Curtailment could aid the restructure
Western League chairman John Pool believes the curtailment rather than the null and void of the season allows The FA to continue their hopes of restructuring the non-league pyramid.
Speaking on a recent Western League podcast with Ian Nockolds, he also said that there has been no word on whether the restructuring would take place and that although the league confirmed there would be no supplementary cup competition, they did try to create one.
The FA announced the curtailment of the season two weeks ago but stressed it wasn’t a second null and void like the 2019/20 season, however Pool believes talks of curtailment hadn’t been made until it was announced.
He said: “Everything that was prepared in regards to the surveys and such like did not mention curtailment in any way shape or form. This was dropped on us when the press release came out on the Wednesday [February 24] night. The clarification was sought with what is the difference between null and void and curtailment and that is really where I think things became somewhat clearer.
“It was yet again back around of the restructuring process. By allowing the season to be curtailed it allowed them to be able to take all of the statistics from this last season - I wouldn’t suggest the previous season but even maybe - but that was where curtailment became the prime reason for the terminology. Null and void would have meant quite simply that they would have had to expunge all records.
“It led into Mark Frost, who’s chairing the meetings, quite simply stating that a feasibility study was going to be undertaken to see whether there was any merit in going forward with the restructuring process.
“I think if they go ahead with the restructuring I think that’s inevitable. There’s a real determination in my view, and I think it’s a view that we all share from the Western League board’s point of view, is they desperately want to get this other step 5 division up and running in the Thames area, and they also want to be looking at the other division in what I think is the North and the Midlands at Step 4.
“They aren’t going to be satisfied until at such time they can get that moving. The effect that that is going to have is, looking from the outside in, is the Hellenic League is probably going to take the biggest hit by having to offer clubs up to this new Thames league.
“Therefore it would mean that clubs could be vulnerable from a Western League perspective of being taken into the Hellenic League, as would be the Combined Counties which is adjacent to the Hellenic League.
“I have spoken to the Hellenic League to ask if they’ve got any plans, they say they haven’t but you’d have to draw your own conclusions in regards to the position that some of our clubs find themselves in the footprint that’s been created for the Western League and Hellenic League.
“On Wednesday at the meeting, one question was posed about compulsory promotion and the answer that came back was that nobody would be moved to take promotion. They did add the rider that nobody would be relegated, that was a statement that came from them. There will be no clubs relegated.
“Everything appears to be quite vague at the moment with regards to this restructuring process. We know what the plans are, they’ve laid them out, but whether they’re going to use the present situation and apply different terms and conditions, I can’t really answer that because I don’t know what the thinking is.
“I don’t see any reason why they should if they want to push on with it but to go and say they won’t force any club to go up, I mean if they said to one of the Western League clubs well laterally you’ve got to move, does that give them the right to say ‘no we’re going to.’ We’ve not been a party to any of the restructuring thoughts that go behind the restructuring. Everything has been laid out to us.”
In light of the curtailment at Steps 4-6, some leagues have decided to run a supplementary cup competition between April and May to fill the void left by the decision once the lockdown is lifted and sport can be resumed. The Western League decided not to run such a competition, citing it was unfeasible to do so with clubs in the FA Vase, so have decided to finish the 2019/20 Les Phillips Cup instead - which was at the semifinal stage.
Pool said: “A couple of colleagues did a lot of work on this and came up with various options in terms of knockouts and things and we put together what we considered was an extremely good format. But the problem we have is again referencing clubhouses and spectators.
“There’s no clarification on whether that’s going to be acceptable to have people coming in or not - against which we’ve still clubs involved in the FA Vase and the intention is to continue with the Les Phillips Cup so that we can get that completed.
“Therefore at that point in time it felt for us to launch any other competition would probably mean that them clubs would choose not to participate - it just didn’t appear to be what would have been considered as the best solution.
“Everybody wants to play football again and for us to be trying to launch any competition that’s not going to get complete support it would seem a bit pointless when we’ve got clubs that are already going to be participating, albeit not everyone I appreciate, in competitions anyway. And there’s nothing stopping any of these clubs from getting together and organising their own competitions.