RUGBY TOWN: Adams disappointed that season null and void

Rugby Town's season appears to have reached its conclusion following an announcement by the Football Association regarding the non-league football pyramid last Thursday, writes Jon Venner.

The FA have decided that the best course of action in the light of the ongoing coronavirus crisis is to declare that all grassroots football has been concluded for the 2019/20 term, and furthermore the results and standings within a number of levels of the pyramid will be declared null and void.

The announcement covers steps 3 to 7 of the non-league structure, and therefore incorporates both Town's United Counties League Premier Division endeavours and those of Rugby Borough two levels lower in the Leicestershire Senior League.

Reacting to the decision, Valley boss Carl Adams said: "It was always going to be a tough call for the authorities, but naturally we are disappointed considering the excellent form we had been in ahead of the suspension of matches.

"I firmly believe with the way we had been performing and the results we were getting that we were set for a top two finish and with it the chance of promotion, but I appreciate that there is a bigger picture to consider also."

Town sat in 3rd place in the UCL Premier table when the league was paused with only eleven games of their season remaining after a fine run had seen them win ten of the eleven fixtures before that.

Adams continued: "I personally would have liked to have explored a way of fitting in the remaining games somehow even if it meant going into the summer, and I also think this call has come quite early, but it's one of those things and these are unprecedented times."

At the point of termination, Valley were seven points behind league leaders Quorn with three games in hand, with Shepshed sandwiched between the two sides - whilst in their league Borough occupied 4th spot, but were 24 points behind the table topping Allexton & New Parks from three less games played.

There had been speculation that the FA had considered allocating promotion and relegation places through a calculation of points per games already played. Under this scenario, Town's ratio of 2.11 was narrowly short of Quorn's 2.13, with Shepshed way ahead on 2.40 points.

Adams reflected: "It's difficult to see a fair way of doing it. Deciding it on a snapshot before all the games have been completed doesn't take into account things like form, who had who left to play and many other factors too."

Explaining the background to the decision, the FA posted the following content on their website:

The National League System (NLS) and the women’s football pyramid were able to build a consensus amongst their leagues and, where possible, aimed to create a consistent approach across all leagues, whilst taking into account the unique characteristics of each individual league.

As a result, The FA and NLS steps three to six have reached a consensus that their 2019-20 season will now be brought to an end, and all results will be expunged. This will mean no promotion or relegation of clubs between NLS steps three to six, and no promotion to NLS step two.

These decisions will also apply to the leagues and clubs who play at NLS step seven.

We will continue to assist and support the National League (NLS steps one and two) to determine the outcome of its 2019-20 season as quickly as possible. The planned implementation of the restructure of the NLS will also now be deferred until the start of the 2021-22 season.

Furthermore, we can now confirm that we have decided that all grassroots football is concluded for the 2019-20 season. This will allow the game to move forward and to commence planning for next season. Our County Football Associations (CFAs) will be supporting grassroots leagues over the coming days to determine how they should close out their current competitions.

Where appropriate, the above decisions will be put to The FA Council for ratification.

Throughout this period we continue to seek guidance in respect of the government’s financial support packages relative to COVID-19 and how they are applicable to clubs in the NLS, the women’s football pyramid and the wider grassroots game.

# Following on from the FA announcement, a number of non-league clubs have sent a joint letter to the FA expressing their 'profound concern and displeasure regarding the decision to null and void entirely the 2019/20 playing season'.

The letter asks the FA to reconsider their judgement prior to final ratification and its 66 signatories include the top two sides in Rugby's UCL Premier Division Quorn and Shepshed, as well as the similarly placed Coventry United and Sporting Khalsa in Town's previous home the Midland Football League.