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Picture the scene. Your team has amassed 96 points, finishing 13 clear of the nearest challengers, but doesn’t win promotion. Instead, the club who finished 23 points and three places below you goes up.

That was the situation York City were faced with last season when they agonisingly missed out on promotion from the National League to the English Football League (EFL) after finishing as runners-up to champions Barnet.

Only first place wins automatic promotion from the National League, while the teams who finish between second and seventh compete in a play-off culminating in a final at Wembley to decide who else goes up.

The beauty of the play-offs some might argue as Oldham Athletic ultimately benefitted, but a result which prompted York’s co-owner Julie-Anne Uggla to slam the current promotion system as “unjust” and “no longer fit for purpose”.

It’s just one of many reasons why non-league clubs are once again ramping up the pressure on the EFL to increase the number of promotion places into League Two from two to three.

More than 100 matches, including all 12 in the National League, will kick-off three minutes later than usual at 15:03 GMT on Saturday to bring the issue into the spotlight.

Momentum for the campaign has gathered pace in recent weeks, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer commending the efforts, 60 MPs backing the idea and broadcaster Jeff Stelling joining as a National League ambassador.

Big names in English football have also given their support, including legendary manager Neil Warnock, who said “common sense” should prevail to allow an extra promotion spot and that it’s “only fear” from EFL clubs preventing it from happening.

“They’re worried about these teams, and quite rightly so, because a lot of these teams will hold their own,” Warnock said.

He may have a valid point.

Recent history suggests that National League sides compete well after winning promotion.

Of the 19 clubs promoted in the past 10 seasons – Grimsby have gone up twice in that time – only four are not still in the EFL today: Forest Green Rovers, Sutton United, Hartlepool United and Macclesfield Town, who folded in 2020.

Forest Green boss Robbie Savage is an advocate of the 3UP campaign and hopes “it will come to fruition one day”.

“If you can get out of this league, look at what can be achieved,” he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

“Non-league has completely changed. The National League is a League Three. Most teams are professional.

“If you combined League Two and the National League, I’m sure there would be seven, eight, nine, 10 clubs who could compete in that, no doubt about it.

The EFL has so far resisted pressure to make any changes to the system and its stance has previously been that it wants to address the “competitive balance” of the pyramid as a whole.

But the National League argues there is no competitive imbalance between the divisions.

“We don’t believe this should be the reason preventing progression on the matter,” said National League chairman Jack Pearce.

“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.

It’s not just York who have succumbed at the hands of the ruthless high bar required to win automatic promotion to League Two.

Since 2015-16, only three of the 10 second-place finishers have gone on to win what Uggla described as the “lottery” of the play-offs.

Barnet, Wrexham, Torquay United, Solihull Moors, Tranmere Rovers and Forest Green have all suffered a similar fate to the Minstermen in that time.

Last season marked by far the biggest gap in points between the runners-up and play-off winners at 23, though there was an 11-point gap between Wrexham and Grimsby in 2022, nine between Tranmere and Forest Green in 2017, and nine between Forest Green and Grimsby in 2016.

Even Notts County, who racked up an astonishing 107 points only to finish as runners-up in 2022-23, were still made to sweat with a penalty shootout win over Chesterfield in the promotion final.

And it seems York certainly won’t be the last to miss out with the top six teams in the table currently only separated by three points and all on pace for anywhere between a 92 and 106-point season.

Uggla said in an open letter in the summer that waiting for change “only deepens the injustice” for clubs like York, who have “already paid the price for a system built on outdated assumptions”.

“For clubs, fans, and the integrity of the English football pyramid, it is time to reward merit and restore credibility to the system,” she added.

Recently appointed Sutton United head coach Chris Agutter has sympathy with York after he missed out on promotion from National League South with Worthing by a single point to Truro City last season before being “left to the mercy of the play-offs”.

“You look at what York did last year and the fact that Oldham were closer to the relegation zone than York’s points total but yet they go up,” Agutter told BBC Radio London.

“That’s part of the beauty of the play-off system but equally when you’ve been that good and consistent over the season, it’s only right – especially when higher up the pyramid there is that same system – that it’s mirrored right the way down the pyramid.”

Leaders Carlisle United were relegated from League Two last season but boss Mark Hughes says it’s “really important” for another promotion spot to be added to the fifth tier.

“I’ve come down into the National League and I’ve been really, really impressed with the quality here,” he said.

Positive talks had reportedly been held between the two parties in 2023 about a third promotion place, according to National League vice-chairman Steve Thompson, but progress was complicated by the introduction of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR).

The National League agreed a deal worth £2.3m in total with the Premier League in “solidarity money”, but the EFL is still yet to reach its own agreement with the Premier League.

