Switch ‘destabilises’ Blues
Marlow FC: Bartley questions whether FA has an agenda against his team after switch to Central league
Marlow boss Mark Bartley has questioned the FA's decision to move the Blues out of the Isthmian League South Central Division and into the Southern League Central Division, a decision he says they know will have a destabilising impact on his club's prospects next season.
Bartley and the FA haven't seen eye-to-eye on several issues in recent seasons, and the Blues' boss was due to finally have his FA hearing into his sending off in Marlow's home game with Chertsey earlier in the season this week.
However, he's been left mystified by the decision to switch Marlow out of the Isthmian League when there are several other teams who look more suited to the move based on geography alone.
Speaking about the potential move, which the club is set to appeal, Bartley said the Blues would 'stick out like a sore thumb' in the Central Division, and implied the FA may have an agenda against the club.
The impact of such a move is likely to have very few benefits. For a start, the club and the players will have to fork out more for travel costs next season as they look to play sides such as Biggleswade, Bedford, Cirencester and Kempston Rovers. That extra money must be found from somewhere and Bartley says it's most likely to come from the Blues' playing budget, impacting their ability to bring quality players through the door this summer.
The proposed move has also had an unsettling effect on the current crop of players, with Bartley saying several of them have already had conversations with him over whether they can stay with the club next season if it's moved to the Central Division. On top of this, Bartley feels he's now behind the curve when it comes to attracting new players to the club, because they need to know if they're going to be travelling to 'Ascot and Badshot Lea or Bedford and Ware'.
Finally, having done their homework on clubs in the Isthmian League - and been in the mix for promotion in the past two seasons - Bartley now must go back to the drawing board to do his research on a whole host of new clubs.
Bartley said: “It doesn't make sense. Clearly, we know they can move teams each year and that's fine, but there must be some kind of rationale behind it. Why would it be us and not Northwood they're the first team that jumps out to me. They're located further north than us. They're further round the M25 and closer to those other teams.
“For me it just doesn't sit right. There was no consultation at all. Our league didn't even know about this until yesterday (Monday). Over the last 10 years, we've been moved many times. You look at where we're located geographically, and it doesn't make any sense. We stick out like a sore thumb in that league. How did we end up being the club being moved?”
Bartley is aware the FA knows this decision puts his club on the back foot ahead of next season and impacts their chances of promotion, so he'll be asking a simple question when the club puts in its appeal. Why Marlow?
“It's already caused several conversations with the squad because of the geography,” he said. “Players that were happy to sign on again suddenly are not so certain so that's the first thing it does. Then there are the new players I want to go and engage with. How can I go and engage with them when they don't know if they're going to be travelling to Ascot and Badshot Lea or Bedford and
Ware? So, now I'm behind the curve already on that front. Another thing it does is screw up your preseason. I had three friendlies lined up against teams from that division (Southern Central) that I've now had to cancel. I also can't organise friendlies with teams in the Isthmian League so I'm in a situation where I've got to redesign my whole pre-season programme.
“I feel our case is strong. I've got nothing against Northwood, but geographically, if you look at that league it makes sense for them to move into it. If anyone moves from our league it surely must be them. We know the teams in our division now, we spend a lot of time doing our homework on them. But all that goes out of the window now potentially. We'll have to start again, and we might have to bring in different players. Not massive changes, but you might want to change things around the margins. It's hard for me to go out and engage with players because I don't know where we're going to be. Half the managers in this league reached out to me - how have they picked us?
“There are so many things. After a while it becomes difficult to have any faith in them and what they do. It feels like they can do whatever they want. They can make your life very difficult and that's what they're doing. Moving us into that division, they know that's destabilising for me and the club. My players are now unsure if they want to stay, there are additional costs for travel which undoubtedly will impact the playing budget. We'll travel further and I'll have less money for players.”
Marlow's assistant manager and goalkeeping coach Phil Brown tweeted: “Imagine a team in our league would only add 90 miles to their travelling next season but didn't get moved. We have added over 300 miles but get moved. It just proves it can't be a logical and factual decision.”
The FA has released the following statement: “We can now confirm the National League System (NLS) club allocations for Steps 1-6, subject to FA Council ratification. The allocations follow the completion of the recent Inter-Step and league play-offs at Steps 1 to 6 of the NLS.
“These allocations are subject to both FA Council ratification and any subsequent appeals and any amendments to these will be confirmed in due course.
“We would like to thank all of the clubs across the National League System for their hard work during the 2022-23 season and wish everyone the best of luck for next season.”
The Advertiser also put Bartley's comments to the FA but they failed to respond before the paper went to press on Thursday evening (May 18).