National League - Strategy Proposals

Among the aims are to increase annual attendances from 1.5m to 1.7m, increase commercial revenue by 50 per cent and increase live broadcast matches from 25 to 40 per season.

The competition believe putting all three of their promotion finals at the home of football – currently it’s just the National League Promotion Final which takes place there – and changing the play-off structure could help them to achieve some of their targets.

National League chief executive Michael Tattersall explained the reasoning behind the moves, starting with Wembley – and the intriguing prospect of three finals in one day!

Wembley Promotion Finals

“We want to have the most exciting format for our play-offs and the first thing is that we would like to see if we can take all three play-off finals to Wembley,” he said.

“In the North and South divisions (where the highest placed team currently gets home advantage in the final), there’s a big prize for those clubs, but the matches aren’t being played on the highest stage.

“If we can deliver that it would give the play-off competition a boost in North and South,” he said. “Whether you are a player, manager, director or supporter, a day out at Wembley is something to look forward to. It is the pinnacle.

Extending Play-Offs

English football has become used to the traditional four-team play-offs over the last 30 years, but the National League are suggesting to their member clubs that extending the end-of-season competition to six clubs would be beneficial.

As in the current set-up, the champions would go up automatically, but then clubs finishing second to seventh, instead of second to fifth now, would compete in the play-offs.

All the ties would be one leg and in the first round the team finishing fourth would host the team who came seventh, while fifth would entertain sixth. In the semi-finals, the teams who finished second and third would host the winning teams from the first round, again over one leg.

The league believes one of the advantages is that more clubs will be in contention for the play-offs as the season comes to a close, potentially boosting attendances as dead rubbers are avoided.

Tattersall said: “The current format is a stable one, but the question is whether it’s the optimum play-off format for our clubs.

“We have to be careful what we do, we don’t want people saying ‘what’s the point of playing the 46 games?’ It has to be a format that is genuinely better and not just a gimmick.

Artificial Pitches

One change that will be noticeable in the coming season is the use of artificial pitches in the National League’s top division, following the promotion of Sutton United and Maidstone United from National League South. Indeed, up to six of the National League’s 68 clubs across three divisions will have an artificial pitch in 2016/17.

“We asked the clubs in January whether they wanted them at Step 1,” he said, “and we had a majority in favour. “It’s my job to implement that and we have to see how it works.

“At Step 2 we’ve had a couple of clubs with them and it’s been successful for those clubs, which is not to say they’ve had an advantage from doing so. We will see what happens in the National League next season and we’ll review it once we’ve had another season.

“I don’t say that with any prejudice, but let’s see what people think. It’s not just the artificial pitches, it’s the grass pitches as well. I think the grass pitches are something we also need to improve.”

Whole Game Solution

Tattersall commented about the Football League’s plans to create an extra division, something which could see a raid on National League clubs to make up the numbers.

If the Football League were to create a League Three, it would effectively push the National League, and all the non-League divisions below it, a rung further down the ladder.

“If the Football League had four divisions, we would all be down a division. The Football League proposals raise more questions than answers.

“It’s not just an internal Football League matter, it’s external. If it’s going to be a ‘Whole Game Solution’ it needs to be a whole game debate because there are big implications for the whole game.

“What we want is three up, three down from the Football League in the existing structure. League Two and the top division of the National League are increasingly similar in the standards of the clubs and we believe it’s more appropriate for a normal level of promotion and relegation between the
leagues. We aren’t looking for a radical shake-up of the Pyramid.”

Growth Strategy

As to whether or not the National League can ultimately achieve their own targets over the next four years, Tattersall is bullish.

“If you set yourself up to grow you have to give yourself challenges, you have to focus and motivate people,” he said. “The targets are ambitious – but we have to be ambitious.

“Changing the play-off format could increase the level of interest, we need to keep growing the community schemes and have more games on the television.
That demonstrates to a big audience that it’s a good standard of football, a high level league.

“I think we are a good competition and a well-loved competition, but you always have to look for improvements.”

Fans View

Fans are being asked to express their views to their own clubs direct because ultimately it will be the clubs who vote in any changes. Also fans can pass comment on the National league Facebook page.