BOGGINS: WE ARE CREATING AN ELITE DIVIDE!

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD Town chairman Dave Boggins says Step 2 taking a different decision to Step 1 will only see the gap between the two levels get bigger.

The National League South club say they want to continue the season to completion.

But with a growing feeling Step 2 will end up being null and void should the first resolution for each level to make their own decision pass, Boggins is convinced that won’t help the margin between them to decrease.

“We’ve got some money as a grant and we’ve applied to Sport England for a little bit but we’ve cut our cloth accordingly and we’re ready to go to the end,” Boggins said.

“What I’ve felt all along is that if the North and South stop and the National League carry on then we are creating a divide.

“There is already a divide there as such, but it’s only going to widen it. As a competition we want to try and close that gap, not widen it. That’s disappointing, very disappointing.

“We accepted the first grant money on the basis we would start our league and finish it. The elite status for us is exceptional – I am proud of that fact, and I want to carry on.

“As everybody knows, the ‘R’ rate is falling, the vaccines are flying out and the unfortunate deaths are coming down. For me, it’s the wrong time to be finishing the league.

“It can only be finance. If clubs are finishing because of finance, then they haven’t cut their cloth properly in October.”

Boggins says the Tudors, managed by Lee Bircham and Steve Bateman, cut deals with players before the season kicked off to mitigate for the Covid climate.

“We’ve known about this pandemic since March,” he said. “We didn’t start the season until October. So we’ve all known the situation is bad.

“I went to every one of my players and said, ‘You’ve got to take half money until this is over’. They all agreed and even said if it gets bad they will play for nothing.

“I’ve got honest views. I see no reason for us to stop when everything is going in the right direction.”