Sixth-tier
Football in
England could restart with willing clubs from north and south sections merging to complete the season
When the National League north and south divisions were declared null and void on 18 February, anyone expecting that to be the end of the matter would have been naive in the extreme. England’s sixth tier is a perplexing tangle of competing motivations but a sizeable number of those who had been outvoted found themselves united behind one target: to complete the 2020-21 campaign on the field, whatever that took.
The picture is only beginning to clear now but, over the coming days, those that wanted to play on should find out whether they will get their wish. A knife-edge set of negotiations between the clubs involved has, the Guardian understands, resulted in a proposal for an elegant solution being put to the National League. If they and, subsequently, and Football Association wave it through – perhaps as soon as next week – the season will be played out in an improvised format that ensures promotion challengers do not have to endure their ambitions going up in smoke.