The owner of FC Oswestry Town believes the current football season should be expunged despite calls from many non-league clubs for it to be extended.

Mike Harris, who is also the owner of The New Saints, has made contrasting comments to those made by Town manager, Nathan Leonard, who admitted he hopes the FA re-consider plans to end the season early.

Town are currently on the verge of promotion into the North West Counties Football League (NWCFL) Premier Division, as they sit in second place in the table.

Mr Harris made it clear that he believes there is no easy solution to the current situation, but insists action needs to be taken sooner rather than later.

He said: “I think the difficulty with it is how long do you suspend the leagues for until it has an impact on next season?

“I think the sensible choice is to expunge all leagues from top to bottom and start again next year.

“Because what’s going to happen with amateur football? There are no contracts.

“I think you’ve got to look at sporting integrity – how can those teams lower down the pyramid be the same teams in a few months time?

“It’s a world of unknown, so as much as it would be disappointing for a lot of clubs, if it is about being safe, we could be locked down for a long time, so the sensible thing to do is write this season off and start again in the next one.

“If the season keeps getting extended, it could impact on next season and the season after.

“There isn’t an easy choice.”

The club owner believes the longer the season is extended, the harsher the impact will be on clubs financially, and believes it could disrupt coming seasons if it is not resolved soon enough.

He explained: “I suspect there will be a lot of clubs that will disappear.

“Further up the pyramid there will be a lot of clubs who experience financial difficulty, and this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

“If some of those clubs disappear, like Bury did last year, you could have clubs from lower down like FC Oswestry Town and other sides who might then be pushed up.

“I don’t think there’s any easy answer and I don’t think anyone has got all the facts.

“I think UEFA and each country’s associations are reluctant to do anything in terms of ending the season, because they’ll want the money from television companies.

“But really, I think there is no soft way out of this, and the sooner a line is drawn underneath it, the better.

“People won’t be worrying about it next week or next month then – if we just accept that it’s done then that’s that.

“If the season is expunged, then country’s representative bodies should select teams from their leagues to represent their country in the European competitions for next season.

“Next season might even have to start later if we end this one now, but that’s fine because hopefully, things will be back to normal then.”