Mark Carruthers' non-league verdict: Promotion patience may be required as we enter a brave new world

That will all change next summer when they introduce a new league at step four in a move that will have a lasting impact on the Northern League.

At the end of this season, the top three clubs in Division One will be promoted into the Northern Premier League’s second tier as regional borders are realigned to make travel costs more sustainable for all involved.

If we focus purely on on-field matters for now, the challenges that lie in wait for any side progressing up the non-league pyramid remain sizable.

There is no doubt that Northern League clubs have experienced great success following promotion into step four in recent years.

Since Darlington’s promotion in 2012, Spennymoor Town, South Shields, Morpeth Town, Marske United and Dunston UTS have all plied their trade in the Northern Premier League’s second tier.

Two of those clubs – South Shields and Morpeth Town – have secured consecutive promotions into the Premier Division, with Darlington and Spennymoor Town both finding their way into step three after play-off final wins in their second season.

Without downplaying their hard-earned success, all four clubs were able to rely on a decent level of financial backing, whether that be from a chairman, sizable crowds or through fan-funded initiatives.

Depending on how you view last season – and the FA’s decision to null and void – Dunston UTS and Marske United are currently impressing in their respective second and third seasons in the North West Division.

At the time of writing, Dunston sit in fourth place after losing just one of their opening seven games of the season and Marske remain unbeaten in seventh, although do have as many as three games in hand on the sides above them in the table.

Neither club can boast of a budget at the levels of their North East predecessors at step four – but they have managed to stabilise in the division before pushing for another promotion.

They have placed an emphasis on ensuring that every signing gives them value for money, have adjusted to the increased travel and the variance in the challenges faced at each away ground.

Players that became battled hardened in the Northern League have been given time to adjust to a new level, where the expectations and demands are different to what they have become accustomed to throughout the majority of their careers.

Their managers – Carl Jarrett and Chris Swailes – both deserve great credit for evolving their squads and methods throughout their time in the Northern Premier League to get themselves into a position where they can realistically call themselves promotion challengers once again.

Lessons have been learnt and they are lessons that the great pretenders in the Northern League would do well to heed as they look to follow their lead over the coming months.

It is probably a safe assumption to say that Stockton Town, Shildon and Hebburn Town would have been plying their trade at a higher level if Covid-19 and the null and void decision had not ended their bid for promotion in such cruel fashion.

All three clubs are amongst the favourites to secure a top three place this season, but they have been joined by the likes of North Shields, Newton Aycliffe, Newcastle Benfield and Consett in an intriguing battle for the top three.

There are varying levels of financial backing and higher-level experience at those seven clubs, but no matter what they possess in their ranks, they will need to follow the examples set by Marske United and Dunston once promotion is secured.

In my opinion, gone are the days of former Northern League clubs immediately challenging for promotion into the step three – although, obviously, I do hope I am wrong.

But I do believe that there will need to be an adjustment period, a time to settle in and establish themselves in step four, before taking the next steps to push on to another bid for promotion.

Although much of the focus has been about on-field matters, all of the clubs that have blazed a trail in the past have gone through significant off-field changes.

Although not quite the nightmare “Tuesday night game at Colwyn Bay” scenario once used by some defending a decision not to take promotion, there is no doubt that travel costs and time have to be taken into account.

That includes improving their facilities, boosting their commercial side of the club and strengthening the structure behind the scenes to help them cope with a move into the upper echelons of the non-league game.

That – along with the financial impact of Covid-19 – could see purse strings tightened ahead of next season, meaning an extra pressure on managers to ensure that the make the most of the pounds and pennies that are sent their way.

In time, I can see a scenario where step four becomes a division made up largely of former Northern League clubs, so a number of costs may well come down.

However, that remains five or six years away and, in the meantime, the clubs that secure promotion over the coming years may have to bide their time before looking to take that next step.

That means managers, players, committee members, supporters and chairmen will need to show a great degree of patience as they head into the brave new world.