Thousands sign petition calling on FA to rethink decision to null and void league seasons

More than 6,500 people have signed a petition calling on the FA to rethink its decision to scrap non league football from step three and down and declare the competition null and void.

The FA Council delayed a meeting which would potentially have seen the decision ratified this week after pressure from more than a hundred non league clubs, including Ascot United, to abandon the plan.

Dan Birchmore, secretary for the Yellamen, was one of the signatories on the open letter to the FA last week calling for a u-turn and saying the association had taken the decision with unnecessary haste.

The Yellamen were on course for promotion in the Combined Counties Premier Division, sitting 11 points clear of their closest rivals at the top.

MPs have also been acting on behalf of football clubs, lobbying the Department of Culture Media and Sport to make an intervention on their behalf.

The decision was backed by the FA Board and FA Women’s board late last month but is yet to be ratified, and, it’s clear that many thousands of people who have signed this petition believe it should be overturned.

Holyport are another of the teams that have been impacted by the FA’s decision.

They were very much on course for promotion from Hellenic League Division 1 East, but they’ll now have to hope they can keep their squad together to make another promotion bid next season. The top four in Division 1 East were set for promotion to a new step five level league in the Thames Valley area.

The National League are taking specialist legal advice before making a decision on whether they will play out their remaining games, however the season has been suspended indefinitely.

Click here to view petition