The EFL has previously said it intended to wait for the situation to be resolved before any changes to the system could be considered.

Thompson claims an “awful lot” of EFL clubs have privately said they support the 3UP idea but “won’t put their heads above the parapet”.

“One of the things we’re asking is for the EFL to ask their clubs,” Thompson told BBC Sport.

“Put it to a meeting and let the League One and Two clubs discuss it. So far, the EFL has refused to put it out to debate with their clubs.”

But the EFL insists 3UP “has been debated by the EFL board and clubs at regular intervals, most recently in the past few months”.

An EFL spokesperson said: “The league has been consistent in its commitment to looking downwards as well as upwards in respect of proposed changes to the pyramid, which includes the matter of promotion and relegation between League Two and the National League.

“It is important to stress that this should not be treated as an isolated decision and instead requires careful and detailed consideration of the other related issues and regulations at play, as part of a wider dialogue and package of changes across the pyramid.

Some senior figures at clubs within the EFL have openly raised doubts about changing the format.

Lincoln City chairman Clive Nates said earlier this year the Imps have put concerns to the National League that they “believe should be addressed in order to convince EFL clubs to vote in favour of an additional promotion and relegation place”.

“The situation is more complicated than many wish to admit,” said Nates.

“Not only do EFL clubs lose their academy funding two years after relegation, but they also lose all rights to compensation for any of their academy players.

“We feel this is the most serious concern that needs to be resolved as it has dire consequences for clubs that are not immediately promoted back to the EFL and should also be a concern for English football in general to have long-standing academies at risk of being destroyed.”

National League CEO Phil Alexander told BBC Sport: “We are constantly talking to the Premier League and the EFL about how we can address this issue.

Out of the 20 clubs relegated from League Two since 2015, eight have since won promotion back to the fourth tier – Barnet, Oldham, Grimsby, Notts County, Chesterfield, Leyton Orient, Cheltenham and Tranmere.

Clubs who have paid a heavier price are Dagenham & Redbridge, who were relegated to National League South last season after nine years in the National League, and Macclesfield Town – though the club was dissolved due to financial issues which began while still in League Two.

The Silkmen have since worked their way back to National League North after being re-established as the phoenix club Macclesfield FC.

“The counter-argument for the clubs coming down from the EFL is that the National League is a safety net,” Thompson said.

“If you look back at some of the clubs that have been relegated over the years, they’ve been in real trouble.

“But the National League’s been there, it’s a well-run professional league and those clubs have been able to regroup and bounce back up.

“So the extra promotion place actually, I believe, will benefit EFL clubs because it’ll be easier for them to bounce back up.”

Thompson also fears that continuing to make it “so difficult” to get promoted to League Two will force some owners of National League clubs to walk away.

“If 3UP comes into play, it is widely expected that the second-placed team in the league would be automatically promoted, with the third space achievable via play-offs,” the National League says.

“The exact mechanism is something the National League would consult on with its members.”

It means it is not yet known how many teams would qualify for the play-offs, whether it would remain as six or be reduced to four, as is the format in the Championship and League One.

Thompson added that he remains “fairly hopeful” 3UP will eventually be implemented.

Picture the scene. Your team has amassed 96 points, finishing 13 clear of the nearest challengers, but doesn’t win promotion. Instead, the club who finished 23 points and three places below you goes up.

That was the situation York City were faced with last season when they agonisingly missed out on promotion from the National League to the English Football League (EFL) after finishing as runners-up to champions Barnet.

Only first place wins automatic promotion from the National League, while the teams who finish between second and seventh compete in a play-off culminating in a final at Wembley to decide who else goes up.

The beauty of the play-offs some might argue as Oldham Athletic ultimately benefitted, but a result which prompted York’s co-owner Julie-Anne Uggla to slam the current promotion system as “unjust” and “no longer fit for purpose”.

It’s just one of many reasons why non-league clubs are once again ramping up the pressure on the EFL to increase the number of promotion places into League Two from two to three.

More than 100 matches, including all 12 in the National League, will kick-off three minutes later than usual at 15:03 GMT on Saturday to bring the issue into the spotlight.

Momentum for the campaign has gathered pace in recent weeks, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer commending the efforts, 60 MPs backing the idea and broadcaster Jeff Stelling joining as a National League ambassador.

Big names in English football have also given their support, including legendary manager Neil Warnock, who said “common sense” should prevail to allow an extra promotion spot and that it’s “only fear” from EFL clubs preventing it from happening.

“They’re worried about these teams, and quite rightly so, because a lot of these teams will hold their own,” Warnock said.

He may have a valid point.

Recent history suggests that National League sides compete well after winning promotion.

