Football Supporters Association: A perfect platform to hear fans’ call

Next weekend (Saturday November 15) will be a little different, however, as fans may well be checking their watches or phones and asking those around them why the game is kicking off late.

All fixtures across the National League, as well as in the Isthmian, Northern Premier and Southern Leagues, will be kicking off at the oddly precise time of 3.03pm.

Those extra three minutes are significant as clubs throughout Non-League throw their support behind the National League’s 3Up Campaign and its Day of Action.

Campaign

The campaign was launched earlier this year with the unanimous backing of the 72 National League clubs, as they called on the EFL to increase the promotion and relegation spaces between the two leagues from two to three in time for the start of the 2025/26 season.

It was only as recently as 2003 that the National League gained its second promotion spot to the EFL.

The campaign also has the backing of the Football Supporters’ Association – fans showed widespread support for 3Up when we surveyed them back in March, and then again at our AGM this summer, where there was near unanimous support from fans across the leagues to get behind the call for an extra promotion spot.

An overwhelming 92.5% of fans across the leagues gave their support for the idea, with more than eight out of ten fans of EFL clubs polled (83%) saying they were in favour too.

Far from being restricted to the terraces, the campaign has even reached Westminster, with Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash raising the matter at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons late last month.

Widespread support

In his response, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “The structure of the leagues is a matter for leagues themselves, but I do commend his campaign and everything that he is putting behind it.”

Brash is one of more than 50 MPs who have given backing to the campaign, which only further demonstrates the widespread support from all corners of the country for the change.

Speaking on the effect of so many matches kicking off at 3.03pm, as clubs give their backing to the campaign, Phil Alexander, National League interim CEO, said: “It’s a powerful gesture that demonstrates what we’ve said from the start – that getting 3UP will benefit English football as a whole.

“It means we will now have 232 clubs and 232 sets of fans and communities in every corner of the country, all together in solidarity fighting for what we feel is right. Together we can Put Football First.”

The National League have produced a toolkit on their website for fans who are looking to demonstrate their support for the campaign, and the FSA will be supporting their activities around this weekend’s fixtures, and with lobbying the game’s authorities to help bring about a much-needed and overdue change.