When the allocations are set out for each of the non-league divisions, there are always a few who disagree with where clubs have been put. It’s very understandable, no one wants to travel further than they have to despite the fact being that the higher you go the more it’s likely to happen.
The country doesn’t split equally into four sections, if it did then we’d all be happy as Larry and nothing to complain about or question. That is not the only issue when it comes to putting these divisions together although some decisions you look at and think someone’s been on the sauce when they decided that one.
The whole pyramid is affected by the National League regardless of what anyone might think. Four relegation spots every year with the hope that they are filled by two Northern and two Southern clubs to keep all things equal.
Now, if it was that simple then much more tends to run smoothly across the board. But it’s practically impossible to do that because England is not a rectangle or square that divides easily. So, what are the options if indeed there are any?
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Would the solution be to add a Midlands division at Step 2 and capture those who aren’t far north enough to warrant being in that division or those who are too far south and face some impressive journeys to say the least instead?
Well the answer to that is it would alleviate a lot of the issues, but the problem then becomes needing six clubs to be relegated from the National League top division and that I can assure you is never going to happen, especially when only two are promoted out into the Football League.
It’s not ideal for those clubs who are on that borderline, they will get the rough end of the stick every time, but personally I don’t see a way round it. What I would like to see however is a central pot from the FA to help with increased travel costs for the year and a commitment to helping any club back to where they should be.
After all it’s not the fault of those clubs that too many from their neck of the woods got relegated forcing someone else into a different non-regional league, there is no control over that.
When you head down the pyramid, some leagues get a bit lucky in my opinion. There are some around who if they achieve promotion they could easily filter into two different leagues around Step 3 and 4, so while the perks are less higher up, they are there lower down, well that is until one or two sides above decide they need to take voluntary relegation and it all feels out of kilter again.
But there are also those who get the rough end of the stick. 24 team divisions below National League level shouldn’t ever be occurring. That is asking way too much of grassroots players on top of cup games as well. They’ll however be the first not to bleat how many games they’re playing at this level when in reality they’ve got more to say that ‘elite’ players should ever muster.
Others are getting stuck with 19 teams, a week off for every team twice in a season. Where the aim was to be a perfect pyramid, they seem to be making hard work of getting the numbers to add up.
Quite comfortably, there are clubs in the south of the country who could have stepped up allowing movement elsewhere to make the divisions exact, and whilst releasing the details for this season there should be a paper that tells you what their plan is to reduce those 24 or 22 team divisions, now if there is one then I’ve yet to see it so please point me in that direction if it exists.
This might sound like a bit of a rant, but the crux is you can’t please everyone but you should be pleasing in places where you can effect it, but then this wouldn’t be the FA if it was………
