Chester FC boss Jon McCarthy believes that next season could be the final National League campaign to have a part-time element.

Since its inception non-league football’s top tier has included both full-time and part-time outfits, but with the growth of the game and increased resources washing around clubs outside the Football League the National League has turned into an nearly full-time competition.

And McCarthy believes that it could be just Chester and Braintree Town next season who are true versions of part-time and declared that the division will be ‘really dangerous’ for his Blues side, operating on what will likely be one of the smallest budgets in the division.

“I think the league, for the first time, becomes professional next season,” said McCarthy, whose side welcome relegation-threatened York City to the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

“I remember when I was at Northwich Victoria with Steve Burr and it was just about starting to change. There were about 10 teams that were full time and there was still a little over half the league that were still traditional part time, Tuesday and Thursday nights. At the time we were going three mornings, but very much still part time.

“Next season, and I’m not wishing ill on anybody, if North Ferriby go down you could argue that there will only be Chester and Braintree that are part time. I know you have the likes of a Dover that will stay part time, but in terms of finances and the way that they work things they are very much full time.

“I think it could be that next season is the last ever season where there is a part time element to the National League. It is turning into the old Fourth Division, which I did play in, and this is League Two standard.

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“Because of the way the Premiership has become this huge international league, the players that are in the Championship now would have played in the Premiership before and that ends up filtering down the leagues, so players in the National League now are Football League standard.”

Saturday’s 1-0 win at Torquay United all but secured Chester’s place in the National League for another season and they remain in with a shout of a top-10 finish come the end of the campaign.

That would mark real progress for a club who scraped to safety last season, but McCarthy acknowledges that next season will be the toughest yet, with well-resourced clubs such as AFC Fylde, Ebbsfleet United and Salford City all vying for promtion from the level below.

Said the Chester manager: “It should be recognised and when we have that bit when we get back into the League as it is now, that will be even more of an achievement. It is a big threat next year, really dangerous. You have big clubs coming up with big budgets and to be getting 52 points at this stage next year would be another achievement.

“I know people can see it as me setting it up and being really negative but I’m just being honest and realistic. I don’t want anybody to get complacent and I am putting things in place to make sure we are starting next season better.

“In amongst that do not be fooled that my ambitions are not to be that. A bit of my planning and my strategy, in-house, is to have higher expectations and ambitions. We have to recognise what we are as a football club and how we are different to other clubs and then making that work for us.”