THE final whistle blew on Vauxhall Motors’ stay in Blue Square North on Saturday after they could muster only a point at relegation rivals Redditch.
As it stands, the Rivacre Park outfit’s six-year tenure in the league has come to an end following there 1-1 draw in the Midlands (see page 70) which leaves them six points from safety with just one game to go.
But Vauxhall chairman Alan Bartlam believes their is still the slenderest of chances that the club could receive a miraculous reprieve should the FA find in favour of an appeal being made today by promotion-seeking Fleetwood Town.
The hearing, taking place inside Wembley Stadium, will rule whether or not the Lancashire side will have their points, won against Farsley Celtic who folded last month, reinstated.
If they do, then there is a case, Bartlam claims, that the Motormen may be awarded three points for their home clash with Farsley, which did not take place.
He said: “If when the dust settles we are still relegated then so be it. We will be ready for the new challenge.
“But there are still issues to be decided that could have a direct bearing on our status.
“There are other clubs with issues over ground grading and finances. We were relegated a couple of seasons ago and still ended up in the same division. You just wonder whether that will happen again.
“We are ready to be relegated but we are keeping our ear to the ground.
“We never had the opportunity to play Farsley Celtic at home so we might receive three points for a game that we never played.”
The Motormen take on AFC Telford United at home on Saturday (3pm) and even if an unlikely reprieve is made available to them, they must also inflict a heavy defeat on the Bucks while relying on Redditch United suffering a heavy defeat at Droylsden.
The UniBond Premier League is almost certain to be Vauxhall’s home next season and with potential fixtures against Marine, Burscough and FC United of Manchester and improved chances of cup and league success, the future may not be so gloomy for Motors after all.
Bartlam added: “It will give us the opportunity to gain some momentum and we might be challenging for a cup and maybe a play-off place.
“I want to thank the supporters for sticking by us as well. They have been absolutely fantastic and ironically our crowds have been up this season.
“It has been a difficult tine for everyone at the club but hopefully the good times will be just around the corner and the supporters, who have been excellent, will stay with us.”
