As part of our Supporters’ Meetings, one of the things that was discussed was the National League and its impact upon ourselves.
The information provided comes from other National League teams, information released by Dale, and a good old Google where appropriate. We still have some questions outstanding, and we will provide answers as soon as we have them.
- National League Info
- Strategy
- Finances/Budget
- Sanctions
- Communication
- General
1) National League Info
Q: What is the current promotion / relegation situation with the National League?
A: Each season, two teams are promoted from the National League to League 2, with the champions always going up automatically.
The clubs that finish second and third go straight through to the play-off semi-finals where they play the two winners of the quarter-finals, which the teams from fourth to seventh contest; the winners of those semis meet in a final at Wembley, with the victor being promoted. All ties consist of a single leg.
The bottom four teams in the league are relegated to the National League North or National League South depending on their geographic location, with two from each of those coming up to replace them.
Q: Is the National League looking at changing to a 3 up / 3 down plan with the EFL?
A: Nothing is planned as of yet but it is being discussed in the media as being inevitable. For the changes to happen, it needs to be voted on by EFL Clubs, with the majority of the 72 Clubs, along with the majority of the Championship being in favour of it. It has been reported that even the number of League 2 Clubs in favour of it is increasing given the difficulties of getting out of the National League as it is.
Q: What will happen with the FA Trophy?
A: Dale will enter at the 3rd Round Stage that took place just before Christmas this season. The final is to be played at Wembley
The prize money for the FA Trophy is as follows.
Third round: Winners receive £4500, losers receive £1250
Fourth round: Winners receive £5250, losers receive £1500
Fifth round: Winners receive £6000, losers receive £1750
Quarter Final: Winners receive £7500, losers receive £2000
Semi-Final: Winners receive £15,000, losers receive £5000
Final runners-up: £30,000
Final winners: £60,000
Q: Will I still be able to see Dale highlights on TV or online?
A: There is a highlights show on BT Sports 10pm on Saturday evening which is repeated on Sunday morning. Sometimes the times of these shows can be erratic. Highlights are available on Youtube. These tend not to be available untl after the BT Sports Highlights programme has been aired.
Q: Will live matches be broadcast in the National League?
This season, BT Sports would show a live game every Saturday at 5:20pm. Sometimes the kicks off will change if international weeks etc. All Play Off games are covered live.
Q: Is there an equivalent to iFollow?
A: Yes there is and it is very similar to Ifollow with similar rules. All games available are overseas, with all non 3pm Saturday games available for £9.50. All games covered by just the one camera (not massively dissimilar to L2). 15% goes to National League for costs, and there is a split between the NL and NLN/NLS. Should any Dale fan pay for the stream to watch us, we believe the Club would receive £4.76.
Q: Do National League sides follow the transfer window?
A: No transfer window applies in the National League though we cannot sell to EFL clubs outside of the transfer window. The deadline day for the National League is 3/4 way through March. Clubs are limited to a maximum of five loan players in any matchday squad just like it was in the EFL.
Q: How many subs will we have in the National League?
A: Last season, 3 substitutes were allowed per game from squads of 5 – we presume this will be the same next season unless there is a directive dictating overwise.
2) Questions regarding Strategy
Q: Are the Club expecting to retain as much of the current setup as we can. Continuity will be the key in Division 5 and it is not Jim Bentley’s fault?
Q: Is the focus to be on getting back into the Football League. This need not be ‘next year’ as it is one heck of a task, but there needs to be clear plan and I do think the goals have to be shared and performance measured against it. Dropping a further division could be fatal. The business plan is critical to survival. I see this survey as a major step in helping to construct it?
Q: What are the plans for life in non-league football?
A: There has been a statement from the Chairman on the search in the near future of a new management team to take the Club forward into a spell in the National League, which has proved difficult to negotiate promotion back to the EFL, previous attempts ie Wrexham taking fifteen years.
The Club have already engaged MRKT Insights to review and assist with some areas of football operations such as first team recruitment, squad modelling, and player pathways. This service comes at a fraction of the cost of employing a full time Sporting Director and allows as much of the football budget as possible to be dedicated to players.
The search for a new Head Coach is ongoing and is now in its final stages with an appointment expected in the near future.
The Club has also made a commitment to maintaining the Category 3 status of the extremely successful Academy, which saw senior debuts for Under 16’s, Kevin Dos Santos and Oscar Kelly as well as current Under 17’s, Darren Ehimamiegho and George Nevett plus Ethan Brierley, who featured regularly at latter stages of the season.
3) Questions regarding Finances/Budget
Q: Academy contracts – is the Club responsible or is there a general contract for National League? Can we write our own contracts?
Q: Are contracts for players affected by relegation?
Q: In terms of finances how devastating would non promotion back to the EFL be?
A: As stated recently, the Club will be looking immediately into the future finances with relegation to the National League meaning some cost reductions as operating on a reduced income from next season.
There will be a loss on Premier League Solidarity money, which is only available to EFL member clubs, however there will still be 100% of EFL central distributions (parachute payments) as well as receiving 100% of our Academy funding.
We have been in touch with the FSA regarding all the differences in funding. They have contacted us again today to say that they will get us the figures as soon as they can. We will update supporters as soon as we have that information from them.
The Club are preparing to put Season Cards on sale before the end of May 2023 showing a commitment to making attending games as accessible as possible by keeping Season Card prices at the same level as last season despite significant cost inflation.
