"The FA don't care about grassroots or lower league in my opinion," Gary Johansen begins.
"They don't care about the little clubs not bringing in the money."
His sentiments have been echoed across the country since the Football Association last week made the decision to null and void steps 3-7 of the non-league system.
But Johansen is riveting listening. A committee member at South Liverpool and formerly involved as a board member at the North West Counties Football League [NWCFL] and he knows semi-professional football inside out.
He has also played a key role in the modernisation of South, a club steeped in Merseyside history. Not many non-league clubs can boast a Jimmy Case or John Aldridge in their list of alumni, anyway.
Since taking control of their social media, advertising and marketing arms Johansen has doubled the club's Twitter followers and, in some cases, jogged the memory of some who had forgotten what remains on their doorstep.
"My dad used to take me to Holly Park back when I was a kid!" said one fan. "I didn't even know South Liverpool were still playing," commented another.
"Unless you were involved in the South Liverpool bubble, nobody knew we were still going," Johansen says. "People just thought they'd died off.
"We didn't go anywhere. We've always been here. This is the same club John Aldridge and Jimmy Case played for with huge history behind us.
"We didn't go anywhere we just had to start again and we've worked our way up. We didn't disappear, we just worked our way up and this is where we are now."
But where exactly are South Liverpool?
Coronavirus and the current campaign being ruled null and void means they are 12 months behind.
First, there was fencing work needed at their Jericho Lane stadium - where they moved in January 2019 - for a March 31 deadline to make the grading for the step up to the NWCFL First Division North next term.
This was the finishing touch needed to other costly works that had been completed. Terracing, changing rooms, perimeters. Things the average Premier League football fan might not even consider.
With eight days to spare before the deadline, the company responsible for completing the work went into lockdown. Later that night, Boris Johnson told the rest of the country to do the same.
To say the FA then kicked South when they were down would be an understatement as it was confirmed the NWCFL would not be able to promote or relegate teams and results from the current campaign were expunged.
Not that South Liverpool are strangers to starting again.
They were invited to join the newly formed Northern Premier League in 1968 and were the first club of Liverpool great Aldridge but were forced to fold after financial difficulties in 1991.
South went on to reform and in 2001 hired Martin Ryman as manager. He still holds that position today and has guided his side to four of the last six West Cheshire League titles.
But this season was different. Or meant to be.
Promotion had been applied for to the NWCFL as another leg of their comeback was, hopefully, secured. A top-five finish was needed as well as the necessary upgrades to their ground.
Ryman and his team were top of the table - unbeaten - with an eight-point advantage over second. It was, and still, on the West Cheshire League website, stands as 13 points over fifth with 10 games remaining. Crowds of 80-100 supporters were flocking in, largely unheard of for this level.
By null and voiding the season, Johansen believes the point has been spectacularly missed by the FA.
"It's almost like it doesn't matter," he says. "It's almost like the FA think you know what, these lower leagues don't matter. They've got dilapidated stadiums, there's no real money involved.
"That might be true on a practical level and on a financial level but how can you differentiate on a passion level what that club means to them?
"There's no guarantee you will finish at the top again next year.
"I think that essence of this decision making has been missed. You would never have thought back in 1990 Liverpool would go 30 years without winning the title."
Johansen cannot put an exact figure on how much South Liverpool have spent on upgrading their ground to NWCFL standard but it is believed it could be more than £20,000.
They were promised the funds would be reimbursed by a Football Foundation grant but whether that will now go ahead remains in limbo.
"We've poured our guts to get all this work done and to be in step six and the decision has been made and we are affected the same way many other clubs across the country have been affected," Johansen continues.
And he's right. Vauxhall Motors had already achieved promotion to the NWCFL Premier Division while Lower Breck and AFC Liverpool were on course to do the same. Marine, in the Northern Premier League North West Division, looked assured of a play-off place.
A letter fighting against the decision has now been signed by more than 100 Football League, non-league and amateur outfits. South Liverpool are one of them.
"So where does that leave us?" Johansen ponders.
"You can look at it and say 95% of the work you needed to do was done so you've got all that time to get the rest of the work done. So that's great, yeah. It relieves the pressure in some respect.
"But from a footballing perspective we have players who used to play for South Liverpool to join teams in the NWCFL and came back to us last season because we were aiming to make the step up. Potentially we could lose players like that.
"We've had a great season, we are unbeaten in the league and the crowds have been flooding back. I would hope from a players perspective they can see, yeah, it's a massive blip but there's something really good here at South.
"Hopefully they can give it another season at least and see if we can achieve what we looked like we were going to this year."
His sentiments, once again, will be echoed across the country as non-league remains on hold for 12 months.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com