Havant issue open letter to the National League

Havant & Waterlooville have issued an open letter to the National League ahead of the impending decision on how the 2019/20 season will be resolved.

The statement on the Club website reads:

HWFC have been following the EFL League 1 and 2 meetings this week, with interest. We also note FA Chair Greg Clarke’s comments regarding the fact there must be promotion and relegation from the Premier Leagues and hopefully so on down the Senior Leagues.

Whilst League 2 have voted for a “Points per game” method to finish the season, they have also requested that consideration be made for no relegation, despite expecting League 1 to relegate three teams. We firmly believe and hope that this hypocritical notion will not be supported by the EFL or the FA in the coming days.

If the bottom team from League 2 is relegated, as it should be, it seems clear to us that two teams will be promoted from the National League. In our opinion this should be the teams in the current top two positions, as unlike league 2, we will not be attempting play offs. There should also be relegation from the National League with the principle of two promotion places and three relegation places upheld.

In the same way as Barrow and Harrogate would gain promotion to the Football League without play offs, it is only right that the top two teams from the National North and South, will also be promoted by the same principle.

PPG, Promotion and Relegation have been key to the conversations of the last week and we sincerely hope that the National League Board hold firm to the “sporting objectives” principles.

Trevor Brock

Director and Secretary

Havant and Waterlooville FC Ltd

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