favour of the proposals. Some sides in the Football League might have a hard time voting for something that increases their risk of relegation. As the argument goes, it's like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.
However, sides struggling in League Two might also want to bear in mind that the change would work in their favour were they to lose their Football League status; competing for one of just two promotion spots can become almost impossible when the likes of Wrexham, Notts County, Stockport and Chesterfield, all big clubs with sizeable war chests, have battled it out towards the top end of the table in recent seasons.
For some teams stagnating towards the bottom end of League Two, survival seems to have become about being the third worst, doing the bare minimum to keep their heads above water. A change - a call to action - could benefit the long-term health of a number of those clubs, both on and off the pitch.