THE Football Association have been forced to scrap their radical blueprint for the future of the non-league game in England following a crunch meeting of council members.
The proposal, which met with such widespread disapproval from Wiltshire clubs last month, would have seen a number of clubs at Screwfix and Hellenic League level pushed into county football as a result of changes higher up the national league structure.
The national league committee within the FA will now to go back to the drawing board and consult with league and clubs at all levels before moving forward with their plans.
Mike Benson, Wiltshire FA secretary and the county's representative on the FA council, attended Thursday's meeting and felt the decision not to carry the initial proposal was in the best interests of the clubs under his jurisdiction.
He said: "I think we can say the proposals given to us were not for the good of football.
"The research on restructuring has not been completed and it is back to the drawing board. When they have consulted properly with leagues and clubs, then we can sit down again and will hopefully have something to vote on.
"What they have got to do is thrash out with clubs and competitions where the problems are and, until they do that, they won't get a satisfactory response for anyone.
"There were an awful lot of problems with the proposals they came up with and that is why they were rejected."
Mr Benson hopes an amicable solution can be found.
He said: "I'm hopeful that something will come to fruition now through proper communication.
"The council is a democratic constitution within the FA and, if you feel something isn't right, you won't vote for it."
The news will give clubs such as Corsham Town and Warminster Town some breathing space in their bid to retain their Screwfix Direct League status. The FA proposal, had it been passed, would have been in place by the beginning of the 2003/04 season.
The Screwfix Direct League themselves were opposed to the plans and general secretary Ken Clarke welcomed the chance for a greater input into the future national league structure.
He said: "We as a league found the FA's proposals unacceptable but, after a full council meeting last week they referred it back to the committee. That effectively means we are back to square one.
"My feeling is the committee will now listen to clubs at our level. We were bitterly disappointed that the proposals had gone ahead without consultation, but it is also the feeling of the FA council that more communication is needed.
"Our campaign was not wholly negative, but at least we do appreciate what the clubs want out of it."
The Screwfix Direct League circulated a nine-page questionnaire on league restructuring to each of their 40 clubs and will discuss the report on their findings at a board meeting on December 6.
Mr Clarke believes the findings will echo the league's own stance on the issue.
He said: "Early indications are, while clubs generally agree there is a need for change, they believe the proposal has a high degree of risk for them. It seems they feel isolated due to a lack of involvement and detailed knowledge."
Mr Clarke, who, together with Hellenic League secretary Brian King is a member of a level three working party. They were meeting in Stevenage yesterday to discuss the way forward.
Said Mr Clarke: "We will start from a clean sheet of paper and the FA's committee will be welcome to a copy of our findings."
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