THE most exciting battle going on in football is the one to decide who drops out of the Football League.

It's a real dogfight at the bottom of the Third Division with six clubs fighting tooth and nail to avoid the relegation trap door into the Nationwide Conference.

If I had my way there wouldn't be one club relegated from the league - there'd be three like in the rest of the divisions.

I feel sorry for the team which drops out of the league but I feel more sorry for the teams which are denied promotion to the Third Division despite the exceptional feat of finishing second and third in the Conference.

Conference clubs are as well run and well supported as Third Division outfits, better in some cases, and the quality of football is likewise.

Not many Third Division clubs could attract an attendance like the 9,000 which crammed into Yeovil's ground for last week's promotion showdown with Rushden and Diamonds, who followed up with more than 4,000 for a home game a few days later.

Such figures are not uncommon in the Conference yet it is treated like a second class product.

The powers-that-be should recognise that the class divide between the Third Division and the Conference has disappeared and encourage more healthy competition within the league structure by extending the three-up-three-down which exists everywhere else.