The Millers line up in a brand-new division, the Evo-Stik East, alongside 19 other teams, nine of whom Carlton have either never played or not played for many years. It is in many ways a step into the unknown.

Of the new sides that Carlton will face, six have been promoted from step 5 (AFC Mansfield, Marske Utd, Morpeth Town, Pickering Town, Pontefract Collieries and Wisbech Town). Two have transferred from the NPL First Division North (Tadcaster Albion and Brighouse Town) and one is a brand-new club, Ossett United, the result of a merger between two other First Division North clubs, Ossett Town and Ossett Albion.

Promoted sides from step 5 have, over the years, done very well in the NPL. Barwell, Ilkeston, Kings Lynn, Coalville, Shaw Lane, Alvechurch and Basford are all examples of teams who have come up from step 5 and gone on to gain further promotion relatively quickly. As such, much will be expected of the six promoted sides, although how all the teams will cope with the increased travelling remains to be seen.

Tadcaster finished just outside the playoffs last year while the two Ossett teams and Brighouse finished in the bottom half of the table.

The reduction of the division from 22 to 20 teams plus the reorganisation of the national league system means relegation is harder to avoid while promotion is harder to obtain! Why? Well we’re back to two down but given that there are now only 20 teams in the division it will be necessary to finish 18th place or higher to avoid the drop. Given the Carlton have finished 18th or 19th in each of the past four seasons, that highlights the challenge for the Millers.

At the other end of the table, because there are now seven step 4 divisions promoting into four step 3 divisions, only the league champions are guaranteed promotion.

At step 3 the bottom three in each division are relegated (12 teams in total) so in addition to the seven league champions at step 4 a further five teams will be promoted via the play-offs. Those play offs will take place as they do now (ie positions 2-5 in each of the seven divisions with semi-finals and a final) but, as there will be seven play-off winners but only five promotion places, the five teams promoted will be those with the best points-per-game average.

In other words, two teams will win their divisional play-offs but not be promoted. There could even be a scenario (say where the play off final in a particular division is between the teams finishing fourth and fifth) that the teams start the final knowing whatever happens they can’t be promoted. This may well change during the course of the season.

Scott organised pre-season so that Carlton would play all but one of their games against teams from higher levels, and that has undoubtedly given the players a stern test. With last season’s top three goalscorers no longer at the club, Scott will be looking to the host of new signings to hit the ground running and make as impressive a start as they did last year picking up 10 points in the opening five games.

It all gets underway at Tadcaster on Saturday so get behind the Millers and let’s get cracking.

Come on you Millers!