Conference play-off blocked

The Nationwide Conference will not be allowed to stage a play-off to decide promotion to Division Three next season.

Football Association bosses threw out the revolutionary scheme which was aimed to make the season more exciting.

The move was a response to the Football League's rejection of the two-up-two-down system of promotion and relegation at their AGM in June.

Conference chiefs will now try to hold urgent talks with the FA in a bid to get the decision reversed.

The system would have involved the winners of the Conference going into the play-off final with the second, third, fourth and fifth placed teams meeting in semi-finals and a final to determine the remaining place.

The Conference season is scheduled to end early on 27 April next season to accommodate the extra games.

Bitter blow

Nationwide Conference chief executive John Moules said he was bitterly disappointed.

"We'll be seeking a meeting with the FA as early as possible," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"I'm sure our clubs will be absolutely livid. All but two clubs, who have just been promoted, voted for the proposal and one can understand their reluctance.

"We had made some general calculations and felt that the play-offs alone would have been worth between £800,000 and £1.5m.

"The whole idea of the play-offs was to increase interest in the second half of the season, and that extra interest may have been worth a further £1m, not to mention other commercial spin-offs."