Difficult decisions will have to be made - Crawley Town opinion

Their counterparts in Scotland and Wales have at least recognised that things have moved on and are taking tentative steps towards ending the current torment.

In the world of football similar things have been going on although the choices made seem to echo the frustration felt by us all at the absence of real change.

In Holland, the Eredivisie has been brought to an abrupt end and the season has been abandoned. Whether it is right or wrong, good or bad at least the decision has been taken.

SEE ALSO The date Crawley Town fans will be let back into Broadfield as EFL plan fixtures | Crawley Town chief: 'There are a lot of financial burdens on every club' | 'Everybody will be ready' - Crawley Town boss looking forward to getting back in actionI suspect the fear factor loomed large in the ruling as Ajax led AZ Alkmaar only on goal difference.

That difficult situation means there will be no champion club nor any promotion or relegation.

Nobody ever said that sorting it out would be easy.

While the Dutch league has chickened out the member clubs of the National League, whose season was not declared null and void by the FA, have, understandably, accepted that the financial insecurity that now exists is too big a risk for them to take.

The clubs voted with a clear majority to end their season immediately with financial considerations weighing more heavily than the sporting outcomes.

The National League stated that promotion and relegation issues were “under careful consideration”. They must know they cannot win even with the best will in the world. Leaders Barrow, with their long awaited return to the Football League looking nailed on, were happy but Notts County (in with a good chance but by no means certain of promotion) were not.

From an insular viewpoint I suspect Alain Harper and Crawley Town’s most avid travelling supporters would not be overjoyed at the prospect of a third overnight trip to the far North West in next season’s campaign.

Another suggestion, however, could mean that such a big undertaking for ordinary fans might not be the future norm.

The effects of the pandemic are undoubtedly the most significant in this country since WW2 and recovering from it will hit us all in the pocket.

It has been suggested that regionalisation could be re-introduced starting as high as League One.

Once again the practicalities of distance and tight budgets were paramount.

Apart from the dilemma that the supporting National League is what it claims to be I certainly feel the proposal merits consideration.

I grew up fully cognisant of Division Three South and Division Three North and their reorganisation into Division Three and Division Four.

To all intents and purposes the National League is Division Five.

I am sure younger Reds fans would be keener to travel to away games if the longest trip was to, say, Port Vale.

We might even get a number of fixtures to count as local derbies. Many would view that as progress.