The top flight of the Fermanagh and Western Football League is set to remain a 14 club division for the foreseeable future, after member clubs failed to pass a motion that would have seen a reduction to 12 sides.

Division One was increased in size following the decision not to enforce relegation in the wake of the Covid-19 shortened campaign in 2019/20, but concerns about a fixture backlog had prompted the administrators of the league to propose a reduction back to the original numbers.

Several alternatives on how this reduction would be implemented were on the table at the recent Fermanagh and Western AGM, but none of the options received sufficient backing to be implemented.

“The vote to bring division one back down to 12 teams by two different methods was rejected, so we will see a 14 team Division One for a while,” stated League Chairman Neil Jardine.

“There does not seem to be an appetite among the clubs to bring it back down to 12, yet they have acknowledged that 14 teams might be too many. We gave them two options. We gave them the option to relegate four teams at the end of this season, which would have immediately brought it down to 12 and brought Division Two back up again. That got barely no support at all.”

“We had given a second option to relegate three teams for two seasons in a row. That would have given an odd number of teams next season, but over two years it would have got us down to 12 teams. That did win a majority of support, but our rules state we need a 75 per cent majority to pass, and it didn’t get that. It hit 66 per cent.

“That rule was brought in 10 or 12 years ago to ensure any rule passed was for the overall benefit of all clubs, as we can’t have rules going through that are potentially divisive.

“We will keep monitoring the situation.

“We feel from an administrative point of view that it is better that it is 12 teams,” said Jardine.

The larger division will see an earlier start to the league matches, with Division One games set to kick off on Saturday August 7, with the rest of the divisions commencing on the more traditional date of Saturday August 21.

Jardine acknowledges that this earlier start may become a more permanent fixture.

“We are starting two weeks early this year to facilitate those extra four games, and maybe we will have to start two weeks early ever year to facilitate those 14 teams, and play those extra games before the third Saturday in August, which is the traditional start. It’s another way of looking at it,” he commented.

The decision leaves Division Two with nine teams, and the seven clubs in Division Three will play each other three times to boost their number of games.

There has also been some changes in the make up of the league, with one team dropping out and two teams entering.

“Strule United did not re-enter,” revealed Jardine.

“They decided issues with recruiting and maintaining players meant they thought they were not going to able to manage it.

“We have a new team in Castlederg United and they have been accepted into Division Three. Dunbreen Rovers IIIs have re-entered in Reserve Division Three.

“They had been in the league and had dropped out a couple of seasons ago, but they are back in, so we are net plus one team.”