I made the mistake some time ago of saying I didn’t think that anything new could come up which could trouble me as chairman. How wrong could I be!
In the last couple of years, I’ve had one club go into liquidation [Thamesmead Town], a club trying to sign a player who was the subject of a Banning Order and a warning from The FA that there were “suspicious betting patterns” about a match. No-one, however, could have possibly foreseen Covid-19.
We know what happened, all football was suspended and Steps 3-7 saw their seasons terminated and records expunged. This was ratified by The FA Council but then challenged by a number of clubs, resulting in an arbitration under FA Rule K. The award of the tribunal was issued this week.
The leagues have not been able to comment until now because of the threat of arbitration but we now know that the challenge by one club, initially supported by others, has failed in its entirety (see page 7). It is worth stating what the leagues had to do at that time.
Let us remember that, in the middle of March, events were happening so quickly we did not know which way to turn.
One weekend, the Isthmian League had a full fixture list but clubs were advised not to have the “Respect” handshake. Our last matches were played on March 11 with all matches for the weekend of March 14 later canceled. Matters changed not just every day but literally by the hour.
Football was suspended from March 21 and no matches have been played since.
It was about that time we all learned about Zoom. The only Zoom I had known previously was a Lyons iced lolly back in the day! Now suddenly we were having video conferences once or twice a day.
Esta historia es de la edición June 14, 2020 de The Non-League Football Paper.
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Esta historia es de la edición June 14, 2020 de The Non-League Football Paper.
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CRAIG'S BOOSTS
MANAGERIAL stalwart Craig Edwards is back in charge of Barking – 23 years after he left!
LENNIE GETS THE LOVE
VETERAN caretaker chief Lennie Lawrence says he is “excited” to be handed the reins at Hartlepool United permanently – just a few weeks before his 77th birthday!
MOTORS FEELS LIKE HOLMES!
WHEN he was younger, Danny Holmes played video games that simulated being a football manager.
REES HITS FAB FOUR AS TOWN ROMP IT
RICARDO REES struck four times to help Merthyr Town maintain their spot at the top of the table with a dominant home win against play-off chasing Havant & Waterlooville.
DULWICH DISPLAY DELIGHTS COACHES
GOALS from Danny Mills, Luke Wanadio and Lorenzo’s stoppage-time finish fired Dulwich Hamlet to a comfortable win over fellow play-off hopefuls Potters Bar Town, though the scoreline doesn’t tell the full story.
ANCHORS A RAPID
ASHTON UNITED hit two goals in two minutes to come from behind to win at Stockton Town.
SEAGULLS KEEP THE HEAT ON ROMANS
BATH City were made to pay for their mistakes by high-flying Weston-super-Mare.
CLINICAL COLEMAN KEEN AS MUSTARD
CIAN COLEMAN’S hat-trick lifted Buxton to their highest league position of the season as they became the latest side to frustrate Scunthorpe.
KEV SEES RED IN REE PANT!
SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher hit out at referee Abigail Byrne following his side’s defeat to Yeovil Town at Roots Hall.
MARVEL MATTY DENIES MOORS
BOTH managers insisted their teams deserved more after Altrincham came from behind to steal a point in a six-goal thriller at Solihull Moors.