Salisbury City were demoted to the Conference South on 13 June 2014 after missing a deadline for paying their debts. With Hereford United having already been expelled from the Football Conference for the same reason, Dartford therefore became the second team (alongside Chester) to be reprieved from relegation
True enough, though the reason Salisbury went down was (at least in part) that they tried to run a full-time squad with some real quality players on crowds well under 1000 for home games. The result was they were on the point of folding in april, they bought in a Morroccan business man called Touzar, giving him 98% of the club in return for no money but a few vague promises, and all the way through summer, they have progressivly failed to meet deadline after deadline, been ejected from the Conference, and now on kick off day have no players and no league to play in. The Morrocan meanwhile, has according to their website, helped himself to nearly 4000 pounds from the club safe, promised any number of exciting appointments and, crucially, fended off the previous Salisbury regime's attempts to oust him. And the fans have unswervingly blamed to conference and FA for not preventing the april takeover. Dartford meanwhile, having stayed in budget and recruited poorly last season, got relegated, been reprieved and start this season with the same budget as last. They seem to have recruited better this summer (like Charlton, time will tell) but at least for the momento, they have learned the lessons of a previos bancruptcy, and a bit of simple arithmetic, and are'nt spending money they have'nt got.
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Once you drop out the conference it's hard to get back, ask welling
Dartford meanwhile, having stayed in budget and recruited poorly last season, got relegated, been reprieved and start this season with the same budget as last. They seem to have recruited better this summer (like Charlton, time will tell) but at least for the momento, they have learned the lessons of a previos bancruptcy, and a bit of simple arithmetic, and are'nt spending money they have'nt got.