The National League, the fifth tier of English football, has decided to delay all kick-off times by three minutes on November 15 as part of a drive to increase the number of promotion places in the division.
Currently, two clubs are awarded promotion to the English Football League (EFL), with one place awarded to the league champions and one to the team that wins the play-offs.
However, the National League, with the support of National League North and South teams, is now pushing for an extra place to be awarded – something the EFL has so far resisted – and will, as a symbolic protest, push back the start times of all 12 matches on 15 November to 3.03pm.
National League chairman Jack Pearce said the club “will not accept the current conditions that deny them parity and fairness”, and claimed that a number of Premier League clubs had privately supported the campaign, called 3UP, which began in February 2025.
Pearce said: “Our 72 clubs, most of which are more than a century old and household names, will simply not accept current conditions that deny them parity and fairness with all other professional teams in England.
“Since the launch of 3UP, we have been contacted by a large number of Premier League clubs who are privately supportive of the change, but we have not even been given the opportunity as a group of clubs to formally discuss the matter.
“The EFL chairman, Rick Parry, said almost two years ago that the EFL ‘needs to look down as well as up’ and that 3UP is a ‘perfectly logical argument’. We remain grateful for that broad view, but unfortunately no meaningful action has been taken from the league since.”
The English Premier League said that any change in the promotion and relegation structure between the National League and League Two must be part of a wider package of reforms across all levels of the game.
Changing the regulations will require a majority of the 72 English Premier League clubs to vote in favor, in addition to a majority among the Championship clubs.
However, the reaction to the 3UP campaign appears to have been largely positive among football fans. A recent poll by the Football Supporters’ Association showed that 93% of fans surveyed across all divisions support a push for an additional promotion place, with 83% of fans who follow Premier League clubs supporting it.
The matches affected on November 15 are:
Altrincham v Brackley Town
Boreham Wood v Tamworth
Braintree Town v Truro
Carlisle United v Eastleigh
Forest Green Rovers vs Gateshead
Hartlepool United v Wealdstone
Rochdale v Aldershot Town
Solihull Moors v Scunthorpe United
Sutton United vs. FC Halifax Town
Woking vs Boston United
Yeovil Town vs. Southend United
City of York v Morecambe
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