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An overwhelming majority of fans of non-league clubs are in favour of reforming the voting structure of the National League, according to the results of a Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) survey.

In a worrying development in non-league, two clubs – Abingdon Town of the Hellenic League at Step 6, and Whyteleafe of the Isthmian League at Step 4 – have given up their league status for the 2021-22 season in disputes over stadium rent.

Two non-league clubs have taken the remarkable step of calling for a National League extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and a vote of no confidence in the chairman and the board.

The FA confirmed on Friday that the season for clubs at Step 2 of non-league (National League North and South) has been declared null and void, while the National League season at Step 1 will be played to a conclusion, with no promotion and relegation between the two tiers. 

Clubs at Steps 3 to 6 of non-league have received some clarity on their future, following the FA’s decision to curtail the 2020-21 season with immediate effect, but uncertainty remains at National League North and South level, where a group of clubs have launched a legal challenge to the league’s decision to declare the season null and void.

In a letter to the FSA, Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston has confirmed that ‘at no stage’ did the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) offer ongoing to support to the National League only in the form of grants. 

Uncertainty remains over the future of the 2020-21 season at non-league level, as clubs have been responding to consultations via the FA and the National League.

Earlier this week the government announced that clubs at Steps 3 to 6 of non-league would benefit from up to £10 million in grant funding to support them through the shutdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council agreed to list Basingstoke Town FC’s former home, the Camrose Stadium, as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), becoming the latest in a long list of football grounds that have received this protection.

The Government is facing growing calls from National League clubs to provide ongoing pandemic support in the form of grants, rather than the loans that have been promised under the Government’s Sports Winter Survival Package. Rather than become further indebted to play matches behind closed doors, there’s a growing fear that clubs could refuse to complete the season at the top levels of non-league as a result.

Against a backdrop of the national lockdown, the Trident Leagues at Steps 3 and 4 (Northern Premier, Southern and Isthmian) have indicated a preference to cancel all remaining league fixtures. They are surveying their member clubs for their views on whether to continue with the 2020/21 season.

Throughout the first national lockdown in the spring of 2020 we produced and updated guidance regularly as new government schemes for coping with the shutdown and its associated effects were announced.

The FA has announced that approval has been reached with the government and the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) for non-league clubs to admit spectators on the same principles as elite clubs, in a move which could prove a vital lifeline to struggling sides. 

Following the end of lockdown and the Government announcement of its new three tier system of local restrictions, non-league clubs and leagues face a number of issues, and clarification on the rules to be implemented throughout the non-league system will be vital to some clubs’ continued existence.

FSA member and community-owned football club Wythenshawe AFC are raising funds to improve the facilities at their Hollyhedge Park home.

A mixture of patchwork local restrictions and lack of a uniform approach to dealing with COVID-19 threatens the future of non-league clubs this season, as additional measures brought in to quell the pandemic in different regions are leaving an uneven playing field. 

Chester FC have written to the National League to ask for clarification on how the financial support package announced yesterday was determined, following a deal between the league and the National Lottery to provide emergency funding to clubs.

The new phoenix club, Bury AFC, set up following the expulsion of Bury Football Club back in August 2019, will start their life as a member of the North West Counties League Division One North on Saturday 3rd October with a game against Steeton at their new home sharing with Radcliffe FC. Richard Irving spoke to Phil Young, chair of the supporters’ trust at the community owned club, about the challenges that the club has faced since its set-up in March of this year.

The sports minister today confirmed that the Government will intervene to help non-league clubs survive the COVID-19 crisis – but he expects the Premier League to bail out the EFL.

Without paying spectators attending games, a significant number of non-league football clubs in the men’s game will cease to exist. The demise of teams in non-league will have a negative knock-on effect not only on players and club staff, but on fans’ health and well being, women’s and junior football in the local area, and the local economy. The FSA’s head of national game, Andy Walsh, explores further…