Points, pain and penalties: non-league football stories you may have missed

Much was made of the fact that, despite amassing more than 100 points each, only one of Wrexham or Notts County could win automatic promotion to the Football League. In the end the Welsh side prevailed, to the relief of their fans and Hollywood owners, consigning Notts County to the playoffs. In National League South, Ebbsfleet had no need to look over their shoulder as they hit the 100-point mark with one game remaining. The Kent side secured the title with four games to spare and sit 18 points clear of their nearest rivals, Dartford. Ebbsfleet’s march to promotion was masterminded by Dennis Kutrieb, a highly regarded young German who took over at the Stonebridge Road in June 2020, three months after the National League season was halted by the pandemic. Ebbsfleet were relegated by 0.002 of a point when clubs agreed to end the season on a points-per-game basis but have finally booked their return to the fifth tier.

Scunthorpe dropped out of the Football League 12 months ago after a 72-year sojourn and any hopes of a quick return evaporated when they took three points from the first 21 available. The Iron have won only eight games this season, leading to back-to-back relegations and they will be playing in National League North next season. It’s a sorry demise for a club who were rubbing shoulders with Leeds, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Leicester in the Championship 12 years ago. Perhaps the high point of a largely miserable season was the successful January takeover by David Hilton, ending Peter Swann’s 10-year reign as majority shareholder. The sale went through in the month that Scunthorpe’s match against Woking was delayed for 10 minutes by a pitch invasion. Scunthorpe fans set up camp in the centre-circle