ANOMALY HINDERS TIVIDALE

TIVIDALE this week lost their appeal to The FA after being refused promotion to the Total Motion Midland Premier because of an “invisible” anomaly.

The Beeches View Avenue club finished second in the feeder West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division, but the Midland League instead selected their own Division One runners-up Ilkeston Town.

At a hearing at Wembley on Tuesday, the FA ruled that Midland League One has a direct link with the Premier, while the West Midlands (Regional) League acts as an independent competition, and therefore league officials were entitled to choose Ilkeston over Tividale.

But the FA has ordered an investigation by its Leagues Committee into the anomaly which has given one Step 6 feeder superiority over a supposedly-equivalent league, and find a way in which they can be made equal.

The Midland League was formed in 2014 by the amalgamation of the Midland Alliance and the Midland Combination. The West Midlands league refused to be absorbed into the new set-up, but remained as one of its feeders, as did the East Midlands Counties League.

Until now, clubs assumed that all three Step 6 divisions were equal in every respect. Tividale said that had they know about the true situation, when relegated a year ago, they would have asked to enter Midland One rather than their current league.

Disappointed Tividale general manager Leon Murray said: “The fact that Tividale raised this anomaly with the FA means that other teams can benefit in the future.”