Historically, teams relegated from the EFL do not suffer greatly in terms of average attendance in their first season in the National League compared with their final year in the EFL, with some even showing an improvement.
| Relegated | Last season in league 2 | First Season in National League | |
| Oldham | 2021-22 | 4924 | 6660 |
| Scunthorpe | 2021-22 | 2781 | 3259 |
| Southend | 2020-21 | 6192* | 5773 |
| Grimsby | 2020-21 | 4430* | 5758 |
| Notts County | 2018-19 | 7357 | 5210 |
| Yeovil | 2018-19 | 2953 | 2951 |
| Chesterfield | 2017-18 | 5354 | 4504 |
| Barnet | 2017-18 | 2113 | 1354 |
| Hartlepool | 2016-17 | 3788 | 3350 |
| Leyton Orient | 2016-17 | 4663 | 4344 |
| Dagenham | 2015-16 | 1979 | 1379 |
| York City | 2015-16 | 3218 | 2558 |
| Cheltenham | 2014-15 | 2864 | 3006 |
| Tranmere | 2014-15 | 5192 | 5214 |
* = last EFL season where supporters were allowed to attend
4) Questions regarding National League and Governance
Q: Will the current EFL sanctions against the Club regarding rules on share dealings apply in the National League?
We contacted the EFL to see what their take on the Club’s suspended sentence. Their response was “The sanction will leave the EFL with the Club but then it is a matter for the National League/FA to determine what happens.” Currently we are attempting to make contact with the National League to find out if the suspended sentence still hangs over us during next season or is it strictly EFL only. We are due to receive a phone call from the National League this week and we will update this as an when we can.
Q) Do the National League have their own version of the Owners and Directors Test?
A) Again, when we are updated by the National League, we will update supporters.
5) Questions regarding communications
Q: As fans we are entering unknown territory. Would be great to see some information published on what National League means for us as fans and the key issues that the Club will face. Ideally the club will publish a full plan or a very detailed statement on how it impacts revenues, players, playing squad, the Academy, what we can do in grounds, what are the rules for away fans eg ticket allocations etc?
Q: Can we introduce Club ambassadors to link with the away side a week before to share information about us, our club, our facilities etc. Lets ensure we make ourselves welcoming rather than come across as “”too big”” for the National League, which sadly we are not?
Q: The Trust could focus on fan impacts. Pre-game a detailed article on a Club we are about to play, their facilities, their history, what their ground is like, etc. Will be a great read and helpful too?
A: We hope that many of the answers to the above questions have already been covered within this article. We are looking at creating a Fans Liaison Officer on the Trust Board to liaise with opposition teams and supporters. We appreciate for many of them, it will be their first visit to the Crown Oil Arena. As such, we want to encourage them to come to the game and make it as welcoming as possible for them. We have plans for the most indepth guide to visiting Rochdale as we can, with a Trip Advisor style side to it where opposition fans can leave genuine comments on their trip. Fans can always trust other fans. The Trust newsletters carry a link to a ground guide to each team we will play. These will usually be from the Football Ground Guide given they are amongst the experts in this field. Unfortunately having not been to many of the grounds ourselves, it’s best to leave this to those who know best.
6) General
Q: Make the most of the National League rules and drinking in the stands. Macclesfield have a new covered area with bar in sight of the pitch. If this is successful there maybe it’s worth a try in the corner between Sandy and Wilbutts Lane?
This only applies for National League North matches at the moment
Q: How will we change to accommodate the demands of fans from the National league – I suspect they expect better value for money than £24 for a pigeon poo seat. Catering appears to be more advanced and better value for example?
We are sure that the Club will make the cost of attending matches at the Crown Oil Arena for away fans amenable with catering far better than some of the Clubs appearing next season, the facilities at the COA are far better than most at this level.
Q: Will the club want to move away fans from smaller supported clubs away from Willbutts and what will that mean for our home stands?
This will be passed onto the Board of Directors, especially as some opposition teams will bring small away followings, for example only 53 away fans attended the recent Oldham Athletic v Maidenhead match. Before the Play Offs at National League North and South, we can expect a possible 13 matches against teams from the South of England possibly meaning low away support as mentioned previously.
Q: Will there be programmes in the National League?
A: We will contact the Club with regards to this.
Q: More events targeted at bringing more diverse fans to the football. eg International Women’s week could see a Saturday double header with 2 matches for your ticket, Women’s team at 12 and the men’s team at 3 with free tickets given out to all girls teams in the borough etc etc. Maybe there’s something similar that can be done with other communities of Rochdale I saw the Ramadan event advertised at the club but was this also linked to the football were free tickets issues to attendees.
A: The Supporters Trust has links with the Club’s Community Trust, where aspects of match-day activities plus build up to games are discussed, this will be passed on as the Community Trust engages in many social/community programmes, where numerous incentives are given out.
Not sure about playing double headed games in one day with FA Competition Rules but doubt whether it would be an acceptable idea.
Q: What are the away capacities in the National League?
A: We believe we will have access to the following (based on last season so subject to change)
AFC Fylde 1000 standing/block of seats
Aldershot 215 seated/1320 standing
Altrincham 1434
Barnet 1922
Boreham Wood 891 standing 359 seats
Bromley Unknown
Chesterfield 2112
Dagenham 1200
Dorking 1200
Eastleigh 2000 (usual allocation 500)
Gateshead 4000
Halifax 1450
Hartlepool 967
Maidenhead 450
Notts County 1300
Oldham 3750
Solihull 1000
Southend 1200 standing/800 seats
Wealdstone 656 standing 369 seats
Woking 1150
York 1800 standing/300 seated
Clubs Currently in National League North/South promotion/playoff places
Brackley Games up until now have not been segregated so no information available
Kidderminster 1500
Oxford City 400
St Albans Unknown