THE UNITED Counties League have thrown their hat into the ring to run the new Step 4 division being introduced as part of the Football Association’s restructure of the National League System.
Under the plans, Step 3 and 4 will each have an additional division with football’s governing body aiming to cut travelling times and costs for Non-League clubs.
While the footprint they will take is still to be revealed, they are expected to plug the gaps in the centre of the country and further north.
The FA are also about to commence the process of who runs each division. The UCL, who have 41 teams across Step 5 and 6 as well as a 17-team reserve division, have been supporters of the changes for a number of years.
Now, chairman John Weeks has revealed to The NLP that they have submitted a bid to run the Step 4 division, feeling they are well-placed geographically and have the knowledge to make it a success.
“There’s an increasing awareness that, with the roads getting as congested as they are, the travel times were becoming a bit horrendous,” Weeks said.
“It seems very logical to have a Step 4 league centrally when there’s not much covering The Wash and the Welsh border.
“Anyone on the periphery of any league is always going to be subject to the vagaries of where the FA could put them. I just want to see a better deal.
“So I think the new divisions are long overdue and it should be very beneficial to the greater Non-League scene because it will, by default, make the other leagues more compact.
“We have a good record of getting clubs up into Step 4 – this will be the eighth year in succession – and we’ve got a nice conveyor belt of clubs who want to join us from Step 7 and progress from Step 5.
“Our committee has a lot of experience on it. We’ve also recruited people in the last couple of years who have experience of running clubs at board level at Steps 2, 3 and 4. So we feel we certainly have the experience and geographical knowledge as well as be a fresh, progressive face to the scene.”
The UCL have recently restructured to become a limited company and Wendy Newey as their new full-time secretary and treasurer.
They have also moved to a new headquarters in Peterborough, which they share with the Peterborough League and provide administrative support to other leagues locally and nationally.
“It’s been very obvious talking to other leagues that they are struggling to get volunteers,” Weeks said. “So our view was, if we could create an administrative hub that would help out other leagues then it would be of great benefit.”
