Wingate & Finchley boss Meakin: Ryman League extension is ‘ridiculous’

Wingate & Finchley manager Gary Meakin says the decision to extend the Ryman Premier Division from 22 to 24 teams is “ridiculous”.

Wingate played 52 games this season, having to squeeze seven matches into April, and the Blues boss is concerned by the addition of four more to next season’s fixture list.

“This season it was ridiculous,” said Meakin. “If we had 24 teams this season we wouldn’t have finished it, or they’d have had to extend it.

“It does seem a bit ridiculous to make the league bigger when we’re struggling to play that amount of games anyway.

“If they get the fixture arrangement right it might not be too bad. We should just front-load the games, as everyone’s as fit as they will be after pre-season.

“Everyone’s got loads of players in pre-season and the fixtures are all okay then. Put all of those scenarios together and let’s play every Saturday and Tuesday for the first couple of months.”