National League sides write to FA as backlash intensifiesPlans viewed as ‘a disaster waiting to happen’An alliance of 52 Women’s National League clubs who oppose plans for Women’s Super League’s academy sides to be added to the third tier of the English pyramid have written to the Football Association to call for a vote on the matter.The clubs, which represent a more than two-thirds majority of the 72 FAWNL clubs that compete in tiers three and four of the pyramid, believe the competition’s rules dictate that they are entitled to call for a special general meeting about the proposals. Continue reading...
David Raya fastens his gloves and breathes out. This is Moss Rose, home of National League side Macclesfield Town and a teenage Spanish goalkeeper is embarking on a journey that will lead him to the biggest stage in European football. In front of fewer than 1,500 spectators, Raya was part of a Southport side beaten 3-0 by Macclesfield in September 2014.
Imitation versions of Shakhtar and Zorya in RussiaUkrainian FA urged Uefa to take action last yearUefa is yet to take action against the integration of clubs from illegally occupied parts of Ukraine into Russia’s football system despite being urged to do so by the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) last year.Imitation versions of Shakhtar Donetsk and Zorya Luhansk, two of the most successful clubs in Ukraine’s Premier League, have been competing in Russia’s fourth tier since its season began in March. They have joined the Crimea-based sides Rubin Yalta and FC Sevastopol in group 1 of the regionalised Football National League 2B, meaning a quarter of the teams in their division purport to represent areas of occupied Ukraine. Continue reading...
National League side secured FA Trophy in a shootout – and as their manager told his squad beforehand in the hotel ‘it’s been a hell of a journey’The noise gave it away. The sweet sound of 22,000 ecstatic Southend supporters swimming in a sea of Wembley ecstasy left their head coach, Kevin Maher, in no doubt: soon he would raise the FA Trophy.Maher, unable to tolerate the tension, had turned away just before Gus Scott-Morriss’s winning penalty against Wealdstone, but was instantly embraced by Mark Bentley, his first-team coach, former midfield partner and, most importantly, friend. Continue reading...
