Midweek games 3rd March

[Olly]

So just to clarify, IF we guarantee a finish above Holbeach and in the top 2, are we definitely 100% up then? Sorry, needless to say Step 5 promotion is a funny thing, are there any circumstances in which we wouldn't go up finishing 2nd behind a team that isn't Holbeach cause I seem to remember King's Lynn being in some confusion at the end of the season when they finished 2nd behind Long Buckby, or did LB apply for promotion that year?

[Bob's Bitch]

So just to clarify, IF we guarantee a finish above Holbeach and in the top 2, are we definitely 100% up then? Sorry, needless to say Step 5 promotion is a funny thing, are there any circumstances in which we wouldn't go up finishing 2nd behind a team that isn't Holbeach cause I seem to remember King's Lynn being in some confusion at the end of the season when they finished 2nd behind Long Buckby, or did LB apply for promotion that year?

I'm guessing they didn't, or if they did it would've been the most laughable application ever, having seen their ground.

If we finish in the top three above Holbeach we're up. Talk about Wisbech applying now is silly, the deadline was ages ago. TBH all I care about is finishing in the top three above Wisbech, sure the girls would be nice, but I wouldn't be devastated if we lost out. Promotion is the most important thing.

Funnily enough last night I went through Holbeach's fixtures to see how they'd do in their worst case scenario. I could only see at worst a draw for them tonight, so I'm very surprised. I think we'll have promotion sewn up before the Wellingborough game.

[Formic]

Long Buckby did apply, and there was much confusion about whether their ground had been inspected / whether it had failed, sadly hampered by their club secretary passing away during this period. The rules were a bit different then too, with a "points-per-game" criterion used to decide who would go up.

The current extract from the FA handbook is as follows:-

"Step 4 and Step 5
At the end of the Playing Season the Clubs in the bottom two places in each of
the four divisions at Step 4 administered by the Northern Premier and Southern
Leagues, together with the Clubs in the bottom three places in each of the two
divisions administered by the Isthmian League will be relegated and placed in the
most geographically appropriate League at Step 5. Irrespective of any provision
contained within the Rules the Clubs finishing in bottom position in each of the
six Step 4 divisions will be relegated and will not be reprieved. These Clubs will
be replaced by the fourteen most suitable Clubs from the Leagues at Step 5 as
determined by the LC. The suitability shall be determined as the Club finishing
in 1st position in each Step 5 League which meets the entry criteria and wishes
to be considered for promotion. In the event of the 1st placed Club not being
eligible, the Clubs finishing in 2nd or 3rd position shall be subject to the same
criteria. In usual circumstances, no more than one Club will be promoted from any
one League. The Clubs to be promoted from Step 5 will be allocated to the most
geographically appropriate division at Step 4.
If vacancies remain, consideration will be given to reprieving those Clubs other
than bottom placed clubs relegated from Step 4 who will be ranked according
to the average number of points gained per games played and the Club with the
highest average shall be reprieved first. In the event of Clubs having an identical
record the Club to be reprieved shall be determined by the LC.
Any Club seeking promotion from Step 5 to Step 4 must make application to
the Association on the prescribed form, copied to their existing League, by 30th
November in the relevant year. The application must be accompanied by the
appropriate application fee, as determined by the LC, which is non refundable.
Applicant Clubs must achieve a minimum E Grade by 31st March in the Playing
Season when promotion is sought. "

The fact that only the Diamonds and Holbeach had applied was in the December UCL newsletter - http://www.afcdiamonds.com/ucl-newsletters-2014-15 - with more details of applications on other league websites - e.g. http://www.nwcfl.com/news-articles.php?id=4028

[Sid]

I listened to a couple of their fans before the game started talking about if they won the title could they apply for promotion now, one bloke thought it was highly possible they could. I wanted to say "no chance", but in the weird and wonderful world that is the UCL anything could happen. Let's win those last 10 games and put this thing to bed eh?[/quote]

People on here are always keen to have a go at the UCL over things that are not in any way connected to the league.
Clubs must apply to the FA by 30th November to be considered for promotion, Wisbech didn't and so cannot go up. So if we finish 3rd and Holbeach 4th we WILL be promoted.

[Trek]

Clubs must apply to the FA by 30th November to be considered for promotion, Wisbech didn't and so cannot go up.

I seem to recall that there was a Northern club, Shildon AFC, that applied for promotion but missed the deadline by a day or so and was told, by the FA, that there was no chance they could be considered for promotion.

[Three of Diamonds]

Our team is good enough not to need maybe's and ifs. Go win that league boys and TAKE it into your own hands, no one can argue with that.