THE Wessex Football League are pressing ahead with a second division for the 2004-5 season.

They plan to launch a 14 to 16-strong Division 2 in September next year having got the green light for expansion from the FA'S National League System Committee.

The move is bound to have serious repercussions for their Hampshire and Dorset Combination feeder leagues who fear they could be stripped of clubs.

But former Wessex chairman Alf Peckham, now immediate past president, believes his league must put themselves in a position of strength for when the proposed restructuring of the Pyramid takes place the season after next.

If a second Conference division, north and south, is introduced, there will be a massive knock-on effect further down the pyramid and there has been talk of possibly reducing the number of feeder leagues.

Currently the Wessex are in the minority having only one division and Peckham said: "With a major reorganisation of the Pyramid in the pipeline, the time is right for a Wessex Division 2.

"We were sanctioned for 44 clubs when our league first started and we need to make ourselves strong so that we don't get eaten up by another league.

"Not only have we got FA backing for a second division, but we have the backing of the other feeder leagues too."

The six million dollar question in the wake of the Wessex bombshell is where they are going to get the extra clubs.

The Hampshire League and Dorset Combination are naturally worried, but Peckham expects the new division to stretch far further afield.

He said: "When our league was first started, the FA approved a catchment area of a 50-mile radius from outside the Hampshire border.

"Whatever clubs apply, we will interview them, it doesn't matter where they come from. It could be Berkshire, Dorset or Wiltshire.

"We don't want to knock any league to pieces, but we've got to be looking to strengthen our own position in preparation for what might happen in the future.

"If the Conference expands and the Southern or Ryman League come to us asking for four or five of our Division 1 clubs, we'd have to let them go."

As a result of a second division being introduced, the Wessex plan to trim Division 1 back from 22 to 18 or 20 teams.

It would mean more clubs being relegated next season unless some wish to drop down voluntarily to cut costs.

The Hampshire League are to discuss what league development officer John Moody described as a "potential crisis" at a meeting next Monday evening.

He said: "At the moment we really don't know what the impact of this could be but, potentially, we could lose quite a few clubs.

"The Wessex League informed us in the correct manner and we've no problem about that, but we've got to consider the consequences."