National League ask FA to cancel their season

Football clubs up and down the country are waiting to discover how their current domestic seasons will conclude and the National League have made the first move by asking the FA to cancel all their remaining 2019-20 fixtures.

Non-league football's top two tiers - the National League, National League North and National League South - were suspended until April 3 but rather than extending the length of postponement to April 30, as the Premier League and English Football League have done, they want to axe the remainder of the season altogether.

Fans and bookmakers will have to wait a little longer to find out how the outcome of the campaigns will be determined, though. They could be declared void or final standings may be decided on a points-per-game basis.

Bookmakers will wait on confirmation from the league before deciding how to settle ante-post wagers.

It is believed the majority of National League clubs have agreed that voiding the current campaign is the only way forward given the uncertainty about the future is financially destructive to lower-level outfits, who want to be able to end players' contracts now.

Earlier this month National League side Barnet placed all their non-playing staff on notice as part of "emergency measures to preserve the club".

The decision would be disheartening for the likes of Barrow, who were four points clear at the top of the National League and could be denied promotion if the season is voided.

But the implications of this move would not end with non-league football's premier division.

If the National League is voided, the EFL will almost certainly need to remove relegation from Sky Bet League Two - likely sparing tailed-off Stevenage from the drop.

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