Pyramid overhaul is a worry for Sussex sides

Teams in the main feeder leagues - Unibond, Ryman and Dr Martens - have been asked by the National Game Board, which oversees non-league football in this country, to consider four radical restructuring plans which they hope to implement at the start of the 2003-04 season.

The FA's favoured proposal, and the most controversial, would see two main feeder leagues into the Conference, called Semi National North and South, instead of the current three.

Below that tier would be four regional divisions: north, midlands, southern and Isthmian.

The FA have admitted that at least 23 teams could not be accommodated in the new set-up and they would drop back to feeder leagues such as the Sussex County. There would be play-offs at all levels to help fill promotion positions and create interest at the end of the season.

The views of the eight Sussex clubs who will be affected - Crawley, Hastings, Eastbourne Borough, Bognor, Worthing, Lewes, Horsham and St Leonards - are being canvassed this week. A recommendation to the FA Council could be made as early as March once the clubs' feelings are taken into account.

Sussex clubs have broadly welcomed the proposals on the table because they all include plans for regionalisation.

While the Ryman League is mainly made up of teams in the south east, Sussex's Dr Martens contingent regularly face trips to the north Midlands and Lincolnshire. Dr Martens Premier Division clubs clocked up 62,000 miles in travelling last season while their counterparts in the Ryman did 40,000 miles less.

One of the alternative plans has been drawn up by Peter Bentley, the long-serving chairman of the Sussex County League who was elected on to the FA Council two years ago. He has been regularly updating a paper he was first asked to write by the FA on re-organising the non-league pyramid six years ago.

His proposal is the only one which maintains the current three feeder leagues into the conference and still involves regionalisation, mostly for Dr Martens and Ryman League clubs.

All leagues would retain their current status and Bentley's is the only proposal which shows where clubs would be placed in a new set-up based on their current positions.

The other options involve forming a bigger Conference, one with two divisions and the other with a north and south division.

If the FA's favoured option gets the green light it could mean a scramble among the county's four Dr Martens League Eastern Division clubs to fill one of the seven places likely to be available in the proposed new southern division.

League positions might not be the sole criteria used to decide who makes the cut. Facilities and financial status could also be taken into account.

One Sussex club who will be anxious to win a place in any proposed second tier are Eastbourne Borough who have spent over £200,000 improving their facilities since winning promotion to the Dr Martens League two years ago.

Chairman Len Smith said: "We're not against restructuring, but potentially as many as 67 clubs could lose the status they currently enjoy which is too many.

"With a bit of luck we can maintain our current status and we're all in favour of things like finance and facilities being taken into account. We have invested heavily in our ground and plan to extend our main stand.

"Anything that cuts down travelling is a good thing and it might encourage more clubs to progress from the feeder leagues who may have been inhibited by the costs involved in the past.

"Teams will go down, but the strength of the pyramid comes from teams going up and down and anything that makes it more vibrant is good. The County League has become a bit stale in recent years."

The proposed changes mean Hastings are under more pressure to go up to the Premier Division this season.

Secretary Tony Cosens said: "We've no chance of being in the Semi National South the season after next unless we're in the Premier next year.

"Peter Bentley's proposals make a lot of sense, but maybe the FA's preferred plan could be the better long-term option and regionalisation is certainly going to be a good thing. We're going to Grantham on Saturday and we'll pass 50 Ryman League clubs on the way."

The situation for Ryman League clubs is further complicated by their own restructuring plans which are due to start next season when there will be a Division One north and south and a second division of 16 teams instead of the current three leagues below the Premier Division. If the FA's favoured proposal is eventually adopted only eight of those first division teams would be placed in the new Isthmian League the following season.

It means clubs like Lewes, who currently lead Division Two, need to match achievements on the field with development of facilities off it.

Chairman Terry Parris said: "If we want to progress it means getting our A ground grading quicker than anticipated. But I can see some hellish problems. Who would run the Semi National South - the Ryman or Dr Martens League? I can also see clubs going to the wall chasing success and not being able to cope financially."

The FA unveiled their third different set of proposals in the last six months to clubs at meetings last week.

National League manager Greg Fee said: "We have presented a host of proposals and clubs will like some parts of one and some of another. Things have changed quite a bit even from six months ago but the most important thing is to get feedback from the clubs and make sure we get it right."

Bentley, meanwhile, is disappointed that he has not been able to explain his proposals on a more formal platform.

"The disadvantages to my idea have been set out in this latest document, but they have not been set out by me," he said. "I tried to put clubs into leagues last weekend based on the FA's proposed plan and league positions as they currently stand and it doesn't work. You could end up having Cambridge City in the Semi National North and playing teams like Gretna.

"Clubs need to see how the proposals affect them and my paper has always done that."