| Date: 19-02-21This ill-fated season is finally over |
Months of waiting for a decision from the National League came suddenly yesterday evening when they announced that this ill-fated season would finally be knocked on the head.
All clubs had been asked to vote, on whether to continue the season or not, and the results of that vote was expected at the end of this month but instead many clubs were caught on the hop when it was suddenly announced at 8pm last night that the National Leagues North and South will end immediately. The National League Premier would continue but without any relegation taking place.
With some clubs at our level not having played since January for COVID-19 or personal reasons it was obvious that something had to happen soon.
The vote that clubs were asked to undertake was a complicated one that had four stages to it. To save having to transcribe it I’ll just copy & paste it below:
The National League has distributed resolutions this evening for Member Clubs to consider the outcome of the 2020/21 season. The resolutions are formed of four parts: one Special Resolution and three Ordinary Resolutions based on the outcome of the first.
A Special Resolution requires a 75% majority to be passed, whereas an Ordinary Resolution requires a more than 50% majority. Resolution 1 and 4 votes will be counted under prescribed voting conditions. Resolution 2 and 3 will be counted with one vote per Member Club. Should Resolution 1 pass, Resolution 2 and 3 will be counted, with Resolution 4 disregarded. Should Resolution 1 be voted against, Resolution 4 will be counted, with Resolution 2 and 3 votes disregarded.
Under The National League’s Articles of Association, Member Clubs have 28 days to return voting submissions. The resolutions are as follows:
Resolution 1 (All Clubs) That Resolution 2 about whether to end the 2020/21 Playing Season of The National League (Step 1) be taken only by Clubs in the National League and that Resolution 3 about whether to end the 2020/21 Playing Season of the National League North and the National League South (Step 2) be taken only by Clubs that play in the National League North or the National League South with votes cast for Resolution 3 being counted on a one member, one vote basis for National League North and National League South Clubs.
Resolution 2 (National League Only) That, conditional upon Resolution 1 being passed, the 2020/21 Playing Season of the National League (Step 1) shall immediately end on the date this Resolution 2 is passed and be declared null and void and subject to the approval of The Football Association, those Regulations that provide for promotion and relegation to and from Step 1 be suspended for the 2020/21 Playing Season.
Resolution 3 (National League North and South Only) That, conditional upon Resolution 1 being passed, the 2020/21 Playing Season of the National League North and the National League South (Step 2) shall immediately end on the date this Resolution 3 is passed and be declared null and void and subject to the approval of The Football Association those Regulations that provide for promotion and relegation to and from Step 2 be suspended for the 2020/21 Playing Season.
Resolution 4 (All Clubs) That conditional upon Resolution 1 not being passed, the 2020/21 Playing Seasons of The National League (Step 1) and The National League North and The National League South (Step 2) shall immediately end on the date this Resolution 4 is passed and be declared null and void and subject to the approval of The Football Association, those Regulations that provide for promotion to and relegation from Step 1 and Step 2 be suspended for the 2020/21 Playing Season.
It’s believed that we – Kidderminster Harriers – had opted for the season to carry on but with other teams in the past few weeks (Spennymoor Town, Darlington, Guiseley AFC and Chester FC having refused to play anymore it was never going to happen so it’s for the best really.
All results from the season so far have been expunged from the records and that will include goals scored and, presumably, any penalties incurred by Amari Morgan-Smith.
I will still archive the seasons results, tables etc and also updating the player profiles too as best I can. This will also mean that our three loan players will now return to their parent clubs so it’s goodbye to Max Taylor, Caleb Richards and Jason Cowley. Hopefully if next season was to start in August, as planned, we may get to see them again but that all depends on other more serious, and important, factors.
I’d also like to thank Harriershane (Shane Wilkinson) for all he has done for this website over the past few months. It can’t be easy trying to collate a match report from a dodgy match stream.