MINEHEAD’S dream of promotion to the Toolstation Western league has been dashed.

They applied to step up a level after finishing second in the Somerset County League last season but have been leap-frogged by rivals Ashton & Backwell.

Club chairman Brian Walder, said: “We have yet to hear official notification but Ashton have been accepted so we have to presume our ground grading application was unsuccessful.”

Walder met with the FA’s grading officials on May 10 who checked whether the clubs’ facilities at Irnham Road would be good enough for promotion to Step 6 in the football pyramid.

Walder added: “This is the first season that the FA have taken over the whole ground grading process, so we expected it to be strictly by the book.

“On the day it was three Western League officials who were representing the FA who turned up, and they could not give a decision while on site as they were merely there to tick the relevant boxes and forward the results to the FA who would adjudicate.

“I was warned on the day that the pitch was five metres short of the minimum 100 metres required length, and that the existing portable dugouts would not seat the minimum eight people that are required for the higher level.

“In our defence, the officials agreed to put in a comment that there was ample room to move goals back to where they were positioned when the club left the Western League three years ago. Our new dugouts, which are on order, have been delayed and I felt we had a safety net in the grading documentation that “suitable seats in a grandstand could be used” would satisfy the FA but the Western League delegates questioned whether ours were suitable.

“There were a few other tiny issues, such as paper towels being used in the toilets instead of hand driers, and they suggested a few more fire exit signs, and they left saying we would know our fate by the end of the next week, but to date we have heard nothing and an email sent last Friday also remains unanswered.

“At the end of the day we knew that the deadline for having everything in place was March 31, but with us not actually signing our new 25 year lease until April 17, we knew it would be touch and go to get everything done by the time the FA visited.

“We are all absolutely gutted that the effort that has been put into what has been our most successful season for more than a decade has not been rewarded.

“We all expected to be back in the Western League next season after finishing ahead of Ashton and Backwell and I feel so sorry for the players.

“To turn a positive twist on the devastation, the players know that they are capable of winning the league next season.

“All of the squad have enjoyed by far their most successful season with their home town club, finishing in runners-up position, reaching the semi-final of the knock-out cup and equalling an all time record number of consecutive victories.

“We are now more determined than ever to get our facilities up to the required standard – much of which has already been done – and to go one better and win the championship next season.”