As the details of this proposal start to emerge, the leadership of the two Leagues took the opportunity to conduct a joint interview on the Toolstation Western League Podcast, addressing many of the question which supporters, volunteers, players, coaches and administers, had started to raise about what this might mean for non-league football in the South West.

This interview will be serialised in The Journal over the coming weeks. In this first extract, John Pool, the Chairman of the Toolstation Western League, sets out the basic principles behind Project South West and South West Peninsula League Secretary, Phil Hiscox, explains how the proposal came about.

“JP: Right at the start of 2021, obviously, with the introduction of the restructuring process, needless to say that it caused a considerable amount of angst. In particular, at our end of the footprint, whilst being supportive in principle, and I use the term 'we' because obviously, you know, both Phil and I got together pretty quickly, really. And with the footprint being expanded, there was always potentially going to be major implications with travel distances in particular. It was decided by both parties, both leagues, that we could attempt to improve the situation by actually working together. We put together the initial thoughts of where we felt it should be going, and this obviously led towards our considered opinion that an amalgamation of the two leagues, primarily, would give us far more influence in being able to put this project forward. We were very satisfied with the progress that had been made in the initial stages, because we were both very much of the same views. This would take the shape of two regionalised 'step-fives', and three 'step-sixes'. We felt that there were sufficient clubs to be able to make that work. It would be a process of building it over a number of years, but what was most important in our view was that you could take it to deepest Cornwall, and everybody would be given the same opportunities to come forward. And also, to be fair, as part of the pyramid to create the promotion and relegation situation, rather than having the lateral move sitting over ahead of everybody year after year.

IN: We're going to get into the detail a bit later in the interview. But Phil, the announcement came initially from the FA, a few weeks ago, that this was on the table. But of course, the idea didn't happen overnight, did it? So, can you tell us the process that you've been going through to get to this stage?

PH: Yeah, certainly. I mean, from our point of view, we were aware of the pressures from years when clubs weren't going up from Cornwall, and the complaints we often got from the FA, that clubs weren't being promoted. And it's because some clubs exercise their option where before it was mandatory. In all good faith, the idea of promoting five clubs on block last season was to give those clubs some sense of uniformity, that they weren't just like an isolated one or two. So, I'm not going to criticise the FA for that idea. But of course, what it immediately did, and I don't think the FA thought it through, is it meant mass lateral movements at the other end, and the clubs that didn't laterally move, facing not one or two trips to deepest Cornwall, but four or five. At that point, it was sensible for me and John to have a discussion, and I was aware that it would be a good idea for us to sit around and the very first meeting was at a sort of pub near the M5, just as a working lunch, really, to see where we all thought things would go. That evolved over time, both in terms of the number of meetings and the number of people that were involved in those meetings. And then about last autumn, it was felt that the idea couldn't really go any further without speaking to the FA, so they were invited down to a meeting, and we talked things through with them. That allowed us to write a proposal document which is the basis of the document that is now out in public circulation. Since then we've had other meetings online and in-person with the FA, and always in the back of our minds aware that whatever we do has to be for the benefit of clubs in the Southwest. It's not really about the Western League or the South West Peninsula League, it's not about myself or John. It's about providing opportunities that are uniform across the South West.”

The full interview can be heard on Episode 42 of the Toolstation Western League Podcast, which can be found online at http://toolstationleague.com/podcasts/