National League South: Is this the closest title race in England?

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, National League South has seen some runaway winners.

Last season Yeovil Town won the title by 11 points, while Ebbsfleet United were 20 points clear of second place in 2023 and Maidstone United finished first it by six points the year before.

So why is it so close this season?

“Genuinely I think it’s a poor division,” Dorking Wanderers manager and owner Marc White told BBC Radio Surrey.

His side are three points off the top of the table having been relegated from the National League last season.

“I think we’re part of that poor division, I think we’re not great. It’s a very average league and average teams.”

But is it really that bad? Not necessarily, according to Worthing fan Hayden Baker.

“It’s weird to say it’s a lower quality league this year because you don’t have a team running away with it in the same way that’s happened in our previous two seasons – Ebbsfleet battered this league, Yeovil battered this league,” he tells BBC Sussex.

“The overall quality of the league is a lot more consistent across the entire divisions.

“I think the difference between a team in the top six and a team that’s say 16th or 17th, really isn’t a great deal any more.

“There’s so much ambition across the league where I think every team feels like they’ve got some sort of right or some sort of ambition to get into the National League.”

Even if the quality of the football is not what it should be, the excitement of such a close title race makes up for it.

And with so many sides in with a chance, who is to say who will be lifting the title come the final day of the season on 26 April.