BORO ARE SET FOR DROP AS SILKMEN ESCAPE...
STEVENAGE are set to be relegated into the National League after Macclesfield Town were only deducted two points by an Independent Disciplinary Panel.
The League Two season was concluded on an unweighted points-pergame basis last week, but the only relegation spot couldn’t be confirmed due to a misconduct charge hanging over the Silkmen.
Macclesfield were just three points above Stevenage having already been deducted 11 points this season for rule breaches relating to the non-payment of players’ wages and for not fulfilling fixtures.
The club were also given a suspended two-point deduction in May which has now been activated due to further breaches of EFL regulations, with an additional four-point penalty imposed and suspended ahead of the 2020-21 season.
It would be activated in the event of the club being found to have committed any further breach of Regulation 63.7 by not paying its registered players on time during next season.
The Silkmen have also been ordered to deliver a professionally prepared business plan to the EFL, seeking to demonstrate sustainable financial resources and management to be put in place for next season and beyond by July 31.
The club have been fined £20,000 by the aforementioned date subject to the EFL, in its absolute discretion, considering whether to waive, defer or repay the same in the light of the business plan required.
The punishment means Macclesfield stay in 23rd place with an amended points total of 23, one more than rock-bottom Stevenage, who are set to return to Non-League for the first time since 2010, under the newly agreed 2019/20 curtailment regulations outlining the 24th-placed club will be relegated to the National League.
Their fate hasn’t yet been confirmed with an EFL statement saying: “This remains subject to ongoing discussions in respect of the 2019/20 National League play-offs and the EFL Board receiving the necessary assurances that the National League will start Season 2020/21 (i.e. the relegated Club from League Two has somewhere to play).”
Macclesfield said: “We would like to express our gratitude to the Independent Arbitration Panel for their unquestionable diligence, in reaching what we deem to be a fair and unbiased conclusion.”