The jump from non-league to the EFL is a big one… or so we’re often led to believe. History suggests otherwise, however, which is great news for both Bromley and Chesterfield in 2024-25.
Both Bromley and Chesterfield have started well in their hopeful quests to continue riding on the crest of a wave and win back-to-back promotions from the National League to League One.
We’re often led to believe the jump from non-league to the Football League is a big one, but the evidence suggests otherwise.
Since 1987, when automatic promotion and relegation between the National League and the EFL was agreed, none of the 55 teams to have been promoted from the fifth tier in England have been relegated the following season from the EFL.
The closest any side has come to falling back into non-league in their first EFL season after promotion was Macclesfield Town in 2018-19. They survived by three points at the expense of Notts County and Yeovil Town after Sol Campbell led a dramatic turnaround of fortunes from the end of November onwards.
If that statistic was surprising, then you’ll also be shocked to learn that 11 teams have been promoted from the fourth tier in their first season following a rise from non-league. That’s a 20% success rate for teams looking to achieve back-to-back promotions from the National League to League One.
Granted, the the most recent of those 11 back-to-back promotions was hardly a shock; Wrexham, powered by Hollywood finance and with arguably the biggest budget in the fourth tier, finished second in League Two last season.
League Two Promotions Straight After Coming Up from Non-League
Darlington in 1990-91: Champions
Wycombe Wanderers in 1993-94: Play-Off Winners
Macclesfield Town in 1997-98: Runners-Up
Doncaster Rovers in 2003-04: Champions
Carlisle United in 2005-06: Champions
Exeter City in 2008-09: Runners-Up
Stevenage in 2010-11: Play-Off Winners
Crawley Town in 2011-12: Third Place
Bristol Rovers in 2015-16: Third Place
Tranmere Rovers in 2018-19: Play-Off Winners
Wrexham in 2023-24: Runners-Up
Recent years have seen the vast majority of National League teams become professional, so the jump from non-league to the EFL feels significantly smaller.
Chesterfield dropped out of the Football League in 2017-18 after two horrendous seasons of back-to-back relegations, finishing bottom of League Two a year after coming last in League One. It took them six years to work their way back and were unlucky to not win promotion even earlier, after three successive years in the play-offs and a defeat in the final to Notts County on penalties in 2022-23.
Paul Cook’s side showed their quality in the FA Cup last season, too, knocking out League One sides Portsmouth and Leyton Orient before eventually succumbing to Championship club Watford in the third round, but only after they’d taken the lead at Vicarage Road.
Bromley are appearing in the EFL for the first time this season after their promotion via the National League play-offs in 2023-24. That ended a spell of nine successive seasons in the fifth tier of the English football pyramid, while just twenty years ago they were in the eighth tier.
Both will aspire to become the next team to win successive promotions from the National League to League One. Bromley have won their first two games 2-0 versus Harrogate Town and AFC Wimbledon, while Chesterfield are unbeaten after drawing against Swindon before hammering Crewe Alexandra 5-0 last weekend.
Even if promotion doesn’t come this season, it could come a season later – something Stockport County enjoyed after their initial play-off disappointment in 2022-23. They lost the play-off final on penalties to Carlisle that season before winning League Two last season, four points ahead of Wrexham.
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