Worcestershire | Archive | 2004 | May | 1
From the archive, first published Saturday 1st May 2004.
WORCESTER City chairman Dave Boddy is keeping his fingers crossed the club lands a place in the new Conference North for next season.
A move north is set to be much more beneficial for the St George's Lane club rather than the prospect of plying their trade across England's southern counties.
Travelling is the biggest consideration with Boddy desperate to avoid the dreaded M25 and the longer journeys that a place in the southern section will bring.
In addition the north offers the chance to rekindle old rivalries with the likes of Altrincham and Northwich Victoria.
Boddy revealed the club have already written to the Nationwide Conference regarding the matter.
"We basically said if there was any chance of us going north, we would jump at it," he said. For all kinds of reasons it makes better sense for us.
"Firstly there is the travelling. Most of the clubs in Conference North will be Man-chester, Liverpool and East Midlands-based as against a back drop in the south of the M25 and longer distances to travel.
"It will also be better for the players in terms of their travelling because apart from Jon Holloway and Adam Wilde, they all live north of Worcester.
"In addition there's the fact that if we go north we will keep some big local derbies such as Nuneaton and Stafford whereas if we went south our nearest away games are likely to be Newport County and Merthyr Tydfil."
Play-offs to decide the final make up of the new Conference set up have already started for Unibond teams, with Dr Martens teams going into battle next week.
City as one of the top 13 in the Premier Division have automatic qualification.
The allocation of clubs to either north or south for next season will be decided after a meeting on Sunday, May 9.
Such allocation, including steps 2-4, will be subject to ratification by The FA National League System Committee.
Representatives will be present from the Alliance leagues, Level 3 leagues and The FA National League System Committee.
City meanwhile wrap up their league programme today at home to Cambridge City.
With player contracts up today, the club will be keen to avoid another postponement following their two unsuccessful attempts to complete their Worcestershire Senior Cup Final against Sutton Coldfield Town in the week.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008