THE decision to cancel the 2019/20 season across most of the non-league, women’s and grassroots game has been confirmed by the Football Association.

It affects every football club in Oxfordshire, with the exception of Oxford United and Oxford City’s men’s first teams.

The move was announced by the FA earlier this month as a way to deal with the lockdown brought in to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

It meant Wantage Town, well adrift at the bottom of the BetVictor Southern League Division 1 Central, were spared relegation.

Banbury United, who were only a point outside the Premier Central play-off places, had arguably the most to lose among Oxfordshire’s clubs.

But at the time of the announcement, boss Mike Ford said: “This is probably the appropriate decision because there’s just so much confusion.

“There was never going to be a perfect solution.”

However, the decision to expunge results and start again in the 2020/21 campaign caused plenty of opposition elsewhere.

It raised some doubts over whether the FA Council, who had to rubberstamp the idea before it could be enforced, would reconsider.

But it has now been passed.

An FA statement read: “The request to end the 2019/20 season was taken to the FA Council by the representatives of the relevant committees having been fully supported by the FA Board.

“The FA Council’s vote twas overwhelmingly in favour of ratifying the decision.”