Wembley D-date for Hungerford

Crusaders unite with Darlington and Poole in Wednesday play-off appeal

HUNGERFORD TOWN, Poole Town and Darlington will unite as a team at Wembley on Wednesday when they appeal against the Vanarama National League’s refusal to allow the trio to contest the end of season promotion play-offs.

The two South and one North division clubs have failed the grading process for having insufficient covered seats, despite meeting all the requirements to complete in the league competition that produced the play-offs.

All three have cited several reasons for appeal, notably that the Vanarama League’s ruling is at odds with all of the other leagues and is due to overhauled anyway at the end of this season and that clubs are being required to meet substantial costs to meet a higher standard that may not be needed if a club loses in the play-offs.

The appeal outcomes are likely to be announced on the same day by the independent appeals board, with the final matches of the campaign on Saturday.