No Premier League side has laid a glove on Liverpool as they cruise to the club’s 20th league title. For this season’s ‘title race,’ Manchester City whimpered out in December, Chelsea broke into a sprint before tripping on their shoelaces, and not even a corner-kick cheat code could keep Arsenal on the Reds’ heels.
You have to look further down the football pyramid to find England’s most exciting title race. And I’m not talking about the Championship, as Leeds United, Sheffield United, and Burnley scrap for automatic promotion with eight games to go and two points between the top three.
Welcome to the National League South, England’s sixth tier, where seven points separate first and seventh in a seven-horse title race.
(Current National League South table, via Flashscore)
Last Saturday was Non-League Day, an annual affair since 2010 where supporters are given the chance to support their local non-league side. Non-League Day didn’t disappoint in the National League South this year, as Worthing’s five-game winning streak was ended by 22nd-placed Welling.
This has kept the title race well and truly open, and with six games between the top seven teams still to play for the rest of the season, there is a sense that anything could happen.
The rising quality of the National League
The thrilling narrative of the title race is accentuated by the quality of football on show, thanks to the enhanced facilities and pitches throughout the National League in recent years. A vast pool of players trained by elite coaches and teams are currently plying their trade in non-league, contributing to the standard of football exponentially improving.
From exciting youth prospects to ex-Premier League pros, the lower divisions are now a climate for talent to thrive. Take youngsters Oli Lynch and Max Merrick, who are on loan at Hemel Hempstead and Hampton & Richmond from Luton Town and Chelsea U21, respectively. Meanwhile, Torquay United’s Dean Moxey has 100 appearances for Crystal Palace – including 20 in the Premier League for the 39-year-old.
The league even features players with international caps, including Ghana and Boreham Wood’s Kwesi Appiah, and Wales and Hemel Hempstead’s George Williams. The latter was part of the squad that made the Euros semi-finals in 2016.
What makes this league so special is how well supported the clubs are, with some boasting 9,000 seater stadiums and 5,000 strong crowds. To put this into perspective, Torquay, the division’s most supported side, draws larger average attendances than five clubs in France and Italy’s second divisions, five clubs in the Turkish Super Lig, and seven clubs in the Saudi Pro League.
The National League South’s remarkable support contributes to the spectacle and allure of this season’s title race, given how much promotion means to thousands of people.
Only the winners in the National League, including the North and South divisions, are awarded automatic promotion, leaving the second to seventh-placed sides to battle an arduous playoff process. The team that finishes seventh faces fourth, while fifth and sixth lock horns. The second and third placed clubs are awarded a direct semifinal berth, before a playoff final.
3UP campaign
Since 2003, only two clubs have been promoted to the English Football League each season. Non-league sides have felt this system hugely favours the EFL, resulting in all 72 clubs in the National League supporting a letter to the EFL in February, requesting a vote to create three promotion places from the fifth tier to the League 2.
Mark Ives, National League chief executive, believes this ‘3UP’ Campaign would be transformative. He said: “The National League currently has 15 clubs that are former EFL clubs. These 15 clubs, along with the other clubs in the league, are being disadvantaged by this unfair structure.”
The league’s chair, Jack Pearce, added: “National League clubs are at the heart of towns and cities across the whole country. The majority of these clubs are over a century old and part of the fabric of their communities.
“An extra promotion place for these clubs into the EFL would create an invaluable aspiration for all these clubs and supporters, plus clubs in the leagues below. We simply can’t wait any longer for parity within the game.”
An EFL spokesperson told Sky Sports News that the league recognises the strength of the pyramid, and “has been consistent in its commitment to looking both upwards and down when considering future changes.” They claim to be willing to consider changes to promotion and relegation.
Introducing a third promotion spot wouldn’t just reward the league’s best-performing teams; it would ensure a fairer, more competitive football pyramid. The National League has proven it deserves greater representation at the top levels of English football.
As the 3UP campaign gains momentum, the question is no longer if change is needed, but how long the EFL can ignore the calls for reform.
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