New Mills boss feels the pain of Vauxhall Motors and other sides hit by FA decision to scrap the league season

The FA took the controversial decision to wipe out the season for steps 3-6 of the non-league game following the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Amongst those worst affected are fellow North West Counties League Division One South rivals Vauxhall Motors, who were 27 points clear in the promotion race.

“I feel sorry for a lot of the team affected by the decision like Vauxhall Motors, who were already promoted,” said Birch.

“I know a couple of teams are challenging the FA decision to null and void the league. If it changed to points per game, I would be supportive of that.

“I can feel the pain for these clubs. Even at our level there's a lot of finance that goes into running the club and paying wages, whether it is £200 a week or £2,000 a week, it is still finance to find for clubs.

“There is a lot of finances and hard work going in and I just cannot wait for it all to get back to normal for the sake of everyone.

“The decisions are made for whatever reason, but it feels like the teams at the bottom are being rewarded and the ones at top punished.

“There were teams up there in the top four looking like they would go up. I feel for these clubs, they have worked hard all season and had good seasons.”

It is unclear at this stage if four teams will be eligible for promotion next season as part of a planned restructure further up the league ladder.

“If four teams go up next year, I’m not one of those who look at this season being voided and feel happy that it is good for us,” he said.

“Football brings us all together and you realise that once it is taken away from you, there is a big void in your life.

“I just hope everyone stays safe and well and we can get back to some sort of normality in the future.”

More than 140 teams have since put their name to a letter urging the FA to rethink their decision to protect the integrity of the game.

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