Why new deal is great for Worthing FC boss - and club

Speculation was rife. Possibilities ranged from the sarcastic (they’ve got Budweiser on tap for a few more years) and the scary (the next time we’d see live football) to the hopeful (Adam Hinshelwood has signed on again).

It was not until a picture of our manager was shared on Instagram with the same tagline that we understood.

The importance of the piece of business the club have achieved should not be underestimated. To get a highly regarded young manager to commit to another long-term contract in the middle of a pandemic is astounding.

It gives Adam job security and time to continue the project while providing the club with an element of protection from teams higher up the pyramid wanting Adam’s services.

Meanwhile, what to do with the last two seasons is a constant point for discussion among fans. It won’t come as a shock that clubs who’d do well out of a points-per-game resolution are in favour of this and those who would like to get rid of their average seasons are not.

I think the only person who bucks this trend is Dom Di Paola, manager at Horsham, who has given his blessing to the idea of Worthing and Cray going up from the Isthmian on collated points per game from two years.

Strange? Not if you think winning the Isthmian is a far simpler prospect with two high achieving teams gone (especially if the rumour is correct that they might not relegate from step two).

In reality, it will probably be another null and void season because it will be the simplest scenario and involve the least drama.

I always try to flip these situations to give myself perspective. If we were mid-table and there was a team (even that lot down the coast) who’d consistently been at the top over the two uncompleted seasons, I’d support their desire to go up.

There’s another problem, though. If we were to suddenly be given the nod to go up, what would National South look like?

Dulwich Hamlet suggested the other day that out of all their options (including defaulting, playing a weakened side, negotiating for a tax break, taking a private loan and taking a Sport England loan), each seemed to break one rule or another.

Surely, it is time for those in charge to make some difficult but necessary decisions? Particularly as these rules were made in ‘normal times’ to regulate ‘normal’ football seasons?

Hopefully the continued vaccine roll-out will mean that we can identify the start of the next campaign as a realistic restart point for competitive football at our level. I just hope all the clubs make it.