Three Up from the NL?

[upthemaggies]

This is true, which is why it’s good it looks like being tied to part of a wider package. Really it should be taken out of their hands by the mooted new regular just going ‘well that’s stupid’ and rationalising the whole thing. Ideally into smaller divisions of 20 as well.

Five leagues of 20, a 100 club Football League with 3 up 3 down at every level, has always made sense to me.

[MarcusCole]

Five leagues of 20, a 100 club Football League with 3 up 3 down at every level, has always made sense to me.

And the loss of revenue to the clubs from playing 8 fewer games per season would come from where? Clubs at this level make the vast majority of income from ticket sales.

[upthemaggies]

And the loss of revenue to the clubs from playing 8 fewer games per season would come from where? Clubs at this level make the vast majority of income from ticket sales.

They'd have to take cups more seriously, there'd be less midweek games around winter and less meaningless mid-table slogs at the end of the season. It's a yes from me, but you're right, money talks louder than sense so it's probably a no go.

The more I think about 3 up 3 down, the worse an idea it seems. Nobody is thinking about the consequences.
We've already had teams like Bury and Darlington disappearing into obscurity because nobody credible wants to buy them whilst non-entities like FGR and Salford are attracting big backers who can start from scratch. Going from 2 to 3 is only going to further encourage potential buyers to look at a 5th tier side with no history rather than a long established 4th tier club that's fallen on hard times. It could be a disastrous move in the long run.