MANAGER Luke Turkington left Farnham Town and took a swipe at the Football Association for denying the club promotion.

Town were looking certain for promotion to the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League only for coronavirus to bring the season to a shuddering halt.

The FA decided all last season’s results were void – and that there would be no promotion and relegation.

Turkington, who has been at Farnham for two seasons, has never made a secret of his ambition – and when an offer came along to manage Alresford Town in the Premier Division of the Wessex League, he felt it was a challenge he could not turn down.

Ironically, Alresford, like Farnham, were denied promotion last season, when they were on course for promotion to the Southern Division of the Southern League when the campaign was halted prematurely.

Turkington said: “The FA made their decision but it was a bitter pill to swallow.

“The season is all about trying to compete. And unfortunately it seems as if the FA decided to reward failure by not promoting clubs.

“I’d have liked to have seen an average points per game allocated to determine league positions. When you play that many games – when teams have maybe ten games left, or even in single figures – you get a good estimation of where you are going to be in the table.

“That would have been a fair result. But no-one wins out of what the FA have done.

“I’ve loved it at Farnham – we had two great seasons. And I wouldn’t have needed to move if the club had got promoted.

“Alresford are in the same boat – they were sat the top of their league and should have got promotion, and didn’t get it either.

“But when there’s an opportunity like this – the chance to manage at the next level and someone says it’s here if you want it – I went for it.

“I want to aspire to do the best I can and this opportunity came along and it ticked all the right boxes for me. It’s a new, exciting challenge and I’ll take it with both hands.

“The Wessex League is a new chapter for me. I’ve been involved with clubs in other leagues, but not this one. I’m looking forward to it.

“It’s a feeder league to the Southern League and clubs come from around Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth.

“It’s a pull for me because it’s the next level. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

With no players at Combined Counties level on contracts, players are free to move to move to any club at any time – and they often remain loyal to managers they have played for.

And that raises the question whether Turkington will be tempted to take Farnham players to the Hampshire club with him

“I certainly hope so – I’ve opened it up to everybody,” he said.

“But having said that, I want people already at Alresford to stay. They have done as well as they can do as well.

“We’ve looked at their management staff and tried to get them on board too, and the majority have said yes.

“I don’t know what players I will have. We don’t even know the start date yet, so at the moment everything is in a big question mark ‘bubble’. Only when everyone in all the leagues know when we can restart the new season can teams start planning and going forward.

“At the moment everyone is in limbo. In terms of players coming across with me, it could be all of them, it could be none of them.

“It would be great to have players I have already worked with, and I hope most if not all can come across. But there’s a new team there with new players, and I want to give them the opportunity to stay and to show me what they have got.

“But it’ll be the same story at Farnham. The new management staff who take over from me will have players coming across with them from their previous club.

“This happens at every club at our level.

“When you start becoming professional and you’re on a contract, it’s a little bit different – you have to ask to be released, or you stay where you are.

“At our level, you have an affinity and stay with the people you know and you like, and have worked with before.”

But Turkington said he would miss Farnham. “It comes with a heavy heart to leave as we did something really great at Farnham. The club deserve promotion.

“I’ll miss the place and I’ve already told them if an opportunity comes along and they’re at the next level, let me know.

“You never know what’s around the corner.

“It’s always important to me to leave on good terms. This is nothing to do with the club – it’s the FA making the decision that no-one goes up and nulling and voiding the season.

“It’s been a brilliant two years and the people involved at Farnham are second to none.

“Their ambition and drive is exactly like mine.

“But when an opportunity comes along to progress, I have to do it. And they understand that. That’s why we had such a good relationship .

“I wish Farnham all the very best. They deserve it.”