Evesham fury as Cinderford’s promotion rejection leads to league switch

ANGRY Evesham United want Cinderford Town thrown out of the Southern League after describing their refusal to accept promotion as “cheating” – as they vowed to fight the decision to switch them into the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League.

The Robins are spitting feathers following South & West champions Cinderford’s announcement that they would reject promotion due to the cost of travelling to away games.

One of the consequences is that Evesham are to be shunted from that league into the Evo-Stik NPL South – and their chairman Jim Cockerton reckons it will cost the club upward of £25,000 thanks to additional travelling costs and the loss of gate money from local matches.

One fixture more than any has annoyed the United chief. He says the game with Hereford – which they have now lost and Cinderford have gained by not going up – would have set them up for the season and cleared their debts.

Their appeal to the Football Association has been lodged and Evesham will chase compensation should that fail and they have to move.

Furious Cockerton told The NLP: “For me, it’s quite straightforward. Cinderford have cheated, there is no other word for it. To suggest a month after winning the league that they can’t go into the Southern Premier is incredible. We have suffered and they should now be kicked out of the league, they need some sort of punishment for what they’ve done.

“Let me be clear, they have broken the rules. It states clearly – rule 5 appendix 2 – that relegated clubs must be replaced by promoted clubs only. They have p****d everyone about and the league have questions to answer as well.

“You can’t just decide you don’t want to go up after all, it doesn’t work like that. The fact of the matter is that this will cost us £25,000. There will be a lot more coach trips, a lot less local games and the players will require more expenses for the time spent on the road.

“We now lose out of playing Hereford, a game which would have probably sold out. That’s a lot of money for our club – and that’s money that we won’t see, and of course Cinderford now will.

“They will get the £10,000-£15,000 which the Hereford home match will bring in, and the local games and the less travelling. I have on good authority that their budget is going to be £1,000-a-week next year – and they can’t afford a few more coaches!”

The Evesham chairman added: “It’s not good enough. It goes against football ethics to win the league and then say, actually, you aren’t going up. And they’ve got away with it, screw the rest. We have to fight and we will fight.”

Cinderford’s statement said their refusal to accept promotion was made with “a heavy heart” but said by going up, it could plunge their future into doubt.

“The security and sustainability of the club was of utmost importance,” it read. “The club has to come first and not our ambitions.”

Because of their withdrawal from Step 3, Stamford survived thanks to a reprieve.

*This article first appeared in The Non-League Paper on Sunday, June 5