Of the 19 clubs promoted in the past 10 seasons – Grimsby have gone up twice in that time – only four are not still in the EFL today: Forest Green Rovers, Sutton United, Hartlepool United and Macclesfield Town, who folded in 2020.

Forest Green boss Robbie Savage is an advocate of the 3UP campaign and hopes “it will come to fruition one day”.

“If you can get out of this league, look at what can be achieved,” he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

“Non-league has completely changed. The National League is a League Three. Most teams are professional.

“If you combined League Two and the National League, I’m sure there would be seven, eight, nine, 10 clubs who could compete in that, no doubt about it.

The EFL has so far resisted pressure to make any changes to the system and its stance has previously been that it wants to address the “competitive balance” of the pyramid as a whole.

But the National League argues there is no competitive imbalance between the divisions.

“We don’t believe this should be the reason preventing progression on the matter,” said National League chairman Jack Pearce.

“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.

It’s not just York who have succumbed at the hands of the ruthless high bar required to win automatic promotion to League Two.

Since 2015-16, only three of the 10 second-place finishers have gone on to win what Uggla described as the “lottery” of the play-offs.

Barnet, Wrexham, Torquay United, Solihull Moors, Tranmere Rovers and Forest Green have all suffered a similar fate to the Minstermen in that time.

Last season marked by far the biggest gap in points between the runners-up and play-off winners at 23, though there was an 11-point gap between Wrexham and Grimsby in 2022, nine between Tranmere and Forest Green in 2017, and nine between Forest Green and Grimsby in 2016.

Even Notts County, who racked up an astonishing 107 points only to finish as runners-up in 2022-23, were still made to sweat with a penalty shootout win over Chesterfield in the promotion final.

And it seems York certainly won’t be the last to miss out with the top six teams in the table currently only separated by three points and all on pace for anywhere between a 92 and 106-point season.

Uggla said in an open letter in the summer that waiting for change “only deepens the injustice” for clubs like York, who have “already paid the price for a system built on outdated assumptions”.

“For clubs, fans, and the integrity of the English football pyramid, it is time to reward merit and restore credibility to the system,” she added.

Recently appointed Sutton United head coach Chris Agutter has sympathy with York after he missed out on promotion from National League South with Worthing by a single point to Truro City last season before being “left to the mercy of the play-offs”.

“You look at what York did last year and the fact that Oldham were closer to the relegation zone than York’s points total but yet they go up,” Agutter told BBC Radio London.

“That’s part of the beauty of the play-off system but equally when you’ve been that good and consistent over the season, it’s only right – especially when higher up the pyramid there is that same system – that it’s mirrored right the way down the pyramid.”

Leaders Carlisle United were relegated from League Two last season but boss Mark Hughes says it’s “really important” for another promotion spot to be added to the fifth tier.

“I’ve come down into the National League and I’ve been really, really impressed with the quality here,” he said.

Positive talks had reportedly been held between the two parties in 2023 about a third promotion place, according to National League vice-chairman Steve Thompson, but progress was complicated by the introduction of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR).

The National League agreed a deal worth £2.3m in total with the Premier League in “solidarity money”, but the EFL is still yet to reach its own agreement with the Premier League.

The EFL has previously said it intended to wait for the situation to be resolved before any changes to the system could be considered.

Thompson claims an “awful lot” of EFL clubs have privately said they support the 3UP idea but “won’t put their heads above the parapet”.

“One of the things we’re asking is for the EFL to ask their clubs,” Thompson told BBC Sport.

“Put it to a meeting and let the League One and Two clubs discuss it. So far, the EFL has refused to put it out to debate with their clubs.”

But the EFL insists 3UP “has been debated by the EFL board and clubs at regular intervals, most recently in the past few months”.

An EFL spokesperson said: “The league has been consistent in its commitment to looking downwards as well as upwards in respect of proposed changes to the pyramid, which includes the matter of promotion and relegation between League Two and the National League.

“It is important to stress that this should not be treated as an isolated decision and instead requires careful and detailed consideration of the other related issues and regulations at play, as part of a wider dialogue and package of changes across the pyramid.

Some senior figures at clubs within the EFL have openly raised doubts about changing the format.

Lincoln City chairman Clive Nates said earlier this year the Imps have put concerns to the National League that they “believe should be addressed in order to convince EFL clubs to vote in favour of an additional promotion and relegation place”.

“The situation is more complicated than many wish to admit,” said Nates.

“Not only do EFL clubs lose their academy funding two years after relegation, but they also lose all rights to compensation for any of their academy players.

“We feel this is the most serious concern that needs to be resolved as it has dire consequences for clubs that are not immediately promoted back to the EFL and should also be a concern for English football in general to have long-standing academies at risk of being destroyed.”

