National League plan 3UP ‘Day of Action’

The National League has called on the entire football family to support a 3UP Day of Action next month, and will change all 24 of its 3pm fixtures on Saturday 15 November to kick-off at the later time of 3.03pm.

In the build-up to these games, the National League will mobilise football clubs across the UK, fan groups, players, managers, media personalities and politicians to highlight its widely popular campaign to attain three promotions into the English Football League (EFL).

Over 93% of football supporters from across all divisions of the professional football pyramid support 3UP, including a significant 83% of EFL fans according to our own survey into the issue of three up and three down, conducted earlier this year.

The FSA officially backed the 3UP campaign with a vote at our AGM this summer.

National League chair Jack Pearce MBE said: “Our 72 clubs – the majority of whom are over a century old and household names – simply won’t accept the current circumstances blocking them from parity and fairness with all the other professional teams in England.

“In response to the 3UP campaign launch, the EFL stated their understandable concerns over the ‘competitive balance’ across all leagues within the football pyramid and cited this as an underlying reason for delaying the matter of 3UP. But we don’t believe this should be the reason preventing progression on the matter.

“Since two promotions were introduced to the National League in 2003, no title-winning club has ever been relegated from the EFL the following season, and almost half the clubs currently in the EFL have competed in the National League at one time or other.

“Since launching 3UP, we have been contacted by a remarkable number of EFL clubs who are privately supportive of the change but haven’t even been given the chance as a group of clubs to formally discuss it.

“The forthcoming 3UP Day of Action on Saturday 15 November will be a great chance for everyone who cares about the national game to get involved and show their support to our clubs and fans. Together we can put football first.”