The initiative which the Football Conference introduced six years ago to address the level of crown debt amongst its 68 member clubs recently achieved its ultimate goal when the latest quarter end reports showed zero arrears throughout the entire competition.

Commenting on the success, Financial Planning Committee Chairman, Graham Wood, said, "it has been very rewarding to see HMRC indebtedness in our member clubs fall from a collective high approaching £2,000,000 to a position where all of our clubs are reporting nil arrears. Having reached this point, we are naturally looking to clubs to remain compliant, which of course should be a simpler task than the one just completed".

Chairman of the Football Conference Brian Lee added, "The strength and resolve of the Board over the past six seasons to drive down debt, has unfortunately taken its toll with a number of high profile club casualties. This was a consequence the Board knew could be a distinct possibility in pursuing such an initiative. However, it was a long term objective and clubs were duly warned they may face a severe sanction if they failed to meet their financial obligations".

"As a competition we can no longer leave to chance the long term survival of clubs on short term gambles. It is not fair on supporters of these clubs to see winding up petition after winding up petition brought by HMRC. There is a strong wind blowing throughout the game in support of this welcomed change of direction, so we should all join to applaud each and every club who work so hard to live within their means and rightly budget to only play at the level they can truly afford".