Salisbury City fans understandably feel aggrieved after their appeal against expulsion from the Conference South was dismissed by the Football Association a few days before the start of the season. They consider that they were ‘stitched up’ by the FA and the Football Conference.
Salisbury City fans understandably feel aggrieved after their appeal against expulsion from the Conference South was dismissed by the Football Association a few days before the start of the season. They consider that they were ‘stitched up’ by the FA and the Football Conference.
Salisbury City are not blameless in this matter as the club should never have been taken in by someone whom they now allege is a Moroccan fraudster who has failed to invest in the club as promised. The football authorities are also in a difficult position as he is still legally in control of the club, although efforts are being made to set that aside in the courts.
Nevertheless, the football authorities should do more to help clubs who get into this sort of mess. The attitude of the FA and the leagues is that ‘the rules are the rules’ and, of course, they are always open to accusations of unfairness and inconsistency if they show leniency. However, this has been a particularly chaotic summer in the non-league system with promotions and relegations being changed at a relatively late stage or competitions being left with odd numbers of teams.
A city the size of Salisbury should be able to sustain a Conference level club and I feel very sorry for the club’s fans who are relatively powerless.