'Drama unlike any movie' - Time for more promotion and relegation?

"Insane" was how Ryan Reynolds described it.

The Deadpool actor had just seen his Wrexham side beat Notts County 3-2 in the most highly-anticipated National League game ever to take place.

Both teams had accrued more than 100 points and scored more than 100 goals in an exhilarating title race. Both, undoubtedly, deserved to be members in the EFL the next season.

Yet despite Notts finishing the season with a total of 107 points – 23 more than third-placed Chesterfield – they had to settle for a place in the play-offs and eventually scraped into League Two via a penalty-shootout win over the Spireites at Wembley.

"It's just insane to me in this league that only one goes up automatically," Reynolds told BT Sport [now TNT Sport] after the televised game.

"If it were different - and I think it should be - both of these clubs would be celebrating together right now because what they've done has not only created drama unlike anything you'd ever see in a damn movie, but something that I think people will be talking about for ages."

Quite the endorsement from one of Hollywood's biggest stars.

And now the National League as a whole is demanding an extra promotion place to ensure history doesn't repeat itself.

How does National League promotion work?

Wrexham's fifth-tier title win in 2023 already feels like a distant memory.

Under the stewardship of Reynolds and co-owner Rob McElhenney the north Wales club are on the hunt for an unprecedented third successive promotion, which would take them up to the Championship.

Yet back in the National League, the talk of a change to the system is very much back on the agenda.

This week, all 72 clubs across non-league steps one and two wrote to the Football League to demand an extra promotion spot between the National League and League Two to make it three up and three down.

Currently, only the champions in top spot gain automatic promotion to the EFL, a position currently occupied by Barnet.

Teams finishing second down to seventh then enter the play-offs, whereby second and third receive a bye to the semi-finals and face the winners of two "eliminator" matches between teams four through seven.

Each match is a single leg hosted by the club with the highest league finish, before the semi-final winners meet in the showpiece final at Wembley.

Automatic promotion did not exist at all prior to 1987, with the bottom four EFL clubs instead having to survive a vote of member clubs to keep their place.

A second promotion place was introduced in 2003 via the play-off system.

Four clubs are promoted from League Two to League One, with three going up from the third tier to the Championship and three switching places between the second tier and the Premier League.

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'It just doesn't make sense not to have it'

Clubs in the fifth tier believe adding a second automatic promotion place would make the game fairer throughout the English football pyramid and get rid of a "bottleneck" that has been created between the Football League and non-league.

Since taking over the club in 1994, Barnet chairman Anthony Kleanthous has overseen two promotions and three relegations between League Two and the National League, dating back to when they were known as Division Three and the Conference.

"It just doesn't make sense not to have it. Throughout football, the movement between divisions is what makes it exciting," Kleanthous told BBC Radio London.

"And that's what people forget – you close that trap door and football becomes boring. The reason football is so exciting is [because] there's promotion and relegation.

"The fact is, any top National League club can compete with any League Two club. It's not a reason to close the door."

This last point is a view shared by Altrincham Town manager Phil Parkinson.

"It's almost like we've got two League Twos. It's pretty much a full-time division," he told BBC Sport.

"If it doesn't happen now I don't see when it does happen because it's the most competitive league that it's ever been.

"The majority of teams in this division would thrive in the league above."

There are 15 former EFL clubs in the National League. Over the past decade, eight out of the 19 teams relegated from League Two have been promoted.

Dagenham & Redbridge managing director Steve Thompson believes the inclusion of a third promotion spot is long overdue, and cited Notts County as an example, saying it would have been a "travesty" if the Magpies had been knocked out in the play-offs.

Both Thompson and Kleanthous argue that while adding another relegation place in League Two increases the risk of clubs dropping out of the EFL, the inclusion of a third place in the National League would increase their chances of going straight back up.

"We're hoping football supporters, no matter who they support, will recognise the unfairness," Thompson said.

What are the finances involved?

Reasons for any resistance from EFL clubs can be plainly seen when looking at the gulf in TV revenue between the two leagues.

League Two clubs receive money from the Premier League in the form of solidarity payments as well as 8% of the EFL's TV contracts, which adds up to £1.4m-£1.5m per year, according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire.

Clubs lose the solidarity payments when relegated and instead get two years of parachute payments from the EFL, totalling a loss of close to £1m, Maguire said.

Then there is the difference in regulations.

League Two clubs are able to spend up to 50% of their revenue on player-related costs, such as wages, whereas in the National League this is not strictly capped.

In Wrexham and Stockport County's promotion-winning seasons, they operated at a loss of £4m and £5m respectively, Maguire said.

"Those losses would be very high by League Two standards. So I think if you are going to move to a three up, three down environment then there has to be some more continuity and consistency, in terms of the financial controls.

"The National League is seen as being a bit 'Wild West', there isn't an owners and directors test. It is a concern that, in terms of governance, ethics and source of funds, there isn't the same degree of scrutiny in the National League that you see in the EFL."

Thompson said the National League has addressed some of these concerns by introducing the Salary Cap Management Protocol [SCMP] from next season to fall in line with clubs in Leagues One and Two.

The SCMP is part of the EFL's financial fair play framework.

What do EFL clubs think about the idea?

This last point is a big issue for Shrewsbury Town boss Gareth Ainsworth, whose Wycombe Wanderers side would have been relegated in 2013-14 under the proposed changes, as they finished 22nd in League Two.

Ainsworth, who took over at Croud Meadow in November, feels there is no chance the new terms would be voted through.

"Obviously we're not going to vote for it. Who in their right mind in the EFL is going to vote for three down, three up?" he said on the 72+ podcast.

"But that National League is strong and often the teams who do come up compete well, and that has to be a big argument point for them."

Positive talks around moving to a system of three up, three down did take place between the National League and EFL but have stalled.

The Football League say they will deal with the matter once the soon-to-be-installed Independent Regulator has resolved the massive funding disagreement between the EFL and the Premier League.

"Recognising the strength of the pyramid, the league has been consistent in its commitment to looking both upwards and down when considering future changes," the EFL said in a statement.

"As such, we remain willing to consider changes to the current position on promotion and relegation in the EFL, but these discussions must be part of a broader package of reforms which benefit all levels of the game."

So does it have a realistic chance of making it through? Or is this essentially turkeys voting for Christmas?

Ainsworth thinks it's a complex issue that requires a lot of thought due to the financing involved at National League level, citing the success of Wrexham, Stockport County and Chesterfield as proof that clubs can come up from non-league and succeed under the EFL's current model.

He feels the league should make more effort to help its own clubs who are struggling financially against others who have received large-scale investment.

Jobi McAnuff, who won promotion to League Two with Leyton Orient in 2018-19, said he would be "astounded" if the proposal was given the green light in time for the start of next season.

"From the EFL's perspective, if I was a team near the bottom of the table – that drop from League Two to the National League is a huge one when you look at income and revenue generated, and just the prestige of being in the EFL," McAnuff said on the 72+ podcast.

"I wouldn't expect them to be queuing up to vote for it but I certainly get the merit from the National League side."

One EFL owner who does intend to vote in favour is Bromley owner Robin Stanton-Gleaves, who is in quite a unique position.

His club are currently in their first ever season in the EFL.

Achieving promotion at Wembley last year was the proudest moment in the club's 133-year history.

With it, the club's priorities changed overnight. But despite the increased threat of relegation, he feels it should be changed to be more in line with other leagues.

"This vote will come down to money, as it always does," he told BBC Sport.

"I will vote for three up, three down and will trust the management at my football club that we don't get into the relegation zone.

"Sometimes in life we've got to stick to our principles."

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