How title-chasing Rochdale have smashed a Wrexham record…

This season’s title race in the Enterprise National League is quite extraordinary.

We have had eight different teams sit top of the pile. Braintree, Wealdstone and Southend each had brief stints in pole position in August; since then, Forest Green, Carlisle and Boreham Wood have all occupied first place.

More recently, we’ve seen two teams pull away from the pack. Rochdale and York City are vying for that sole automatic promotion place… it could even go to the wire when the current top two meet at the Crown Oil Arena on the final day. All in all, we’ve seen the lead change hands on no less than 32 occasions…!

And in pushing each other to near-perfection, we’ve seen one of Wrexham’s records toppled.

Rochdale’s hard-fought win against Brackley Town in midweek took them to a whopping 85 points – meaning that they are now guaranteed a minimum of a play-off place.

Not only have Rochdale already broken their own record points-tally, but this is also the earliest in a National League season that a team has ever guaranteed a play-off spot, by two different metrics: date on the calendar, and games remaining.

Wrexham were the previous holder on both accounts. Their 4-0 win away at Dagenham on 7 March 2023 was the result that assured a play-off place as a bare minimum, with 10 games remaining. Notts County kept them honest that season in one of the most incredible title-races we’ve ever seen.

Fast forward to this season, where the Dale and the Minstermen are pushing each other all the way.

As of close-of-play on 3 March 2026, no set of results could see more than six teams overtake Rochdale – even the most extreme and unlikely set of scorelines could only see them tumble to seventh. Hartlepool and Halifax, in eighth and ninth, can no longer mathematically catch up. And Rochdale have got 11 games left to go!

Strangely enough, the only other club that went into the midweek round with more than 0% hope of overtaking Rochdale was… 17th-placed Woking! Their games in hand meant their potential points tally was higher than many clubs above them.

That battle for the championship in 2022-23 was a real showcase of what quality sits at the top of the National League.

And it became a driving force to establish the 3UP campaign – how was it right that League Two’s third-bottom team survived with 46 points and a -23 goal difference, while Notts County – who finished with 107 points and a +75 goal-difference – weren’t guaranteed promotion in the runners-up spot? Maybe their Wembley win disguised the bigger issue at play…

We might have a repeat on our hands. Two into one won’t go. No matter what happens between now and the last day, York and Rochdale can’t both go up automatically.

Want to know more about the 3UP campaign? Head to our dedicated website section where you’ll find all the latest news, supportive statements from advocates in the football family, and a toolkit of ways that you can support the mission for a third promotion place between the National League and the EFL.