BRIDPORT are set to discover whether their dream of playing Toolstation Western League Premier Division football is to become a reality.
Western League officials are holding a board meeting today and top of their agenda is the issue of Oldland Abbotonians’ eligibility for promotion after their ground failed to meet the required standards.
The Bees believe they should be entitled to make the step up for finishing third and have already publicised their intention to appeal if the decision is not favourable to them.
Manager Trevor Senior reiterated his hope that the club will be celebrating promotion but admits he is unsure what the league will rule.
Speaking ahead of their D-Day, he said: “I really don’t know how it’s going to go but my only concern is that it’s taken the league quite a long time to get a meeting arranged.
“I know the Les Phillips Cup final took place at the weekend so maybe that’s a reason why it has been delayed and apparently there are one or two other issues to sort out.
“I think there are some teams trying to get themselves into the league but I’ve heard that ours is the biggest issue on their agenda.
“We have everything in place at the club to be in the Premier Division. We were told last year that there were improvements we had to make to our ground and we carried those out.
“All the lads are champing at the bit to play at a higher level and for me personally I’d love to manage this club in the Premier Division. The lads want to play at the highest standard they possibly can.”
Senior scotched suggestions that Bridport do not merit promotion for finishing outside the top two in Toolstation Western League Division One.
Runaway champions Mer-thyr Town captured the title by a whopping 14 points while second-placed Oldland Abbotonians ended four points better off than the Bees in the final standings.
Senior added: “Some people may say that we don’t deserve to get promoted but it was an unusual season with Merthyr Town having dropped down three divisions.
“There was talk before the season that they were going to go straight into the Premier Division and you could see that they were far too good for ours. In a normal season we’d have finished in the top two.
“I certainly feel that we should appeal if the decision doesn’t go our way and I know the club feel the same, but first we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Boss Senior also confirmed that he has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from his players with regards to next season, with only goalkeeper Sam Filkins, who could be off to university in the summer, yet to commit himself.
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