County’s promotion hopes take huge hit
STOCKPORT County’s hopes of promotion this season look to be over.
The National League is set to vote on the outcome of the season by the close of business today - with an ‘ordinary resolution’ put before clubs to vote on.
Should the resolution be backed by clubs in the division – with a 51 per cent majority needed – then final league places would be decided on an unweighted points-pergame (PPG) basis.
That would see Barrow promoted to the EFL as champions, returning to the league for the first time in 48 years, while the play-offs would remain in place to decide who would join them.
With the play-offs in non-league working slightly differently to the EFL, six teams rather than four would earn a shot at going up.
Under PPG, five of those teams are already in playoff positions - Harrogate, Notts County, Yeovil, Boreham Wood and Halifax Town.
However, the league’s proposal to decide final placings via PPG would see Jim Gannon’s men – who have played 39 games – slip down to eighth while Barnet, who have only played 35 matches, leap from 11th to seventh to claim the final play-off spot. The proposed resolution will no doubt come as a huge blow for the Hatters, who were aiming to return to the Football
League for the first time in nine years.
But should clubs back the suggested resolution, it will put an end to months of uncertainty regarding how the current season will be decided.
The non-league season was brought to an end back in March when football was first suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, but has waited for the EFL to reach a resolution on how to end their own campaign before deciding on their own standings.
Last week, League One and League Two decided to curtain their seasons while retaining promotion and relegation. The matter of which team will be relegated to the National League is still undecided, as bottom club Stevenage could potentially be replaced by Macclesfield Town, who are awaiting the results of a disciplinary hearing relating to misconduct charges over unpaid wages.
The delay in the National League’s decision appear to lie in the matter of what to do at step two – the National League North and South.
Last Wednesday, just hours before a National League meeting was set to go ahead, clubs were told the proposed resolution would state that play-offs at step two would not go ahead. The reasoning was that step two is not considered “elite” sport under government advice, and therefore wasn’t eligible to have games take place behind closed doors. The guidance defines an elite athlete as a person who is: ●●AN individual who derives a living from competing in a sport. ●●A SENIOR representative nominated by a relevant sporting body.
●●A MEMBER of the senior training squad for a relevant sporting body. ●●AGED 16 or above and on an elite development pathway.
The proposal would see just one team - bottom side Chorley - relegated from step one, while the champions of National League North and South would be promoted (Bury’s expulsion from League One means fewer sides would be going down from step one).
Under PPG, York City would be replaced at the top of the North table, with King’s Lynn being promoted as champions, while Wealdstone would go up from the South and there would be no opportunity for other sides via the play-offs.
Various sides have voiced their displeasure over this, with York and Havant & Waterlooville submitting a new resolution adding that, should the play-offs not be played, then two teams should be promoted - that resolution was rejected.
A number of clubs, including King’s Lynn, have shown their support, piling more pressure onto the National League, while some MPs have taken up the matter with Oliver Dowden, secretary of state for DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), and Nigel Huddleston, the sports minister.
On Saturday, MP for Havant Alan Mak published a letter he sent to Brian Barwick, chairman of the National League, which stated that the government had not issued any specific directive about the National League, nor any view on its “elite” status. With the latest developments, there have been suggestions that the play-offs in step two could be reinstated.
The deadline for voting on the proposals was understood to have been on Sunday, but after a delay, clubs in the National League will finally be voting on how to decide the season.