The Independent Appeal Board appointed to consider the validity of appeals against the FA’s reorganisation brought relief to nine clubs this week including Clevedon Town.

The club’s initial appeal to be moved from the Western League to the Hellenic League in the FA’s reorganisation of steps five and six was rejected by the FA, who claimed they had not made a valid application and not been moved as part of the reorganisation.

But the Board, chaired by Tariq Sadiq QC, firmly rejected the FA’s reasoning, concluding that clubs did not either need to have made a lateral move application or have been moved laterally to be able to appeal.

The appeal will now move forward to a full hearing in the next two weeks along with an appeal by fellow Toolstation Western Leaguer side Brislington.

Clevedon Town chairman Brian Rose explained: "The FA had said we had not made a valid application, but we firmly reject that. The regulations require applications to be made by 31st March 2021, but as the Appeal Board pointed out the FA did not announce the reorganisation proposals until 18th May 2021.

"‘It was only at that point that we found out we were remaining in a completely changed Western League with local derbies against Chipping Sodbury, Cribbs, Hallen and Roman Glass St George replaced by extensive journeys to Mousehole, Helston, Millbrook, Saltash United and Ilfracombe Town, all of which will require the hire of coaches.

"Overall, our total mileage increases by 52 per cent from 1670 miles at present to 2542 miles which will impact hugely on costs and the impact of travelling on players who all live, work or attend college locally.

"This is made even worse when we see Chipping Sodbury, Cribbs, Hallen and Roman Glass St George moving to the Hellenic League with considerably reduced travel and more local games. We also believe a written request we made in January 2020 for a move to the Hellenic League remained on the table when the planned reorganisation was postponed until this season which the FA never responded to.

"Now we know there are four Hellenic League clubs equally unhappy with their position in that league there is a potential solution available to the FA.

"One other thing we would suggest is that in order to ensure no clubs in the West Country are disadvantaged by the restructure, we think it would be more sensible to move all the Bristol area clubs to the Hellenic League at the same time, whether that is now as part of this restructure, or later."

Rose summed up his feelings about the course of action Clevedon Town have taken, adding: "The club have not taken the decision to appeal lightly. We were founder members of the Western League in 1892 when it was known as the Bristol & District League, so our roots are firmly in this league and if we leave we will miss the many friends we have made over the years.

"Equally, whilst we support the need for a reorganisation at steps five and six to produce a fairer distribution for clubs, when judged against the FA’s aim to reduce travel costs for clubs, we feel the proposals for the Western and Hellenic Leagues are flawed. Indeed six of the nine clubs granted the right to appeal by the Appeal Board are from these two leagues.

"The reorganisation is for the FA, but my responsibility to ensure the long-term stability of the club as part of a viable league and protect the legacy provided by the Hand family. We have had to rely on the appeal system to try to achieve that and we are grateful to have the opportunity to put our full case to the FA as part of the continuing process."