National League CEO Phil Alexander told BBC Sport: “We are constantly talking to the Premier League and the EFL about how we can address this issue.

Out of the 20 clubs relegated from League Two since 2015, eight have since won promotion back to the fourth tier – Barnet, Oldham, Grimsby, Notts County, Chesterfield, Leyton Orient, Cheltenham and Tranmere.

Clubs who have paid a heavier price are Dagenham & Redbridge, who were relegated to National League South last season after nine years in the National League, and Macclesfield Town – though the club was dissolved due to financial issues which began while still in League Two.

The Silkmen have since worked their way back to National League North after being re-established as the phoenix club Macclesfield FC.

“The counter-argument for the clubs coming down from the EFL is that the National League is a safety net,” Thompson said.

“If you look back at some of the clubs that have been relegated over the years, they’ve been in real trouble.

“But the National League’s been there, it’s a well-run professional league and those clubs have been able to regroup and bounce back up.

“So the extra promotion place actually, I believe, will benefit EFL clubs because it’ll be easier for them to bounce back up.”

Thompson also fears that continuing to make it “so difficult” to get promoted to League Two will force some owners of National League clubs to walk away.

“If 3UP comes into play, it is widely expected that the second-placed team in the league would be automatically promoted, with the third space achievable via play-offs,” the National League says.

“The exact mechanism is something the National League would consult on with its members.”

It means it is not yet known how many teams would qualify for the play-offs, whether it would remain as six or be reduced to four, as is the format in the Championship and League One.

Thompson added that he remains “fairly hopeful” 3UP will eventually be implemented.

Allan Bunting has stepped down from his role as New Zealand director of rugby following the Black Ferns’ semi-final exit at the recent Women’s Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand Rugby has announced it will recruit a new head coach following an “extensive review of the Black Ferns programme” after the tournament in England – and that Bunting will not be seeking the position.

New Zealand, who had won six of the previous seven Women’s Rugby World Cups, were knocked out in the semi-finals of the 2025 edition by Canada but then beat France to finish third.

Hosts England defeated Canada in the final to win the competition.

Bunting, who was appointed director of rugby of the Black Ferns in 2023, said it had been an “absolute honour” to lead the team.

He added: “Over the past 14 years, I’ve been honoured to contribute across both the Sevens and Fifteens programmes and experience pinnacle events such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Series and World Cups.

Chris Lendrum, general manager of professional rugby and performance for New Zealand Rugby, said the “positive impact” Bunting has had on the women’s game is “immense”, while Bunting and his team had “delivered a strong foundation for the next four-year cycle and the team’s attempt to win a record seventh Women’s Rugby World Cup”.

In its statement, New Zealand Rugby said it hoped to have a head coach in place by Christmas.

Lendrum said: “We are heading into an incredibly exciting four-year cycle of the professional women’s game, with a new competition calendar and the first Women’s British and Irish Lions tour in 2027.

Cristiano Ronaldo received a straight red card during Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland – but will he miss the start of the group stage if they qualify for the 2026 World Cup?

Portugal were trailing 2-0 when Ronaldo clashed with Dara O’Shea, hitting his elbow into the defender’s back.

Referee Glenn Nyberg spotted the incident and showed Ronaldo a yellow card, but upgraded it to a red after reviewing it.

The incident was Ronaldo’s first red card for Portugal in his 226th appearance.

Earlier this week, Ronaldo announced next year’s World Cup would be his final major tournament, but now he is likely to miss the start of it.

The red card he received automatically carries a one-match suspension, ruling him out of Sunday’s crucial qualifier against Armenia.

But violent conduct almost always carries an extended suspension and the extra games would only be served in competitive fixtures.

If Portugal get the win they need against Armenia to qualify directly, their next competitive match would be their opening group game at the World Cup.

If the unlikely happens and Portugal do drop into the play-offs, the 40-year-old would sit out the semi-final and perhaps the final.

But how many games will Ronaldo get? That is in the hands of Fifa’s disciplinary committee.

Technically, Fifa could opt not to extend Ronaldo’s ban at all, meaning he would not be at risk of missing the start of the tournament.

However, Fifa disciplinary code states that a red card for “assault, including elbowing, punching, kicking, biting, spitting or hitting an opponent” should carry a three-match suspension. That would see Ronaldo miss Portugal’s first two World Cup group games or both play-off matches.

But it’s not quite as simple as that, as Fifa judges these matters on a case-by-case basis.

For instance, at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, England forward Lauren James was given two matches for stamping on the back of Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie.

So, Ronaldo should be banned for three games, but he might only receive a two-match suspension.

There is no confirmed date for the decision, but after previous international windows the Fifa disciplinary committee met at the start of the following month.

That would mean Ronaldo would learn his fate closer to the World Cup draw on 5 December.

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