Sussex clubs’ protest to FA may come to an end
Sussex clubs at the forefront of the battle to save the nonleague season from being written off have admitted it is looking unlikely the decision will be overturned.
Worthing and Hastings have joined South Shields in exploring whether the FA Council’s ratification of the decision to expunge 201920’s results for all step three to seven leagues can be the subject of a further appeal.
Legal advice is still being sought but it is looking increasingly as though the likes of Worthing, Hastings, Lancing and Littlehampton will have to accept their fate and wave goodbye to the promotion hopes that were gaining strength before football was suspended in the coronavirus pandemic.
Horsham accepted some time ago they were not budging from the Isthmian premier for next season even though they were still in with a chance of claiming a playoff spot when fixtures were suspended.
Hornets boss Dominic Di Paola has taken the view football authorities had no choice to but scrap the 201920 season.
He said he had great sympathy for teams who looked in with a good chance of promotion, but said you couldn’t rewrite the rules halfway through a campaign.
Last Thursday an overwhelming majority of the 102 members of the FA
Council approved the move proposed by league and FA officials to write off the 2019-20 season and expunge results for leagues including the Isthmian League and SCFL.
Their vote came despite a nine-page legal letter backed by 151 clubs from across the country protesting that the decision had been rushed and taken without adequate consultation of affected clubs.
Worthing were seven points clear at the top of the
Isthmian premier and in line for promotion to National League South for the first time when their season was axed.
Chairman Barry Hunter said: “We’ve been very active in this process all the way through, one of the clubs spearheading discussions.
“We are still talking to lawyers about the options for clubs. We don’t like or agree with the decision ratified by the FA Council last week but may have to accept it. If that’s what happens, we’ll come back stronger next season.
“We were 80 per cent of the way through the season and were seven points clear with an opportunity to reach the highest level in our history. To have the FA say our record is expunged has been very hard. Our women’s team were in a similarly good position in their league so they have also been hit.
“It’s incredibly disappointing. The decision was flawed, rushed and there was not sufficient consultation.
“We’re still looking at the feasibility of options but have to look at whether any sort of appeal would be successful.
“It’s important to say we all recognise there are bigger agendas – we’re not trying to say this is more important than wider issues in the pandemic, of course. But we want supporters to know we have worked tirelessly to challenge this.
“We have been doing a lot of work off the park as a club and have managed our finances and hunkered down. We will come out stronger at the end of it.”
It is a similar message from Billy Wood, CEO at Hastings United, who topped the Isthmian south-east division when football froze and were favourites for promotion to the premier division.
Wood told us: “We’ve been one of the clubs leading the charge and are still negotiating with lawyers. We understand the obstacles ahead of us and are seeking legal clarity on the decision.
“We do feel it’s been a case of one rule for one, one for another, and if the same outcome was arrived at for clubs in the National League then it would be a lot easier to take. But because of Bury there is a spare space in the Football League to fill, so if that is to be taken by a club promoted from the National League that brings other issues into play.
SCFL sides Lancing, of the premier division, and Littlehampton, from division one, also led their leagues when fixtures were suspended.