South and North clubs are treated like ‘absolute peasants’ by the National League – Hawks boss Doswell hits out

The Hawks boss labelled the governing body a 'shambles' and has called on the board - led by chairman Brian Barwick - to resign for their handling of the vote to decide the outcome of the 2020/21 season.

Doswell is convinced that both National League South and North divisions will be declared 'null and void' while the National League will continue.

He claims the 43 clubs in the sixth tier of the English pyramid are treated like 'peasants' by the league authority.

And he feels the National League are in the midst of the 'biggest PR disaster they've ever faced' as a pandemic-scarred season descends into farce.

Speaking as a guest on The Non-League Banter Show last night, Doswell did not hold back on his assessment of how the league have handled the voting situation.

‘The whole thing is a shambles,’ he remarked.

‘I think the National League is a shambles and I think the National League board should resign.

‘I run a very successful business my end, (but) it would have been bankrupt if it was run by them.

‘They’re absolute clowns and have turned this season into an absolute farce, it’s probably the most unenjoyable season in my 25 years in management.

‘The North and South (divisions) are treated like absolute peasants by this league.

‘They’re in the middle of the biggest PR disaster the league has ever had.'

All 66 clubs across the National League are voting on whether or not they can continue playing this season amid the funding crisis.

It appears increasingly likely a majority of clubs in the sixth tier will say it’s not financially possible for them to carry on playing.

Doswell admits the situation is being played out like a 'slow death'.

He feels clubs were not given enough time and were pressured into a decision on the way they voted as a result.

‘It’s going to be null and void, in my opinion, 99.9 per cent it’s going to be null and void,' Doswell added.

‘This is just being played out like a slow death, it’s one of the slowest deaths I’ve ever seen in football.

‘I look at my players - we’ve not won any of our last four games - I’ve found it very hard to motivate the players in the past few weeks.

‘I think it’s been hard to motivate anyone at the club, to be honest.

‘As much as we want to continue you can only see from the North and the South that’s not going to happen.’

The South and North divisions were suspended for a fortnight on January 22 after news broke that loans were only being offered for a three-month period compared to National Lottery grants banked in October-December.

Prior to that announcement, Hawks had placed themselves in a third 10-day period of self-isolation after numerous players, backroom staff and directors had tested positive for Covid-19.

Doswell believes the fortnight suspension should have been doubled.

‘If I have to make someone redundant at work it’s almost a four-week process - you want to look at all the cons, pluses and making sure you’re doing the right things,’ he remarked.

‘Clubs were given almost two days and then being pressured into taking that vote.

‘If it was stopped - it should have been because we were bang in the middle of the worst Covid I’ve seen - that was the time to stop it.

‘It was the time to stop it when my chairman (Derek Pope), his wife and kit man (Richard Pope) were all on their death beds.

‘It was a time to stop so we could all have looked at it over a four-week period and had the solutions in front of us.

‘It would have given clubs a lot more time to explore all the different avenues.

‘They’ve not been given the time and they’ve panicked, which is what you always do in a vote thrust on you.

‘Most clubs have panicked into voting early.'