Is it time for the National League to become League Three?

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Bumpy pitches, twenty stone strikers and outdoor changing rooms. This was long the stereotypical view of non-league football in England, but there is a revolution taking place in the depths of the national game that looks set to change the way we see the fifth tier and below. The decline of a number of Football League clubs, combined with the investment from at home and abroad into non-league clubs across the country, has seen non-league not only raise its standard but also its profile.

Historically, the gap between League Two and the Conference (now known as the National League) was seen as a gulf, but as this gap has since narrowed, should the newly named National League actually be called League Three?

More than a quarter of the sides in the National League once played their trade in the Football League, but financial mistakes and lack of quality has seen these sides dip into non-league. Bristol Rovers, a team that had never been out of the Football League in almost a century, were perhaps the largest casualty when they made the drop in 2013-14, although they bounced back the following year via the playoffs.

It is this influx of Football League sides into the division that makes the National League so competitive. Once, a side dropping out of the Football League would, like Rovers, return the following season, but this is no longer the case. Luton Town, for example, following crippling financial problems, suffered a number of relegations before languishing outside the Football League for five seasons, eventually returning in 2013-14. The National League has benefited greatly from the added competitiveness that it now has. Professional sides can no longer expect an easy ride because so many teams now play professionally despite being classed as non-league and in fact, three of the current top five vying for promotion have never played in the Football League before.

So, where has this sudden improvement come from?

The languishing ‘big’ teams have certainly helped to draw attention back to non-league football, and staples of the Football League such as Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County and Darlington have all fallen from Football League grace for their own reasons. But, for the sides that have only ever known non-league football, the opportunity to play these sides on a weekly basis, rather than an off chance in a cup run, has renewed interest in local non-league teams. In turn, attendances have risen in the National League and below, allowing clubs to receive a higher revenue that, whilst nowhere near the revenue found in higher divisions, allows clubs to invest in their club in a way that they could not before. The renewed interest has lead to TV deals, such as the current agreement with BT Sport, which has also aided revenue for all clubs, particularly those in the non-league’s top tier, meaning that clubs can now afford, mostly, to pay their players a professional wage, something that was virtually unheard of at this level not so long ago.

Investment, both domestic and from abroad, has also resulted a surge in interest and quality in the National League and below. Ebbsfleet United, for example, in the National League South, with an owner from Kuwait, boast a squad that includes players with Premier League and Championship credentials, such as strikers Aaron McLean and Danny Haynes. Although this has not resulted in Fleet running away with the division, it has added an extra spice to the side and given clubs an extra incentive to get one over on them on a match day. Then, of course, there’s the Class of 92 at Salford City. Salford are yet to break into the top tier of non-league football, but the attention that they have attracted thanks to their owners, such as the recent BBC documentary, as well as their impressive FA Cup run, means that almost all football fans know the Northern Premier League side and might even look out for their results, even if they live nowhere near Salford.

Then of course, there is Jamie Vardy. It has been well documented during this unbelievable season for the Leicester City forward of his trials and tribulations in the depths of English football, but his success story is just one of many where graduates of non-league football end up playing their trade at the top table of the English game. Vardy’s rise has sparked the spotlight to be well and truly placed on all clubs in the National League and below, with clubs looking to find the next Vardy-like gem. Admittedly, this recent interest is largely down to the Leicester forward, but the quality of the football on show is a testament to the non-league game. It is no longer 90 minutes of sides hoofing it from one end to another, with sides now looking to get the ball down and play some attractive football. The non-league game has seen a shift from the old school of thought of ‘we’ll score more than you’ to a more tactical approach. Moments of brilliance are not few and far between and these sides often more than hold their own against League Two opposition when they meet in the early FA Cup rounds.

Non-league football is changing. There are still the odd scraps, the odd hoofs and the odd ‘pub striker’ but these are becoming increasingly rare. Non-league clubs are becoming familiar faces and winners in FA Cup fixtures and this success is here to stay. There is definitely a renewed interest in non-league football, but this interest comes as a result of the incredibly competitive nature of the league. It is almost a side of the game that remains, almost everywhere, ‘pure’. Most clubs have a small, committed fanbase, that travel the country to support their side regardless of whether they have bagged a cup tie at Old Trafford, or a Tuesday night FA Vase tie away in Truro.

At the heart of most non-league sides is the lost community. The club represents the town it is in and for man, it is a source of pride that shines through in a world where professional football blends with flash consumerism and volatile ticket prices. Yes, there is a long way to go before non-league football becomes a fixture for Super Sunday, but if you have a Saturday free, find your local club and check it out. It might not be glitzy, it might not be glamorous, but it is 11 vs 11 and no matter how much money is thrown at it, essentially that is all football will ever be.

The National League isn’t an afterthought anymore, it is becoming the next rung of the Football League, rather than something outside of it.

Featured image: all rights reserved by grassrootsgroundswell.