The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Holbeach United boss Danny Hussey admits that Holbeach United are currently in the dark over whether they could be promoted from the Uhlsport UCL Premier Division this season.
It’s currently unclear as to how many teams will go up this year, but it is believed that a number of clubs could receive mandatory promotion from the Step Five division this year due to restructuring of the non-league pyramid.
Recent projections from respected Twitter source NonLeagueMatters (@NL_Matters) have placed Holbeach in both the BetVictor NPL South East and the new UCL South for next season.
That would potentially see them in the same division as Spalding United, Wisbech Town, Yaxley, St Ives, St Neots and Lincoln United – while Grantham Town would also drop into that league if relegated and Stamford would remain if they fail to achieve promotion.
With the United Counties League taking on an extra league from the 2020/21 season, the UCL Premier Division will cease to exist and instead turn into a UCL North and UCL South.
Hussey admits that being in the same division as so many local rivals would obviously be a major boost to the Tigers, but doesn’t really know what the Tigers would need to do to be in the running for promotion.
“I’ve heard about the projections and a league with so many derbies would be great for all concerned,” said the Tigers boss. “Obviously that would bring in more income and there would be less travel than is usually associated with Step Four.
“But my worry would be keeping the team together. We have a modest budget here and we’d be in w.ith local teams that would pay more than we do; naturally they’d raid us.
“As a committee, we sat down at the start of the season and accepted the title was not a realistic goal and we didn’t really discuss promotion due to the big teams paying big money in the UCL.
“The truth is, we don’t really know what the score is regarding promotion. I’m not really clear on how many teams are going up or if others don’t want to or aren’t able to.
“I can see the benefits, but we’d have to talk more about it as a club. I feel a little in limbo about it, but more local games would boost gate receipts, that’s for sure.”
Holbeach, who drew 1-1 with leaders Quorn on Wednedsay night, host Lutterworth Town on Saturday (3pm) and visit Peterborough Northern Star on Tuesday (7.45pm).
