MANAGER Paul Collicutt has been left “gobsmacked” by “ludicrous” new rules that will see two play-off winners denied promotion from Evesham United’s level.

A pair of end-of-season shoot-out winners from English football’s eighth tier – where the Robins ply their trade – with the worst league records will have their paths blocked.

It comes on the back of the Football Association’s restructure which increased to four the number of regionalised divisions at the level above Evesham’s and to seven at their standard.

That left an imbalance with the FA deciding that only the bottom three of 22 teams should get relegated from the four divisions above, creating 12 available places.

The seven champion clubs go up automatically with teams from second to fifth contesting the play-offs in one-off matches hosted by the highest-ranked club.

But then comes the twist with the axe falling on the two victorious clubs with the lowest points-per-game ratio.

It means that the two worst-performing of the 28 play-off qualifiers nationally know they cannot go up before kicking a ball in the semi-finals.

As clubs get whittled down for the finals, some will head into the showpiece with nothing to play for but pride and the ability to deny their divisional rivals a place at the next level.

It is also possible that both teams in any given play-off final may know that neither can gain promotion.

“I am gobsmacked,” said Collicutt.

“To go into a play-off on the understanding that the winners will get promoted to then find out that’s not the case is ludicrous.

“Teams will go into the play-offs thinking ‘what’s the point?’

“The one thing we do know is how competitive our league is. There are five promoted teams coming in with momentum and they will be decent.

“A lot of the clubs will have decent budgets and teams at the top end could end up being punished for being in a tightly-contested league.

“In my eyes, the top two should always go up with the play-offs down to sixth. In the Football League you get promoted if you finish in the top two.”

WHAT do you make of the proposals? Email us at sport@eveshamjournal.co.uk or comment below.

THE FA RULING IN FULL

The Clubs in the bottom three places in each of the four divisions at Step 3 at the end of the Regular Season will be relegated to a feeder pool and placed in the most geographically appropriate division at Step 4 (Evesham's level) for the following Playing Season.

They will be replaced by the Club finishing in 1st position in each of the seven divisions at Step 4 together with a further five Clubs to be determined by a series of Play Off Matches.

Where a Club finishes in 1st position but does not meet the Criteria for participation at the next Step, the Club finishing in 2nd position shall be promoted and the Club finishing in 3rd position (and so on) shall be the Club in the next eligible position to take part in the Play Off Matches.

Where a Club finishes in a Play Off Position but does not meet the Criteria for participation in Play Off Matches the Club finishing in the next eligible position shall take part in the Play Off Matches.

In each division at Step 4, The Play Off Matches shall be played so that the highest placed of the eligible Clubs plays against the lowest placed and the other two Clubs play each other (the “Step 4 Initial Play Off Matches”).

The winners of each of the Step 4 Initial Play Off Matches will play each other and the winner of those matches shall result in seven teams eligible for promotion.

The five Clubs to be promoted shall be the five Clubs out of the seven divisional Play Off winners with the best points per match ratio in the Regular Season.

If there are only three eligible Clubs then the highest placed shall receive a bye to a second match where it will play the winner of the other Play Off Match and the winner of that match will be promoted. Clubs finishing below position 7 will not be considered for Play Off Matches.

The promoted Clubs will be placed in a feeder pool and placed in the most geographically appropriate division at Step 3.