Chatham Town chairman Jeff Talbot has spoken of his disappointment at seeing the club spend another season in the Ryman North.

It was the decision that no one at Chatham Town wanted, and indeed club chairman Jeff Talbot had even been quoted in the local press last week that the decision to leave the Chats in Ryman North could be very serious for the very future of the club.

After then receiving the new that the Chats would be playing in Ryman One North for the third season running next season – the news that the club dreaded – Mr Talbot was naturally frustrated at the Club’s Presentation Night.

He began by saying, “It’s disappointing news as we had been looking forward to returning to the Southern Division. But that isn’t the case – it looks as though we’re stuck in the North!”

“So we have to now sit back and reflect on that and we must try and take the positives out of which is the fact that we’ve now been joined by Sittingbourne in the North along with Erith and VCD. So it looks like the county of Kent is being reformed in the North, so it’s not all bad news!”

Mr Talbot continued, “If you look at it and study where teams are, it seems to have been a logical decision by the Football Association and indeed to some extent for the Leagues. There are still some oddities that we’re still scratching our heads about.”

“Sittingbourne will undoubtedly be disappointed but never the less they are local to us and one of our nearest clubs and we must look forward to playing them again and having two good derbies against them.”

Last week in the local press, the chairman painted a potentially bleak future for the club. He said, “Its a very serious position that we find ourselves in and we have our board meeting after the Bank Holiday at the end of May, and we will have to consider how we go forward with this news.”

“Obviously there will be differing views on things and we as a board need to look at that. The options undoubtedly are to go forth in the North or there could be other options – we could take a “sabbatical” if you like; we could step back and we could even discontinue!”

“So we are a live business and have that power in our hands. So we just need to think about what we’re doing and think about how our sponsors will take this disappointment and how our supporters will take this, and we’ll come up with a sensible response once the heat of the initial upset has died down!”

One option that clearly faces the board is to resign from the Ryman League and drop a division to the Kent League, which is a move that Whyteleafe took a couple of seasons ago.

The chairman though, whilst not ruling it out, reiterated that any decision would be for the good of the club and no one else. “I don’t believe that a backward step would be unprecedented and whether there’s a precedent isn’t the question for us,”

Mr Chairman explained. “It’s whether or not it would be right for us and we need to understand what’s right for us and whether the positives of having Sittingbourne, Erith and VCD there and whether that still offers us a way forward.”

“But until the board has been around the table and we’re all satisfied, then we’ll come out and explain what we’re doing going forward!”

“And that will be by the end of the month – some of the board spoke about it at the Club’s Community Day at the weekend, but we need to know everyone in the club – the key stakeholders in the club are fully informed and have had their opportunity to say where they think we need to be – and that’s what we’ll do and we’ll take a steady step forward by the end of May!”