It may have only been a matter of months, but the Kingsley James saga at Chester FC feels like it has been rumbling on longer than a 'who killed Lucy Beale?' Eastenders storyline.

As each passing week has gone by there has been no end in sight and the feeling seems to have been that the ending of the US trade embargo on Cuba and the invention of the hoverboard, as prophesised in 1989's Back to the Future II, would likely arrive before the Blues received any money for James, now at FC Halifax Town. But, thankfully, it appears that the whole situation could be reaching its terminus, with a tribunal date pencilled in for later this month.

But the whole rigmarole has been nothing short of farcical. Only in the mad world of football, where the everyday business conventions simply do not apply, would you be able to take goods from another business after offering them far less money than they felt was fair for said goods before proceeding to use said goods freely while the whole issue about what is determined to be a fair and just price is sorted out.

Lucy Beale's Eastenders demise. That dragged on a bit
Lucy Beale's Eastenders demise. That dragged on a bit

Here's how it would pan out in the real world, you know, where real people live.

Say I want a new car and I nip down to Sealand Road to have a butchers. I don't fancy anything too flash, just reliable. I'll have a Ford Fiesta. In blue, naturally.

"That'll be £9,995," says the sales rep.

"Tell you what mate, I'll give you £5,000 for it, yeah? Will that work," I say.

"No. The price is £9,995," replies the sales rep, clearly annoyed that I've just made up a figure on the spot. It is, after all, a very nice Ford Fiesta, it's got Bluetooth and somewhere to put your morning Starbucks.

"Ah right, the price," I respond. "I don't think it's fair mate so here's what's going to happen. I'm going to take the car today for nowt, drive it around a bit, get it all mucky and sit in the car park of McDonalds on a Friday night. We'll get someone to decide how much I pay you in...say four months? If that doesn't work for you, tough."

You see, it's lunacy. But, as we all know, football is bonkers and seems to slide further and further into madness with each passing season. So it is no surprise that James has been allowed to play 17 games for a club that has yet to pay a penny for his services. But that is not a dig at the Shaymen as without the the actual figures for what either side deem a fair price being made public, it is impossible to side with either party.

No urgency, no resolution

The issue here is with the Football Association dragging their heels on a matter which they seem to feel doesn't demand their immediate attention and has no real urgency attached to it. What other explanation can there be for taking four months to get a panel of people to sit down in a room and settle the whole affair?

It's not just the fact that Halifax have been able to field a player who they have yet to pay for, with James even featuring in the clash between Chester and the Shaymen at the start of the season and likely to take his place in Darren Kelly's struggling side for the meeting between the two clubs at the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium on Saturday, it is the fact that Chester have been the only party made to suffer through all of this, a situation not of their own making.

Nothing wrong with James wanting to leave for family reasons, he did so with no hard feelings from the Chester fans I had spoken to. What is wrong is that the money that Chester were entitled from the departure of the midfielder, who came on leaps and bounds under Steve Burr and earned himself an England C call-up in the process, was not forthcoming meaning that it could not be used to strengthen the squad in the wake of his departure. And no doubt transfer targets that may have been in reach had Burr had some of the James money at his disposal would have been brought in to the Blues to strengthen the squad, but that hasn't been allowed to happen.

1980s Michael J Fox, complete with hoverboard, expresses his surprise at the length of time taken to conclude the Kingsley James tribunal farce
1980s Michael J Fox, complete with hoverboard, expresses his surprise at the length of time taken to conclude the Kingsley James tribunal farce

Ignoring the fact that Halifax have been absolutely horrific on the pitch so far this season and are springing more leaks than a Julian Assange website, shipping 20 goals in their last five games, they have benefited as a result of this. And would they argue that there has been a change in value in James from the player they wanted at the start of the season? Are they to pay a fair price for the player they wanted in the summer or the one they have got now?

Hopefully all will become clear before the end of the month but the length of time that has been taken to determine the outcome has been ridiculous. The FA are pretty quick to sort out a panel when it comes to reviewing Premier League matters on a weekly basis, but those matters shouldn't be given precedence over clubs in the lower leagues, for the timescales of monies received from a tribunal could have a major impact on how their season pans out.

What should have been a simple task dealt with swiftly, most certainly before the start of the season, has taken an age, and the sloth-like approach taken by the powers that be to resolve this saga has left a bitter taste in the mouth.

Look: Kingsley James' Chester career in pictures