Promotion can be achieved in many different ways. A runaway success that sees a side finish all alone on top of the table, a dramatic last-day surge into the top two, or even a heart-stopping penalty shoot-out win in the play-off final in Cardiff.

Yesterday, though, 72 Football League clubs made history after being promoted by the stroke of a pen.

With Nationwide having come to the end of their sponsorship deal, the Football League will be sponsored by Coca-Cola next season.

And, in their infinite wisdom, the soft drinks company, in conjunction with the authorities, decided that the old system of Divisions One, Two and Three needed to go.

So instead of good old Division One, Sunderland will find themselves playing in The Coca-Cola Football League Championship next year.

Hartlepool might have missed out on promotion after play-off defeat to Bristol City, but they'll still be in Coca-Cola Football League One anyway.

And as for Darlington, well they might have struggled against the drop for most of the last campaign, but they've still ended up in Coca-Cola Football League Two.

Apparently the changes have come about because of a "major survey of supporters and non-supporters" that resulted in a "new logo and naming strategy".

So own up, which of you decided you'd be more likely to go and watch a match in the Football League Championship than in the First Division?

None of you I dare bet, but that's what you'll be asked to do next season as the Football League looks to jazz itself up.

Because, despite the fact that attendances outside the top-flight rose by 6.8 per cent last season, the Football League still feels like the Premiership's baby brother.

It wants the glitz and the glamour that has accompanied top-flight football since the advent of the Premiership in 1992.

And it thinks it can get that by carving out a distinct niche, separate from the 20 clubs above it in the pecking order.

But, like so many re-branding exercises, the latest name change is little more than an expensive waste of money.

The name of the competition will increase neither interest nor exposure - it is the quality of the footballing experience that will dictate how the league is received.

Attendances were up last season for two main reasons. Firstly, the football on display was good enough and interesting enough to get people through the turnstiles.

The advent of the play-offs means interest is maintained to the final week of the season and the competitive nature of the three divisions means most games have an unpredictability often missing in the top-flight.

Secondly, the gradual introduction of new, improved stadia has attracted a generation of fans who might otherwise have chose to stay at home on a Saturday afternoon.

Those processes are what the Football League should be focusing its attention on this summer.

It should be marketing the high-quality product it already has at its disposal, and making money available for other clubs to improve the facilities they are able to provide.

It should not be pumping cash into the kind of cosmetic changes which annoy football fans and make the game harder to follow for the casual observer.

The Post Office changed its name to Consignia in 1991, but was forced into a humiliating reversal that saw the company revert to its original title just ten years later.

People didn't care what the company was called, they just wanted their letters delivering on time. When that wasn't happening, the new funky name did nothing to placate the complaints.

Similarly, football fans just want the chance to watch good football in a pleasant environment.

The fact they're watching it in the Coca-Cola Football League Championship rather than the First Division will not matter one jot.