Penrith AFC first team look set to finish in the Northern League Division I relegation zone — but face an anxious wait to find out whether they will actually drop into the second division.
After a hugely challenging 2021-22 season which has included one change of management team, the Blues brought the curtain down on their campaign with a 4-1 home defeat against Seaham Red Star at Frenchfield Park on Saturday.
That defeat came on a day when fellow strugglers Bishop Auckland won their penultimate fixture against Crook Town. Bishops have one game remaining — tomorrow night — and are level on points with Penrith but their goal difference is superior by 14.
It means Penrith are almost certain to finish in the second relegation spot, with Billingham Town anchored to the bottom of the table.
But a complex restructure of the non-league pyramid, combined with a potential influx of teams lower down the ladder, means a final decision on promotion and relegation will now be made by the Football Association later this month. Several clubs are reported to have failed ground grading inspections which now leaves them facing relegation and will impact on the makeup of leagues in the pyramid.
A “points-per-game” (PPG) formula looks set to be used to determine which clubs do drop down a level for the 2022-23 season. One spreadsheet produced by a non-league enthusiast appears to show Penrith’s PPG is superior to that of many teams from other leagues who are at risk of relegation and could result in a welcome reprieve.
But a Northern League spokesman told the Herald: “As there are vacancies further up the pyramid there are possible reprieves available so people need to wait until the end of the season and decisions on promotion and relegation by the FA.”
An FA spokesman confirmed last week that two clubs had failed ground grading inspections and would be relegated, adding: “We will endeavour to provide a further update on promotion/play-offs/reprieves/inter-step play-offs/relegation when communicating the inter-step play-off fixtures on Sunday, 24th April, 2022.”
But as the final whistle sounded on Saturday, neither Penrith’s players nor manager Chris Humphrey and the club’s committee were aware of their fate.
And Humphrey said after the game: “It’s very frustrating because you’re going through these emotions now and in a couple of weeks’ time — you don’t even know when it’s going to be — you could get an email to say ‘actually, you’ve not gone down’.
“You’ve gone through all this heartache, really, these emotions and everything like that, and then you could get a message saying that you’re still there so I think it’s sad that people, fans, the board, the players of any club that’s involved it has to go through that now, especially at the end of the season when you think you’re down and you don’t actually know what’s happening.
Humphrey — who took over from Dave Hewson in October — said of his spell in charge so far: “I always reflect on games and seasons, and how it’s gone; I couldn’t have down any more.” And he added of his players: “They’ve given me everything.”
- North Shields were crowned Northern League first division champions on Friday as they beat Whitley Bay 3-1 in front of 1,422 spectators.
