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Non-League Paper cont…

with Woking. We were 2-0 up and should have won and it would have been in our
hands.
“The biggest disappointment was we'd beaten everyone in the top six twice.
“But it was heartbreak – 93 points, put that run together and then lose the play-offs
to a team 13 points below us. It was tough to take.”
Steve McNulty won the title with Fleetwood and Luton Town but had to navigate
the play-offs with Tranmere Rovers. They did it eventually but only a year after
finishing on 95 points, four behind Lincoln City. They lost in the final to Forest Green
Rovers.
Like Creighton and Storer, McNulty, now manager at Bootle, believes it's time for
an extra spot.
“Obviously I was down at Luton and they’d struggled to get out,” he says. “You’ve
got Wrexham in there now, Chesterfield and teams like that.
“But, on the other hand, it would also be good for these so-called smaller teams. I
was in the league when the Cowleys took Braintree into the play-offs. It would be
great for them to have that extra chance where they can get into the EFL.”
As it stands, talks are currently deadlocked between the EFL and Premier League
for more funding from the top-flight.
It is acknowledged, however, that the EFL have a responsibility to assist clubs
further down the pyramid and the best way of achieving this, in many eyes, is by
offering an additional promotion place.
And if anyone had any doubt as to whether current Non-League sides could cut the
mustard, they need look no further than this week’s FA Cup performances.
Wrexham recorded a fine 4-3 victory at Championship Coventry City, while
Chesterfield came within a whisker of toppling West Bromwich Albion, denied only
by a 94th-minute equaliser in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
Boreham Wood, mid-table in the National League gave Frank Lampard’s Everton a
stern test in the fifth round last season and are in the fourth round hat again after
a 1-1 draw with League One Accrington Stanley.
Currently, no fewer than seven clubs in English football’s third tier have come up
through the Non-League system over the last decade or so, with one club, Luton
Town, competing in the higher reaches of the Championship.
“It’s not like they’re asking for a lot – it’s only one extra space,” added McNulty, who
eventually won promotion into the EFL three times with Fleetwood, Luton and
Tranmere Rovers.
"There has got to be some compromise somewhere. They’ve got to bridge that
gap and give clubs a chance.”