Doswell desperate to avoid ‘null and void’ season – but Hawks’ National League rivals are voting that way

The 68 NL clubs have been asked by the league to vote on bringing the season to a premature end due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

If the overall vote is in favour of that, clubs will then be asked how they want the season to end - either null and void or points-per-game (PPG).

Below the National League, steps 3-7 of the non-league pyramid have already been declared null and void by the Hampshire FA.

Hawks have already said they are completely opposed to null and void - no real surprise considering they are second in the NL South, just three points behind leaders Wealdstone, with eight matches left.

Westleigh Park boss Paul Doswell favours trying to complete 2019/20 if at all possible - even if games restart in June, July or even later.

If that is not an option, he believes PPG is ‘a fair way to go. It rewards the teams that have done the best for 80% of the season and it’s going to be harsh for teams inside the relegation zone but in every part of life there are winners and losers and that’s the second most fairest way.

‘The fairest way obviously is to finish the season, the second most is certainly points per game and the system I think is totally wrong is to null and void the season.’

Four clubs have so far said they will vote for null and void - NL top flight outfits Maidenhead and Dagenham, NL South club Oxford City and NL North club Hereford FC.

Oxford City finance director Paul Lyon said: ‘The only sensible option is for us to finish now.

‘I’m guessing it’s the same position for a lot of clubs.’

While Premier League and EFL clubs could yet complete their seasons behind closed doors, Lyon admitted that was ‘not an option’ at NL South level.

‘If that was the case (playing behind closed doors) we would have no income from the gate or the bar.

“Premier League and EFL clubs have the ability to stream games and generate revenue that way, but it’s not an option at National League level.”

‘We just want our season to be over.

‘Whatever they decide, we will go with the majority.

‘We have to remember people have died and won’t get a second chance.

‘Maybe we just need to put football on the back burner and come back next season.’

Maidenhead United CEO Jon Adams said: Our view is that you have to look at the situation objectively, and we feel it’s right to end the season.’

The National League have been criticised for asking clubs to vote on bringing 2019/20 to a close without knowing what the options will be after that.

Adams has sympathy for the NL officials.

“Leadership has to come from the top down, rather than the bottom up,’ he said.

‘It shouldn’t be left to the National League to sort out what’s happening with the football season, without any knowledge of what’s happening in the Premier League and EFL.

‘The National League is in between a rock and a hard place

‘There are a lot of clubs that want to finish the season and others that don’t want to finish the season.

‘They’re trying the best they can in this situation and they’ve recommended for clubs to end the season. It’s taken them some time to get here, and that’s been frustrating to a lot of clubs, but it’s difficult to make these decisions from the bottom up.

‘There has been a lot of debate over how the league can ask clubs to end the season if we don’t know what the options are.

‘Our view is ‘let’s just end the season and then work out what the best solution is’.

‘But other clubs don’t agree with that and it’s difficult to make decisions objectively when your club is in the promotion or relegation positions.’

Managers, certainly those at clubs with something still to play for, will obviously see things in a totally different way.

FC Halifax boss Pete Wild - whose side were aiming for promotion from the National League when the season was halted - said: ‘Let’s take a common sense approach.

‘You’ve probably got the bottom six who clearly want it ended for obvious reasons, you’ve probably got a middle group of teams that aren’t really bothered because they’re not going anywhere and it’ll save costs, and so the minority are probably the ones that want the season to continue because we’re playing for something.

‘Everybody’s in it for their own self-gain, which is the way of life, so the harsh reality of that is that not many people will want the season finished to a conclusion.’

Should the season be written off completely, Wild admits that would leave him and the Town squad feeling they had been cheated of their opportunity to earn promotion.

No doubt Doswell would feel the same at Hawks.

‘The fans have spent their hard earned money travelling up and down the country to support their team and what have they got for their money at the end of it?’ Wild asked. ‘Absolutely nothing if it’s null and voided.

‘For us, it’s our job, and when you go to work, you try to be the best you can be and for all your hard work over 10 months to be ignored and null and voided, that’s 50 appearances in a players’ career being wiped away.

“They’re things you work all your life to get better at, just for it to be null and voided, I just think it can’t happen.’

Dartford boss Steve King - whose side are in the NL South play-off zone - has a similar view to Doswell.

‘Until we’re in a position to see those proposals we shouldn’t be voting in any way to finish the regular season,’ he said.

‘Clubs could be inadvertently sealing their own fate without realising.

‘As football people we would all like our seasons to be finished on the football pitch when guidance is to do so.

‘Moves have been made by the Premier League and the EFL where they are starting to look at timelines for returning.

‘They will be getting advice from very experienced and professional people – they won’t be plucking dates out of the air.

‘I don’t see, though, why if they go back – with more games to play – we can’t resume our season as well. It would be easier to manage at this level.

‘That would allow us to get the same resolution as the Premier League and the EFL. We all want to win and get promotions the right way.

‘Why would clubs vote to end the season now without seeing the circumstances? Let’s look at each division. In the National League, probably down to Bromley in 13th place, everyone will feel if the season resumes they all have a chance of the play-offs.

‘Certainly the bottom four of the National League are not going to vote to end the season now as they will possibly sign and seal their own relegation.

We should all be treated in the same way. We all come under the same umbrella of the National League. There shouldn’t be one outcome for Step 1 and another for Step 2. The same pandemic has stopped us all playing football. It should be the same outcome.

‘In the National League North, all the teams down to Darlington and, in the South, down to Hemel Hempstead will fancy their chances of breaking into the top seven.

I’ve been talking to a lot of managers about this. The way a number of us feel is we aren’t going to make the decision to close off our season until we know what the proposals are.

‘Why would we do it before knowing? We want to play the season out.’

There is a lot of confusion in the NL. While each of the 24 NL top flight clubs get a vote on whether to bring the season to an end, the 22 NL South clubs only get four between them and so do the 22 NL North clubs.

And even within the game, there is uncertainty.

Ian Allinson, boss at NL South club St Albans City, said: ‘I’d imagine [the overall decision] will be to just void the leagues.

‘I don’t know how you break our four votes down. We all vote I take it, but I don’t know. What does our vote mean to the four votes?’

Hawks and the other NL South and NL North clubs have received £13,636 each as part of the £2m cash handout from the Premier League to the National League. The NL top flight clubs have banked

But Allinson believes more needs to be passed down from the cash-rich clubs at the top of the pyramid to safeguard the future of those in non-league.

He said: ‘The National League made a statement to say thank you to the Premier League for the money, which is great, but there is no additional money.

‘I think all the clubs including ourselves would be looking for additional money from the Premier League or the FA to help us over this period.

‘At first we thought brilliant but it is only money we would have got in August. You’ll be fine now but short in September.

‘The managing director of Dagenham & Redbridge said the National League need £15m to £20m to survive over the next three months. That’s probably a truer reflection, not £2m.

‘That’s where I would say what support can non-league clubs get because there is no revenue coming in.

‘We’re relying on the Premier League or the FA or whoever to support non-league.’