BISHOP’S Castle have fresh hope of playing competitive football this season after the Shropshire FA reversed its decision not to back their switch to the Montgomeryshire League.

Castle have been left kicking their heels after a joint panel of English and Welsh national association chiefs decided against sanctioning their summer move from the Mercian League.

First-team manager Dan Dawson last week claimed a lack of support from the Shropshire FA had been responsible for the block.

County chief executive Roy Waterfield admitted his association had not supported the switch when initially consulted but refuted that the decision had been down to them.

And after the prospect of a return to the Mercian League was ruled out, he acknowledged a change of approach was necessary.

Waterfield told the Advertiser: “Because of where the Mercian League is with its season, we are now looking to the FA to have a rethink. The last thing we want is to have Bishop’s Castle not playing football."

Asked whether that would mean backing the move, Waterfield replied: “If the Mercian League cannot give them the opportunity to play, we need to find a league that can and one of those is the Montgomeryshire League."

Quizzed on why Castle’s case had not be supported from the off, Waterfield continued: “We have a league in Shropshire that we are keen to sustain and if you include Bishop’s Castle, it was looking like losing four teams over the summer.

“We are bound to promote our loyalty and commitment to a Shropshire-based league, that is of paramount importance to us because we have to safeguard the future of all of the other Mercian clubs.

“I think we were aware that Bishop's Castle had felt slightly short changed by the Merican League last season, there were difficulties in the second tier and I could understand why the club felt the switch would offer them a better future.

“But there are protocols to follow and things might have been done differently in respect of the club going through the appropriate channels.

“That is all water under the bridge now. The last thing we want is to see a group of keen footballers denied the chance to play so we will do our best to produce a solution.

“If the only vehicle for that is the Montgomeryshire League, we would be looking to the FA to grant some sort of dispensation.”

As the Advertiser went to press, the Shropshire FA was still awaiting feedback from their national counterparts in England.

“We acknowledge the club is in limbo and realise it is important for them to get a decision quickly,” he added.

Dawson was unavailable for comment.