Lower league football seasons are officially ended

The Football Association yesterday (Thursday) confirmed that the FA Council had ratified the decision to end the campaigns from Step 3 and below in the non-League pyramid and declare the leagues null and void for the 2019-20 season.

The unprecedented decision had been taken following the outbreak of coronavirus, which brought all sport to a halt last month.

The decision had caused uproar from clubs who had either already secured promotion or were on the verge of doing so with over 150 teams signing an open letter to the FA in protest.

But it was rubber-stamped yesterday, meaning Diamonds will remain in the Southern League Premier Central and the Steelmen and Daventry will continue in the Division One Central while the United Counties League divisions will also remain the same.

Meanwhile, it appears Kettering Town’s and Brackley Town's National League North season could also be officially ended in the near future.

It is understood that the National League Board have recommended to member clubs to vote in favour of ending their seasons with immediate effect.

Should that happen, the Board will then ‘proceed with a poll of North and South clubs to determine the outcomes of the season across those divisions’ which would then be followed by a vote to determine the outcome of the National League campaign.

No matter how each season is ended, it should mean that Kettering will remain in the National League North for the next campaign whenever that gets under way while Brackley had been in the upper reaches of the table as they chased a play-off place.