As we enter a new decade for non-league football, one question remains whether the number of clubs promoted and relegated between League Two and the National League should be increased from two to three in the near to distant future.
Previously the popular wisdom on the idea of whether the number of teams promoted and relegated between the League Two and the National League should be increased has always been thus: if you finished second in the National League it's a good idea, and if you finished 22nd in League Two it's bad one.
Promotion and relegation between the old GM Vauxhall Conference and the 'old' Fourth Division was first introduced in the 1986-87 season - replacing the old re-election system - when Torquay United famously stayed up in no small part to Bryn the Police Dog's infamous bite on Jim McNichol, and Lincoln City instead became the first team to be relegated from the Football League.
A second promotion spot was introduced ahead of the 2002-03 campaign - 16 years after the one up- one down system replaced the old re-election system - which saw Yeovil Town finally end their 108-year wait for league football as Gary Johnson guided them to the Nationwide Conference title.
In its present form the National League could easily be described as a hybrid of a 'old' Division Four and GM Vauxhall Conference from the late 1980's-early 1990's. If you look back to the 1989-90 season, seven teams currently appearing in the National League featured in the 'old' Division Four (Aldershot, Chesterfield, Halifax, Hartlepool, Torquay and Wrexham) and five in the Conference (Barnet, Barrow, Chorley, Sutton and Yeovil). Also nearly all the teams within it are now full-time, as opposed to part-time.
Yours truly has long believed that it is easier to make a case for three teams winning promotion from the National League, as the quality of the division has improved over the years, than it is to argue for League Two to receive a third relegation slot.
In the 2013-14 season, Bristol Rovers were relegated from the Football League for the first time in their history despite only being in the League Two relegation zone for the last 56 minutes of the campaign. The subsequent 2014-15 season then saw the Pirates bounce back to the league at the first attempt after beating Grimsby Town in the final on penalties at Wembley. Had an extra automatic promotion spot from the division was available then Rovers, who finished second during the regular season, wouldn't have needed to go through the lottery of the play-offs. The Pirates then followed up this feat by winning a second consecutive promotion into League Two - making them one of eight teams to have achieved this feat.
Since then the National League have expanded their play-off system to include the teams who finish sixth and seventh, which now sees the sides who end the season between second and seventh place compete in a series of one-off matches with the final taking place at Wembley.
At the time of writing Yeovil and Notts County, both relegated from League Two in the 2018-19 season, are vying for an immediate return to the Football League. For the first time since the two up-two down system was introduced both teams relegated into the National League are now vying for an immediate return at this stage of the season. While in the current climate this might be seen as an anomaly, if it was to occur again in a few years then a re-think might be required - particularly amongst League Two clubs fearing the loss of league status.
However, in an era where many clubs in the National League are getting crowds that are equal or greater than many in League Two with playing budgets that are on par with that of league sides and nearly every club in the National League now operating on a full-time basis.
The question now is: have we now reached a stage whereby increasing the number of teams promoted and relegated between the two divisions to three is now a necessity?
