Mark Ives, National League general manager, believes that introducing ‘three up, three down’ promotion to the English Football League is the “fairest” way forward. This was highlighted when Notts County were three minutes away from failing to secure promotion to League Two despite reaching 107 points and scoring 117 goals this season. They eventually went up after beating Chesterfield in a penalty shootout at the end of their promotion final. Ives believes that increasing the number of promotion places is the only way to solve the flaw in the current system, and he is confident that there is an appetite for it across the game. Paul Cook, Chesterfield’s manager, also called for more promotion spots to be made available, calling it an “absolute sporting disgrace”.
Ives also discussed the financial state of some clubs, noting that the National League has its own financial regulations (FRI) which keeps an eye on the clubs and tries to identify problems before they arise. He also addressed the issue of streaming services and the traditional 3pm TV blackout, saying that while streaming gives an opportunity for people to watch who wouldn’t normally go to grounds, it can never replace actually going to a game. He believes that streaming won’t replace people going to the ground and that statistics don’t show that this is the case either.