We Might Go Up A Place!!

I know it's a touch desperate, but we might go up a place in the Conference without kicking a ball! The season starts here!

Alright, I'll drop the sarcasm, but there could be real upheaval in the table if Mansfield are docked points for fielding an ineligible player in Aaron O'Connor. They gained eight points in the games he played before the matter was addressed, so if the usual precedent is followed they'd lose them and the table would look like this.

However, an interesting article in Non League Today by John Moules, the ex-chief executive of the Conference, suggests that might not be the end of it. He feels the Carlos Tevez judgement sets a precedent for the damaged parties being compensated, and that the sides Mansfield took points off should be given them back, leaving the table looking like this:

And that's not factoring in the fact that Mansfield might be charged with fielding a second ineligible player! Or any ten point deduction for financially precarious Oxford! Or the mooted voluntary relegation of Lewes. Then it would really get complicated!