MORE than 100 football clubs across England could be promoted within the Non-League pyramid, as the FA Alliance and Leagues committees recommend the National League System (NLS) restructure at Steps 4-6 to FA Council.

As part of the proposals, 110 clubs would be moved upwards within the pyramid - from Step 5 to Step 4, Step 6 to Step 5 and Step 7 to Step 6.

This does not affect Taunton Town, who play at Step 3 in the NLS (Southern League Premier Division South), but Somerset teams within the divisions which ARE part of the restructure include Frome Town (Southern League Division 1 South - Step 4), Bridgwater Town, Shepton Mallet, Street, Wellington (all Western League Premier Division - Step 5), Bishops Lydeard and Wells City (both Western League Division 1 - Step 6).

Step 7 - now known as Regional NLS Feeder Leagues - includes the Somerset County League's Premier Division, which features Chard Town, Ilminster Town, Middlezoy Rovers and Watchet Town.

Should FA Council give its approval for the restructure, one new division will be created at Step 4, to be administered by the Northern Premier League.

Two new divisions are to be created at Step 5, to be administered by the Combined Counties League and the United Counties League, while the number of divisions at Step 6 will be reduced to 17.

In order to ensure all of the divisions are filled, 20 clubs are to move from Step 5 to Step 4, 60 clubs will move from Step 6 to Step 5, and 30 clubs are to be promoted from the Feeder Leagues to Step 6.

Promotions into Steps 4 and 5 will be decided by allocating each club an unweighted points per game figure, on the basis of its completed fixtures in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons (both of which were terminated early due to Covid-19), and ranking those clubs within their leagues.

For promotion to Step 4, the top three ranked clubs from each of the North West Counties League, Northern Counties East League and Northern League, as well as the top ranked club from the remaining 11 Step 5 divisions, will be invited to make an application to move upwards.

For Step 5, the top two ranked clubs in each of the South West Peninsula League divisions, along with the top three ranked clubs from the 18 other Step 6 divisions, will be invited to apply.

A club must have played in each of those seasons, both at the same step, to be eligible for promotion, and the FA committees are currently considering what additional requirements clubs would need to meet, in order to be moved up.

If a club eligible for promotion chooses not to apply, the next best ranked club will be invited (and so on), subject to any cut-off point decided by the committees.

To fill vacancies at Step 6, leagues at that level will be asked to consider applications that were made by clubs on or before December 31, 2020, from clubs in the Feeder Leagues within their relevant geographical area.

Given the degree of variation in the number of fixtures completed by clubs in the Feeder Leagues, it was not deemed appropriate to utilise a points per game formula.

Clubs at Steps 3-6 have been given until this Friday (April 16) to provide 'observations' on the proposals, and to notify the FA if they do not want to be considered for upward movement.

FA Council is to vote on the proposals on Thursday, April 22, and should all proceed as planned, the 2021/22 league constitutions would be confirmed by the FA on or around May 17.