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Post by andycapp on Jun 10, 2010 14:46:44 GMT
Salisbury City have lost their appeal against a two division demotion and will start the new season in the Southern Premier League.
The Whites broke Football Conference rules because they were unable to pay back a creditor by a set deadline, having come out of administration.
The decision means Forest Green Rovers will retain their place in the Blue Square Bet Premier.
It also means Weston-super-Mare stay in the Blue Square South.
Last year, Salisbury signed a three-year repayment plan with HM Revenue and Customs to avoid being wound up.
The club argued their hands were tied as the taxman refused a one-off sum.
They presented their case against relegation on Wednesday, but the Football Association Appeal Board unanimously decided that the appeal be dismissed. The Wiltshire club won promotion to the Blue Square Premier in 2007.
Last year, they were deducted 10 points for entering administration. Without that handicap Tommy Widdrington's side would have finished in sixth position.
Widdrington was waiting to see what level of non-league football the club will be playing at next season before putting together his squad.
Forest Green Rovers finished 21st in the Blue Square Premier last season and were relegated to Blue Square South, but now take Salisbury's place in the league.
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Post by sallycat on Jun 11, 2010 8:59:09 GMT
This has looked inevitable for a while. After all, someone had to reprieve Weston.
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Post by robcafc on Jun 11, 2010 10:14:13 GMT
What a joke. How many times is that now for Weston? Five is it? when I was a nipper I can't ever recall a team ever either being demoted for irregularities, or not being relegated when they finished in a relegation spot. If they had any shame they would demote themselves to the local pub league...
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taz
Top Performer
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Post by taz on Jun 11, 2010 10:25:09 GMT
Thing is Rob, Weston run themselves properly & pay within their means. Whereas clubs like Salisbury take the piss by having £1000pw strikers on the payroll and not paying any bills\PAYE etc.
Not Weston's fault they keep getting reprieved.
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filbert
1st team Player
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Post by filbert on Jun 11, 2010 10:50:44 GMT
Thing is Rob, Weston run themselves properly & pay within their means. Whereas clubs like Salisbury take the piss by having £1000pw strikers on the payroll and not paying any bills\PAYE etc. Not Weston's fault they keep getting reprieved. They are but one of a number of clubs who "cheat" to gain success and promotion. Clubs like ourselves are always fighting battles against clubs playing with teams they quite obviously cannot afford.
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Post by robcafc on Jun 11, 2010 11:36:56 GMT
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taz
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Posts: 3,760
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Post by taz on Jun 11, 2010 12:02:01 GMT
I can't argue that having a side finish consistently in the relegation spots & not go down doesn't harm the image or strength of the competition in question (and TBH, it has done with the Conf South certainly), but put yourself in WSM's shoes. If someone offers you the chance to remain at the migher level, chances are you're going to take it.
Unless leagues get properly draconian with clubs, it'll just keep on happening. What they should do is anyone entering admin during a season should have to release their squad immediately and play with unpaid lads to a max of £20 expenses per head per week. Then if debts aren't cleared by seasons end, it's an automatic demotion 2 divisions based on where you finish (so if you're relegated anyway, it's 2 down from the level you're going to). If the debts include a certain %'age or above to HMRC (PAYE etc), it's automatic expulsion and results scrubbed and you start again from the very bottom.
They really need to stop fecking around with clubs. I mean how the hell did someone like Lewes stumble along as long as they did owing 6 figures to HMRC before they got it paid off?
Also HMRC should tell the FA\Leagues when sides owe over a set amount of tax\get a couple of payments behind. And the authorities then give 'em 14 days to pay or you get docked 10pts. And then another 14 days and another 10pts. And so on.
They really have to make it so that it's not worth the effort to take the piss financially before we can get back to actually having matters 100% decided on the pitch again.
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filbert
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Posts: 1,177
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Post by filbert on Jun 11, 2010 16:17:22 GMT
Well said Taz.
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Post by os on Jun 11, 2010 21:51:59 GMT
Most people know my thoughts on this subject and I do get accused of being obsessed with it, but without integrity we don't really have a game worth bothering with. WSM have done nothing wrong and deserve to keep their CS place, its reward for fairness over what is effectively cheating.
The leagues need to get stronger with these teams at a much earlier stage, each club should have to prove it has the finances to compete for the following season or at least show a sensible financial plan. At present we compete with clubs where the owners are unknown, the directors are being prosecuted, the staff are paid in plain brown envelopes down some dark alleyway etc and nothing is done to stop this masquerade.
These 2 division demotions are not enough for me as we have seen a side can just do the same again and be back to a similar level within a couple of years. I would like to see the most serious offenders banned from all FA affiliated leagues and competitions for good. If they want to start again let them come back under a different name at county level.
I am a little obsessed about it that's true but that is because over the past 5 or 6 seasons I think teams spending money they did not have has hurt us directly. IMO teams such as Grays, Lewes, Salisbury, Weymouth, Hx, and many others are nothing more then cheats. We could do exactly the same, not pay our bills and ignore the Taxman etc get out of the RP get to the Conf Nat and if the crap hits the fan well we can come back in the RP can't we?
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Post by Andy K on Jun 12, 2010 14:15:04 GMT
os I agree with you to a certain extent, but I think its going a little far to call all of those teams 'cheats' - a lot of the time they just have money pumped into them which is not sustainable - similar to what happened at Kingstonian in the Trophy winning era - when the money ran out, so did they and build themselves up on a much more sustainable level. All of the teams you name above had that, and now are starting to count the cost of short term gain - I see Histon joining that list quite soon.
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filbert
1st team Player
Posts: 1,177
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Post by filbert on Jun 12, 2010 16:42:50 GMT
Maybe os has gone over the top a little. However it is very frustrating for well run and prudent clubs, like Sutton, to have to compete against this. Also in some of the cases money has gone "missing". On a similar vein I have noticed a couple of our rivals who I thought were strapped for cash have made a few high profile signings just recently. Does that mean that they are spending FAC and FAT monies that they hope to win? That was one of K's downfalls as well as other shenanigans.
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Post by os on Jun 12, 2010 23:55:58 GMT
I accept that circumstances can vary from club to club which is why I said in the most serious cases the clubs should be disbanded. But I still think that clubs who allow these mysterious benefactors in have to take responsibility for creating knowingly unsustainable situations. I mean if we as supporters can go through a list of clubs likely to fail its not exactly rocket science is it? The board of any club has a duty towards safeguarding its future, so when some property developer type turns up to a 300 avg crowd team and promises league football in 3 season with major investment, surely someone should be asking serious questions? The fact is no one is asking anything, not the supporters of these teams or the leagues or even the official bodies which cover companies and the way they are run. There has to be a reward for clubs which are run properly over clubs which are not for whatever reason, it also helps to safeguard clubs such as Grays who suddenly find themselves without a home and pot less. At the end of the day Lewes made a decision not to pay HRMC in favour of securing a Conf South title, in my book that's dishonesty. Weymouth drove foot down straight into a wall with a ridiculous spending budget they knew full well was totally unrealistic and ultimately disastrous. Histon on the same path as Salisbury and so it goes on. I know that our club has turned down these benefactors in the past and for good reason as have others.
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Post by vern on Jun 13, 2010 5:22:21 GMT
It's the same as dopers and steroid abusers in cycling and athletics.
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