WELL, to the surprise of nobody who watched their clinical dispatch of The Badgers in the promotion play-off semi-finals, Gateshead clinched a place in the Blue Square North with a comfortable win over Buxton.
Fleetwood and Gateshead will be replaced by FC United of Manchester and Bradford Park Avenue from the First Division North, and Cammell Laird and Nantwich Town from the southern division.
Neighbours Hucknall town should be back with us next season
after relegation from the Blue Square North, but could be reprieved by the seemingly endless financial problems of Halifax Town.
The Yorkshire team has applied for a second voluntary arrangement with its creditors and their very future could depend on these long suffering creditors accepting, by tomorrow, a paltry return of two-and-a-half pence in the pound.
Even if this is accepted, the Blue Square Conference will require copper-bottomed financial guarantees and even the UniBond Premier will not be happy to accept The Shaymen if they are relegated on monetary grounds.
Nearer home, the Conference could be inheriting another potential problem with the relegation from the Football League of Mansfield Town.
The poor old Stags' fans are obviously anxious to see the back of owner and ex-chairman Keith Haslam but the prospect of being bought up by John Batchelor, who took York City into the Conference and has threatened to re-name Mansfield Harchester United is a nightmare.
Paul Holland has demanded clarification of his position as manager but I understand he was being interviewed earlier this week for a manager's job elsewhere.
In an all-too-familiar end to season 2007/8, no less than four UniBond clubs parted with their managers and that is only the official announcements made in last week's press release.
Colwyn Bay sacked Gary Finley and Ashley Berry left Woodley Sports after saving them from relegation in a brief nine-week tenure.
Cammell Laird replaced Ian Doran (promoted to the board) with Ken McKenna, an ex-Altrincham player who managed Welsh club TNS in their high profile European competitions.
Doran can hardly be viewed as a failure with his record of four promotions in a five year move from West Cheshire League to UniBond Premier.
Finally Witton Albion, who for the second successive season lost the Premier Division title on the final day and then again lost out in the play-off competition, announce the departure of Jim Vance.
Bradford Park Avenue, at least, had the consolation of promotion to the Premier Division to compensate for two very poorly attended away defeats to Retford United (131) in the Chairman's Cup Final and then Fleetwood Town (388) in the Peter Swales Memorial Shield.
Hucknall Town announced the appointment of ex-Badgers pair Mick Galloway and Andy Miller to replace the management duo of David Lloyd and John Knapper.
Another departure and one that has received no publicity from Watnall Road is the resignation of long-serving secretary Brian Scothern.
Brian will be harder to replace than any of the recent managers.
One really distasteful element of a website is the way it is cynically used to trail and then effect the removal of a manager.
The constant speculation about the position of Nigel Jemson at Ilkeston Town is a case in point and I have seen in the past few days where Kevin Wilson is moving in, contradicted by Nigel asserting he is still in charge. What a taudry way to deal with a man's livelihood.
