PROMOTE ON MERIT OR NOT AT ALL, DENT

SHILDON AFC chairman David Dent has called on the Football Association to give Step 5 and 6 clubs a chance to secure promotion “on merit, not through a mathematical calculation”. With the curtailment of the 2020/21 season still awaiting ratification from the governing body, thoughts are turning towards the delayed restructure of the National League System. The Railwaymen were one of several clubs who looked set to secure promotion into Step 4 as they were sat in the top three of the Northern League’s top tier when the Covid-19 epidemic brought an early end to last season. However, the FA chose to null and void all results throughout the campaign and opted to postpone their planned restructure for another 12 months. Now, despite a second consecutive season being brought to a premature end, talks on ongoing as to how and when to implement the restructure and introduce a new division into Step 4. There has been speculation that clubs below Step 4 could be asked to apply for promotion ahead of a hectic summer, but Shildon chairman Dent believes that delaying the restructure and allowing clubs to fight for promotion over an entire season is the only way forward. “It would be very difficult to see how any restructure would take place this year because of the null-and-void decision taken this time last year,” he told The NLP. “This season has been curtailed, and it’s now very difficult to see how any promotion or relegation could take place after that decision was taken. “Look, we are ambitious as a club, we want to get promotion and if it were offered to us this summer, we would accept it – but there would have to be significant waivers in that. “Our revenue has taken a severe hit; we would need extra time to cover the cost and carry out the necessary ground improvements to meet the relevant criteria. “But the way I see it, we will hopefully have a full season next season and that will allow clubs to be promoted based on merit, not through a mathematical calculation.” Shildon released a statement earlier this year suggesting that the current season should be put on hold and restarted from its current point in August. The idea received support from a number of sources but Dent insists that “ship has sailed” and is now preparing for a new season to start later in the summer. “That was something we believed in as a football club and we gave careful thought to how we put the idea across,” he added. “I still believe that would have provided the Non-League game with a suitable way of moving on from the last 12 months. “But the ship has sailed on that after the curtailment of the season and everybody at Shildon is now preparing for what will hopefully be a full and uninterrupted season that will start in August.”