ADAM HINSHELWOOD has voiced his stance on the newly-created National League Cup – after York City opted to not be involved in this year’s competition.
The National League confirmed the launch of their new competition last Thursday, with 16 of the fifth tier’s teams being joined by 16 under-21’s teams from the Premier League 2 division in a group stage with four groups of eight.
Of the eight National League clubs not involved, York were one of them, with the competition getting underway from October 1.
City co-chairman Matt Uggla had previously criticised the competition, posting on social media: "I thought the whole reason [for] not having FA Cup replays was too many fixtures...
"But I guess that only applies to the Prem teams.
"At least be honest about your reasoning, your masters said jump and you said how high."
I thought the whole reason not having FA cup replays was too many fixtures….. But I guess that only applies to the prem teams. At least be honest about your reasoning, your masters said jump and you said how high.
— Matt Uggla (@matt_uggla) September 19, 2024
The York City Supporters’ Trust had echoed what Uggla had stated, with chairman Seth Sowerby stating: "Congratulations to the real winners of the 'Kickback Cup' - Barnet, Solihull, Southend, Hartlepool, Eastleigh, AFC Fylde, Yeovil & my very own York City.
"By declining to enter this farce of a competition you've prioritised fans & football over appeasing the Premier League."
Congratulations to the real winners of the ‘Kickback Cup’ - Barnet, Solihull, Southend, Hartlepool, Eastleigh, AFC Fylde, Yeovil & my very own York City. By declining to enter this farce of a competition you’ve prioritised fans & football over appeasing the Premier League. https://t.co/CM3chDOijQ
— Seth Sowerby (@PlanetSeth) September 19, 2024
Manager Hinshelwood has now spoken out on his opinions of the tournament, telling the Press: “With these new competitions, sometimes it is better to have a backwards seat and see how they progress.
“From my point of view, we’ve got quite a small, tight-knit squad this year.
“We had it in the [behind-closed-doors] game against Leeds and I think that it is something that we can do behind-closed-doors as a club, go and play those games against our local under-21’s teams.
“We’re hoping to get games with Hull, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, the Sheffield clubs as well.
“If we can get a bit of a relationship where we can play them, we’re doing that ourselves anyways.
“You never know how these things are going to pan out, but I think sometimes just taking that backwards seat and seeing how they develop is not the worst place to be.”
Hinshelwood also hopes that by not being involved in this competition, it will allow his York squad to retain their fitness to focus on their primary priorities, of the National, the Emirates FA Cup and the Isuzu FA Trophy.
“With a smaller squad it is so important, we’ve had Saturday and Tuesday on the road this week so our squad is going to be definitely needed,” Hinshelwood explained.
“If you chuck in another midweek game there as well, then it’s going to be too much for us.
“I’m really pleased and we’re fully focused on the league and the two cups, and trying to be as competitive as we can in all of those fixtures.”
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