AFC Fylde plea to National League: Give us leadership and options to vote on

And the Coasters chairman believes those options should include “two up and two down”, even though such a decision would see his club relegated.

In his latest video for the club website Haythornthwaite said: “I’ve been disappointed in the lack of leadership and clarity from day one about lots of things.

“This isn’t a bitter chairman who might be relegated, this is someone who has tried to engage and has talked to other chairmen who are equally frustrated.

“We’ve just got a total void at the top of the National League. We are getting no decision-making or clarity.

“I think we’re sitting back and waiting for everyone else to do something. That’s OK to a certain extent but you need your own standards and our own ideas. These may be knocked back but at least have some ideas.”

Haythornthwaite would like to see three options put before to the clubs: “The first would be two up – if two places are available in League Two but we can’t dictate that – and two.

“The second would be promotion only, which we shouldn’t deny to the top two. The third is (to declare the season) null and void.”

And the Coasters chief insists he would accept a vote for the first of those options, adding: “I may be putting my neck on the line because if that’s what everyone votes for we would be relegated.

“People ask me: am I going to sue (if Fylde are relegated)? If we are given a fair vote, a democratic vote as I’ve suggested, and everybody votes two up and two down, I’d take it on the chin, much as I don’t want to go down.

“Nobody wants to go down but you must be prepared to act in a democratic way and accept that decision.

“If that’s the decision, we’ll go down, lick our wounds and come back again. But we have to be given the option and those are fair options. I want to see leadership from our league.”

After the clubs voted to end their league season over a month ago, the National League consulted them in late April on whether play-offs should take place.

The results of that consultation have not been published, though Haythornthwaite is convinced most clubs were against play-offs.

He added: “That isn’t how democracy works. Democracy means 51 say no, it’s no. I genuinely hope they will give us the opportunity to vote.

“We’ve had the nonsense of being asked to vote on finishing the season, which we all did. Then having finished it they ask if we want play-offs, which is contradictory because having play-offs is not finishing the season.

“If we’d been asked if we wanted to finish the season and have play-offs, we’d have said we want play-offs at the bottom as well because that’s just as important. I know that isn’t normal but we aren’t in a normal world.”

And Haythornthwaite is not convinced two clubs will be promoted despite the EFL reaffirming its support for relegation in League Two.

He added: “The EFL have said (League Two’s bottom club) Stevenage will be relegated but they very cleverly gave themselves a big ‘out’, saying that it’s provided the National League starts the (2020/21) season.

“But if National League clubs were asked, ‘Do we want to start in August behind close doors?’ I think the unanimous vote would be ‘no’ because none of us can afford to start the season with no revenue and paying tens of thousand a week in salaries.

“That’s the dilemma the National League have got. Therefore I think it’s more likely we may see the league start in December or January, when it is deemed safe enough to have crowds.

“I don’t think it’s viable to start in August, so the EFL gave themselves an ‘out’ because it’s not fair for Stevenage to be relegated if they can’t play.”