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Northern Premier League issue statement regarding the suspension of Wythenshawe Town

The Northern Premier League issue a statement regarding the suspension of Wythenshawe Town and match postponement.

At first, the reason behind Wythenshawe Town’s Northern Premier League West Division fixture at Stafford Rangers being called off wasn’t made public.

However, now the league have confirmed after hours of confusion that with the league taking issue with the claims made in the club’s original statement, labelling them as ‘false and misleading’.

CLUB STATEMENT (BEFORE IT WAS REMOVED):

Dear Supporters, I am writing to address the recent suspension of our football team from the league. This decision has been a difficult one, and I want to take a moment to explain the circumstances and our path forward.

The league’s decision to suspend our team is a result of requested documentation not being submitted to the league in the correct format. The club provided the documentation electronically however it is required as a delivered letter to the NPL league.

Our primary focus is on the well-being of our players, staff, and supporters. We understand the disappointment this news brings, especially after the hard work and dedication shown by everyone involved with the club. Please know that we are actively working with the league to resolve these matters as swiftly as possible.

During this period, we will be implementing changes to ensure compliance with league regulations and to strengthen our club’s foundation. Our goal is to emerge from this situation better prepared for the future and to restore the pride and integrity of our team.

We appreciate your ongoing support and patience during this challenging time. We will keep you updated on our progress and any developments regarding our status in the league.

Thank you for standing by us. Wythenshawe Town FC Board of Directors

LEAGUE STATEMENT:

The League notes the statement issued by Wythenshawe Town FC earlier today, subsequently removed in response to the decision of the Northern Premier League to postpone its fixture against Stafford Rangers FC on Saturday 2 November.

In such circumstances, the NPL does not normally make any comment. An exception is being made here because the claims made in the club’s original statement are false and misleading.

The club has been suspended from membership of the NPL for failing to provide information relative to the Financial Reporting Initiative (FRI) to which all clubs at Steps 1-4 of the NLS are subject and 87 out of 88 member clubs are currently compliant.

The purpose of the FRI is to provide a level playing field that ensures clubs manage their liabilities and do not gain an unfair advantage by ploughing money into the team at the expense of HMRC and the club’s landlord.

Wythenshawe Town FC has not been suspended because the club supplied the information required in the wrong format.

In the case of Wythenshawe Town FC, whilst the club has provided evidence of payments made to HMRC, it has not provided details of the full extent of its debt. The League, therefore, cannot assess the extent of any outstanding debts to the crown, or that the Time To Pay agreement – of which the club supplied details yesterday – covers the full debt to HMRC, as required by FA Regulations.

The club was given several extensions to allow the required information as laid down in FA Standardised Rules but has failed to do so despite being under a player registrations embargo for the past month, continued to be non-compliant.

11 weeks after being asked to provide this information, Wythenshawe Town remains the only NPL member club to be non-compliant with the FRI. At this point, a suspension was imposed, which will remain in place until the requirement of the League is met in full.

The Northern Premier League cannot permit any member club’s sustainability to put the integrity of the competition at risk.

Here’s what fans are saying after the Northern Premier League issue statement regarding the suspension of Wythenshawe Town…

@mattaustin7: Why lie to the fans @WTFC1946?

@BradleyS__: Have people leading and running your club who can operate effectively, transparently and not to the detriment of your club.

@ImJustDaveJ: Imagine being called out by the league for lying to fans.

@matthirtyfive: Well this is different to the version of events tweeted earlier 😳

@VFTAE: Important statement from the league.

@ChrisLukeJones: Wythenshawe Town deciding to try and gaslight as to why they’ve been suspended as if they weren’t going to be called out on it is, something

@devine_matty00: Lying on their statement, and league make them look like dicks 🤣🤣 kick em outtttt

@StaveleyMWFC: Spot on @NorthernPremLge. It’s suggested for many a year that Financial Reporting Initiative will soon cover Steps 5-6 of the NLS. Hopefully that would also require all NLS Competitions of Steps 1-6 to have similar FRI. Financial transparency for all NLS Clubs/Competitions👍👍

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