BISHOPS Castle Town have been backed to make the step up to the Mid Wales League by an online County Times poll.

The J T Hughes Montgomeryshire League club has been barred from promotion due to being based in Shropshire.

However 91 per cent of 335 online voters backed Castle to be allowed to play in the Mid Wales League.

Castle secretary Lee Davies expressed his disappointment with the Mid Wales League's stance though thanks voters, many of which hailed from across Mid Wales football, for their support.

Castle agreed a Cross Border Agreement in 2017 to allow them to continue to compete in Wales but blocking them from the Football Association of Wales (FAW) affiliated Mid Wales League.

The club proposed to modify the agreement to allow the club to compete in the Mid Wales League from the end of the season.

Davies said: "Our club needs to be allowed to progress.

"As a consequence of having a thriving junior section, all competing in Wales, we are producing a number of good young players aged 16 or 17 and we need a reserve side to keep these players active in Mid Wales football.

"We’d like to start this team from the beginning of next season but this is only viable if the senior side could play at a higher level so there is a realistic distinction between first and reserve teams.

"Our club is a long-standing and well run club, and our plans for new changing rooms next to the main pitch are about to become a reality, thanks to funding from the Football Foundation.

"We feel we could make a solid contribution to Mid Wales football and would love to play against local teams such as Montgomery, Abermule, Kerry, Berriew, Churchstoke like we used to."

However the club has once again been denied with Davies hitting out the process.

"It’s obvious for everyone to see that our club would realistically never be able to play above Mid Wales One which would be the highest level we could compete at. I’m concerned that our club is being held back.

"What’s most annoying is the total lack of respect shown towards our club, to find out our application has been rejected through the local press is so disrespectful especially when our offer was good for all parties.

"If the FAW do want standards to improve then surely you’d want strong teams participating in there leagues."

Among the online comments included comparisons to Oswestry based TNS playing in Wales and six Welsh based clubs competing in England, both with the blessing of the FA and FAW, which have both barred Castle from competing cross border.