Page 4 - Deal Round Up October 2019

Happy Birthday to the
National League!
By Hugo Varley

The NLP office was in absolute overdrive recently as we celebrated 40 years of the
National League.
It was while producing our special eight-page pull-out that it truly dawned upon us just
how many extraordinary tales and history this division has created; so much so that we
ended up writing far too much and spent most of Friday evening frantically trying to cut
down word counts and squeeze in as many stories as we possibly could!
There were interviews with the likes of Martin O’Neil (pictured left) and Neil Warnock
(pictured right), who both learned their trade in Non-League’s highest tier, however for
me, I particularly enjoyed speaking to Peter Hunter, who was secretary of the division
when the one up, one down agreement was made with the Football League.
It was during this conversation that I realised just how important the agreement made
in 1987 was for both advancing the quality of the division and streamlining the entire
Non-League pyramid. Before then clubs had to apply for a place in the Football League,
with just one position up
for grabs.
At the time it seems as
though this application
process was a largely
futile event for Non-
League clubs to be a
part of, with the bottom
placed Football League
club more often than not
coming out on top in the
lottery.
In many respects there was essentially a permanent divide between the Football League
and Non-League – with the fairy tale dream of a team rising through from obscurity to
break into the upper echelons of the English system seeming virtually impossible.
It is amazing to see just what an impact the promotion and relegation agreement has
had on Non-League football.
Teams can now dare to dream of making a run through the divisions, while the guarantee
of Football League clubs making the plunge into Non-League each year has increased
both the quality and the fan base within the National League.
Nowadays, especially with the introduction of two up, two down, the division is in
extraordinary health and with attendance records being broken and the likes of Tranmere
Rovers using promotion from the National League as a springboard for further success,
the future of the league is looking bright!
New documentary proves fascinating watching
I would recommend all Non-League fans watch “The Gaffer” which appeared on BT Sport
recently.
The documentary follows coaches such as Harrogate’s Simon Weaver, Bromley boss Neil
Smith, lower league legend John Still and his protégé Hakan Hayrettin at Maidstone, as
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