Amateur League dilemma averted

 

 Local football could have faced a challenging summer to fall in line with FAW directives

The JT Hughes Montgomeryshire Amateur League could have faced a challenging summer to fall in line with a previously unforced Football Association of Wales (FAW) directive.

 

But football chiefs are believed to be re-wording a law which dictates that all reserve sides MUST play in the lowest league in the football pyramid.

If implemented, it would have meant that all reserve sides currently playing in the league’s Division One would have to drop into division two next season, leaving just fives sides eligible for the top flight.

The issue is believed to have surfaced over the last fortnight after leagues outside of Mid Wales were becoming increasingly frustrated that the Montgomeryshire League and the Aberystwyth League were seemingly in breach of the directive.

But it now appears that the local stance has urged a re-think by the law makers.

An FAW insider told us last night.

“The wording of the rule made the current situation for places like Montgomeryshire untenable. It would have meant that next season there would be five teams in the first division and then up to 17 in the second!”

The new wording is expected to make it clear that both Divisions One and Two can be classed as the ‘lowest tier of the pyramid’.

Currently, there are 19 teams in the Amateur League but it is believed that Newtown, Four Crosses and Abermule will introduce reserve teams next year, taking it to 22.