. 

This is pure speculation on my part but if the three divisions created are North East, North West and Central then Ilkeston could fall into the Central Division which might be made up as follows : 

10 clubs from last season’s South East Division
Leek
Loughborough Dynamo
Newcastle Town
Kidsgrove
Chasetown
Belper
Ilkeston 
Carlton 
Sutton Coldfield
Market Drayton 
Plus the following teams from Step 5:
Sporting Khalsa, 
Long Eaton Utd
Walsall Wood, 
Newark, 
Gresley, 
AFC Mansfield, 
Anstey Nomads, 
Loughborough University 
Shepshed Dynamo 
Quorn. 


The North West Division could be made up of the current 19 teams :
Colne,
Ramsbottom,
Workington,
Clitheroe,
Dunston,
Marine,
Runcorn,
Marske,
Tadcaster,
City of Liverpool,
Kendal,
Widnes,
Mossley,
Trafford,
Prescot Cables,
Pickering,
Brighouse,
Pontefract,
Ossett
Plus one team from step 5
Avro


 
The North East Division might be made up as follows: 
10 clubs from the old South East Division;
Worksop
Stamford
Lincoln Utd
Frickley
Stocksbridge 
Cleethorpes
Glossop
Sheffield
Wisbech
Spalding 
Plus the following teams from Step 5 :
AFC Yorkshire Amateur 
Bridlington 
Liversedge 
Garforth 
Hebburn 
Stockton 
Consort 
North Shields 
Newton Aycliff
Newcastle Benfield 

 

.
Thinking of promotion from Step 4 to Step 3

After the non-league restructure there will be eight step 4 leagues and four step 3 leagues, so if the top two teams from each step 4 league are promoted then the bottom four teams from each of the step 3 leagues must be relegated.
Or will there be promotion for the champions only of the eight Step 4 leagues and relegation for the bottom two in each Step 3 leagues?

A further complication is that three of the four Step 3 leagues are in the south and only one is in the north.

The three step 3 leagues are:
Northern Premier League Premier Division
Isthmian League Premier Division
Southern League Premier Central Division
Southern League Premier South Division


After re-structure there will be three Northern Premier League step 4 divisions but only one Step 3 league in the North to be promoted to.

This makes me think that one of the new Step 4 Northern Premier League divisions will be called  "Central" Division and the team or teams promoted from this division could be placed in the Southern League Premier Central Division step 3 league rather than the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

 

Last edited by Matchman (03/3/2021 10:05 AM)

i have been told there wont be any relegations but i dont know if that is true or not ....Like we have said these leagues are only speculation guys . 

.

If the restructure plan goes ahead before next season, potentially there could be problems in the form of legal challenges from some clubs who feel that they've missed out unfairly.

Had the season not been curtailed, the Step 5 clubs being moved up to Step 4 would have been based on results of the 2020-21 season so no arguments.  

Once some other form of deciding promotion is used (eg points per game over last two seasons) then inevitably there will be some clubs who feel aggrieved. 

Personally I hope that some method of promoting the Step 5 clubs to Step 4 can be agreed and the restructure finally goes ahead.


​

.

The main objective of the non-league restructure is to make the pyramid  1 2 4 8 16   to facilitate easier promotion and relegation between Steps.

        Step 1       1 league                  National League
        Step 2       2 leagues            National league North and South
        Step 3       4 leagues
        Step 4       8 leagues
        Step 5     16 leagues

At present there are 7 leagues at Step 4.
The additional Step 4 league is to be in our league, ie the Northern Premier League.
The present North West Division and South East Division will be replaced by three new divisions.
The geographical areas of the three new divisions have not been announced so far but the aim is to reduce the travelling costs incurred by all clubs.  
When deciding on the geographical makeup of the four leagues, another aim is to make the average travel distances of each club within each league as similar as possible.
In other words the aim is that none of three new leagues involves greater travel than in the other two leagues. 
This may mean that some teams located fairly close to each other could find themselves in different leagues in order to balance the average travelling between leagues.




 

I am hoping that we don't end up worse off .

Matchman wrote:

.

Carlton Town joint Manager Tommy Brookbanks has been in touch with us to announce two behind closed door friendlies.

There is still hope that supporters will be allowed in before the 17th May given the dramatic drop in Corona virus cases in the last two weeks and the Management team want to ensure the lads are fit and ready to go if the proposed local tournament gets the green light.

i am sure we will get a few fixtures albeit behind closed doors ..



Carlton will play Hucknall Town at home on Saturday 17th April and visit Eastwood Cfc on Saturday 24th April, both at 3pm.

Only club officials and those working on the Matchday will be allowed into the Bill Stokeld Stadium on the 17th.

. 

The latest restructuring, which would have created three extra divisions, 1 at step 4 and 2 at step 5, was due to have taken place during summer 2020, but due to Covid-19 preventing the 2019/20 season from being completed, the restructuring was put back 12 months.The same fate befell the 2020/21 season when it was announced on Wednesday 24th February that the FA’s Alliance and League committees had decided “subject to the approval of FA Council, the 2020-21 league season for Steps 3-6 of the NLS should be curtailed with immediate effect, with no further league matches taking place this season”. 

However, the FA have not ruled out the possibility of implementing the restructuring changes as the press release went on to say “ both committees will revisit discussions around a potential restructure at Steps 4-6 of the NLS, which was previously agreed and has been on hold since the 2019-20 season.”

Speculation abounds regarding the criteria to be used in determining which teams are to be promoted if the restructure goes ahead before the start of the 2021/22 season. Finding a suitable outcome to satisfy across the whole level of the game is a major problem. 



The fact that non-league restructuring before next season hasn't been ruled out indicates that the FA would like it to happen and are considering how it may be brought about in a way which would be acceptable. 

The problem is that when promotion is decided outside of normal rules, then some clubs will feel aggrieved and will feel the need to challenge the criterea used.



 

Last edited by Matchman (12/4/2021 8:16 AM)