UNCERTAINTY surrounds Salisbury City's preparations for next season after the Foot-ball Association unveiled a shock proposal to call a premature halt to the Whites' stay in the Ryman Premier League and return them to the Southern League.

The promotion of near-neighbours Eastleigh to the Conference South has left Salisbury geographically out on a limb - the furthest western outpost of the otherwise London-centric Isthmian set-up.

In a move described by manager Nick Holmes as "a strange way to run their affairs," the FA is on the verge of abandoning last season's promise that Salisbury would be staying put for at least three years and enforcing an immediate return to the Dr Martens camp.

A final decision is due to be taken today and club officials, bound by FA protocol, are able to do no more than sit tight and await their fate.

The news has frustrated Holmes, who said: "I have sent a letter objecting to it but, if we get put in the Southern League anyway and, knowing the FA, we probably will, there's nothing else I can do.

"We went into the Ryman League last year on the understanding that, barring promotion or relegation, we couldn't move again for three years.

"If that rule no longer applies, we run the risk of becoming a continual yo-yo club, moving back and forth to accommodate other people, which hurts me."

Ironically, the return to the Dr Martens League, which would bring with it the prospect of a clutch of local derbies against the likes of Chippenham Town and the two Bath clubs, would also greatly increase the overall burden of travel on City. Far-flung fixtures such as Kings Lynn and Merthyr Tydfil would replace the straight runs up the M3 to London, to which the Whites and their fans have become accustomed.

The likely sideways move would also play havoc with Holmes's carefully arranged programme of pre-season friendlies.

He added: "All our preparation has been gearing up for the next campaign to start on August 20 but the Dr Martens season kicks off a week earlier.

"The games we planned, including one against Southern League opponents, may have to be cancelled and the players won't be best pleased about having to come back a week early at such short notice."

A tough task would await the returning Whites, who took their time adjusting to the rigours of Isthmian-style football at the start of last season.

Having got the measure of the London sides and nurtured a renewed confidence in their ability to beat the best the division has to offer, they would be forced to go back to the drawing board.

Holmes said: "The styles of play are quite different. There is greater pace all-round in the Ryman, particularly striker-wise. We would have to adapt the way we play all over again."

The one thing that a move into the Southern League would not affect is Holmes's will to take Whites as far as they can go in footballing terms.

He said: "Whatever happens, we go in to win it.

"All of this has just brought a lot of unnecessary frustration for all of us. I can't really understand the logic of it."

Time and inconvenience would not be the only costs City would incur as a result of the proposed changes.

The arrival of newly-promoted AFC Wimbledon into the Ryman Premier Division was to have brought with it a very welcome cash windfall.

Holmes explained: "Every-one involved in the league was feeling very fortunate to be able to look forward to a visit from AFC Wimbledon.

"No other club in the league commands a better regular gate than Salisbury and, with the travelling fans from Wimbledon, that would have been a huge attendance for us.

"There isn't a team in the Southern League with anything like their following so losing out on that fixture is potentially a major financial blow."