GREAT HARWOOD chairman Bill Holden was today anxiously awaiting a letter from the UniBond League which could decide the Reds destiny.

The Showgrounders were told earlier this season they had to implement costly ground improvements if they wanted to retain their UniBond League status.

And league representatives ran the rule over the ground again this week to find out what progress had been made.

A report of their findings was due to arrive today and, with the majority of the work still to be done, Holden admitted he 'wasn't too optimistic' about what it was likely to say.

"It was a pretty constructive meeting but they didn't give me any guarantees that we'd be allowed to stay in the UniBond League if we didn't do the work," said Holden.

"The main problem is the lease.

"If someone came in and bought the ground then we might be in a position to negotiate a new one.

"But as it stands at the moment, the present lease runs out in eight or nine years and we need a lease of at least 21 years to qualify for any grants from the FA or the Football Trust. "We're in a catch 22 situation.

"We can't keep throwing good money after bad because we don't know how long we'll be allowed to play on this ground. And the consequences of that could be that we'll get thrown out of the league .

"They haven't said as much but it could obviously happen."

But there was one shred of good news for the Showgrounders this week after UniBond League secretary Duncan Bayley confirmed a maximum of two clubs rather than three would go down.

And that might even be reduced to one as the two clubs currently leading the North East Counties League - Brigg Town and Hallam - have not applied to join the UniBond League. That makes tomorrow's game against bottom of the table Alfreton Town all the more important.

After six wins and two draws in their last 10 matches, Harwood clawed themselves off the bottom last week for the first time since October.

And that's where they need to stay if they want to take advantage of any lifeline. Jonathan Smith is away on holiday but Jason Jones and Paul QWhalley have both been added to the squad for the crunch encounter.

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