Jeff Stelling has raised some doubts about the suggested “three-up” promotion system that would let three teams move up from the National League to League Two. While this would make the National League more similar to other leagues progress has been really slow which has got people wondering if it’ll actually happen.
- The “three-up” system would mean three teams get promoted instead of two.
- Jeff Stelling wasn’t too sure about it working in a tweet he posted.
- People have been talking about this for years but nothing much has happened.
The Proposed Three-Up, Three-Down System
People in football have been going on about the “three-up, three-down” system for ages now. At the moment two teams can go up from the National League to League Two and two teams go down. The new idea is to make it three teams both ways which is how the other English football leagues do it. People who like the idea say it would give more good non-league teams a chance to move up and make everything more fair and better. But there’s been loads of problems with money and organizing it so nothing has really happened yet and everyone’s just waiting to see what happens.
JEFF STELLING: I’ve been told by people within the Football League for years that three-up was just around the corner – I’m not sure how far in the distance that corner is but it’s not been getting much closer.
https://t.co/wKZM8ogUpH— The Non-League Paper (@NonLeaguePaper)
March 25, 2025
A Broader Context in the National League
While everyone keeps talking about the “three-up” thing teams like York City FC and Maidstone United are doing really well in the National League. York City FC has gotten a lot better since Adam Hinshelwood became Manager and they’ve moved up quite a bit in the rankings even though they’re not at the top right now. And Maidstone United still hasn’t lost a game which is pretty amazing and shows how tough the National League is. These teams show why we need to look at changing how teams get promoted because more teams should get a chance to move up to the Football League.
