The FA's hopes of a bumper crowd at last Saturday's FA Carlsberg Vase final between Whitley Bay and Tiptree were unfounded, writes Ray Simpson.

Preliminary talk of Whitley Bay taking around 10,000 fans to the big game was well wide of the mark when the official gate was returned as 4,742 -around ten per cent of the stadium's capacity.

A clash with the last day of the Premiership took some of the interest away, while to some the venue also lacked the glamour of a day out at Wembley.

Fortunately, some fans paid at the turnstiles on the day to give the final figure a late boost.

But the attendance figure was only slightly above the all time low for a final when St Helens faced Warrington in an all North West Counties League final over a decade ago.

The FA will probably discuss the issues arriving out of the final soon.

Some think that playing the final nearer to the date of the two legged semi finals will keep interest, or staging it on a non-Premiership day in future.

Whitley Bay manager Andy Gowens was still full of praise for the fans who did turn up.

"They were superb, and there was plenty of noise right the way through the game. I'm pleased we gave them such a good day out"

For Gowens, work now starts on the next campaign. "Our aim now is to get back into the UniBond League."

Former Northern League club Gretna are doing their best to leave the UniBond League - they've expressed an interest in joining the Scottish League following Airdrie's demise, but they face strong competition from several other clubs.

Ashton United, who beat Spennymoor in the UniBond League play off semi final, clinched promotion by defeating Bamber Bridge in the final by 2-1.

It means that there are four clubs from the Manchester district of Tameside in the Premier Division - Ashton United, Droylsden, Hyde and Stalybridge, who are relegated from the Conference.

Bamber Bridge are relegated to the First Division with Bishops, while Ashton United and Harrogate are promoted.

Peterlee boss Eddie Freeman and his assistant Kenny Charlton have confirmed that they have quit the Albany First Division club.

The pair, who had been in charge for five years, have left for personal reasons, but they still want to be involved in management.

"We want to move to a progressive club," said Freeman.

Bishop Auckland have decided to drop their appeal against relegation from the UniBond League Premier Division.

After preliminary talks with the FA, they have decided not to fight against their demotion to the First Division after the UniBond League ruled that their proposed ground at Shildon isn't up to standard.

Spokesman Terry Jackson said: "There is no point in progressing. We have had conversations with the FA, and although we feel as if we have a very good point, we have little chance of winning the appeal in the current structure."

Bishops' argument rested on the deadline date set by the UniBond League for ground improvements to be completed.

"We feel that the UniBond League arbitrarily changed the date for completion.

"We were advised that it was the 15th June, but instead we set a self imposed date of April 30.

"The UniBond League then told us that it would be the 30 April, and the FA have informed us that we should have appealed at that point.