Jeff Stelling calls for EFL to change 'ludicrous' rule in National League plea

At present, two teams go up from the National League to League Two each season - the champions and the play-off winners.

That has been the case since 2003, but clubs are now pushing to increase that number to three as part of a new '3UP' campaign.

Recent success stories include Luton's promotion from the National League in 2014, which culminated in them reaching the Premier League nine years later.

More recently, Wrexham - owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney - secured promotion back to the EFL in 2023, before securing a spot in League One via a second-straight promotion last term.

talkSPORT host Jeff Stelling, who is also president of National League club Hartlepool United, has thrown his weight behind the campaign.

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He said: "It's long overdue. I've heard so many times from people at the EFL, in higher positions, that we were on the brink of this change, and it's never happened.

"And I understand the difficulties, because if you're a Football League club, you might see this a bit like turkeys voting for Christmas, but you need to take a longer view than that. The National League is, for all intensive purposes, League Three.

"Most of the clubs are full-time. They're well-funded, most of them. They've got quality players, and big crowds. Look at Rochdale vs Oldham last night, it got nearly 7,000.

"York get nearly 7,000. Southend get 8,000. If we [Hartlepool] were back in the Football League, we'd be getting 5,000 every week. And I know that doesn't give you an entitlement to be in the Football League, but it's a pretty firm foundation.

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"All you've got to do is look at the quality. The teams that have gone up, Notts County, Stockport, Chesterfield, and Wrexham, obviously. That shows how ridiculously hard it is to get out of the division with one going up and one in a play-off.

"Wrexham didn't get out in their first attempt under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. They got to the play-offs and were beaten. Notts County got 107 points and didn't go up automatically. I mean, it's just ludicrous. It's absolutely ludicrous.

"And if you want to take that one step further, you look further up divisions, Luton - who are a Championship side now, Premier League last season, they struggled to get out of the National League under the present system.

"And I think if you look at League One now, three of the top six have been in the National League recently. Stockport, Wrexham, and Leyton Orient have all been in the National League recently. They're filling the top six places in League One. So there's just no argument against it."

Stelling added: "Wrexham are the prime example, even before Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. They're a big club, really, really well-supported club.

"They had 15 years of trying to get back out of the National League into the Football League. It's crazy. It stunts clubs' growth.

"Wrexham should have been flourishing in that time. Instead, they were banging their head against this glass ceiling in the National League, trying to get out.

"It's not as if the National League is all take, take, take - because obviously we know that if we get three places going up, there'll be a third team to come down.

"But that adds a bit more jeopardy to League Two as well, doesn't it? It improves that as a competition as well.

"And if I was a League Two side now, among the Carlisles and the Morecambes and the Tranmeres of this world, I would imagine they'll all be voting to say, yeah, definitely three come up, because if they go down, they'll want a better chance of getting back up.

"But for me, any of those sides in the Football League, they should be taking the longer view and saying, hey, look, this could happen to us. And if it does, we don't want to be in a position where we've got virtually no chance of getting back.

"If it took Luton five years, if it took Wrexham 15 years, we don't want to be in that position. So, you know, we want to give ourselves a better opportunity.

"And having three teams go up, probably with two up and then one from a play off, I just think it's better for everybody all round."

If Wrexham go up this season, the Welsh side would be celebrating three consecutive promotions and then be playing in the Championship, one division below the Premier League.

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While critics will point to their financial might, it still represents a fairytale rise for the club.

With 24 teams currently vying for just two promotion spots in the National League, the 72 National League teams and its North and South feeder divisions are part of a newly-launched '3UP' campaign to make a change.

The hope is that EFL clubs will vote to implement the change at their annual general meeting in June with the changes proposed to come into effect in the 2025/26 season.

National League chief executive Mark Ives said: "Promotions have benefitted the vast majority of our clubs during this 21-year period, but a third spot - bringing the National League into line with the rest of the game - would be completely transformative.

"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.

"They are being prevented promotion on sporting merit that they would otherwise deserve and benefit from under 3UP."

The National League's chair Jack Pearce added: "Whilst we recognise and respect the EFL's verbal support for the National League on three promotions, 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."

The campaign's timing is linked to the expectation that football's independent regulator will be officially established at some stage this year.

Talks over a 'New Deal' on television money between the Premier League and the EFL stalled last March. The regulator is set to be given backstop powers to impose a solution if the leagues cannot agree one.

Pearce added: "[The regulator's] overall stated objectives include providing financial sustainability, economic resilience and preserving the heritage of the sport.

"In terms of heritage, 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.

"We have been consistently told that the EFL support our 3UP position in principle but are reluctant to progress any changes whilst they are consulting with the IFR (regulator) and Premier League regarding their own redistribution of football income.

"However, we believe the 3UP campaign goal 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.

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"Otherwise, the National League's needs are being overlooked during the IFR process, not least because the specific issues between the EFL and PL could potentially take years to reach a conclusion."

Talks over a 'New Deal' on television money between the Premier League and the EFL stalled last March. The regulator is set to be given backstop powers to impose a solution if the leagues cannot agree one.