SALISBURY City boss Nick Holmes is upset with plans to swop the Whites across from the Ryman to the Southern Premier Division.

For geographical reasons, it has been decided that the Wiltshire club would be better off lumped with west country sides like Team Bath, Bath City, Chippenham Town and Gloucester City than remain in the largely London-based Ryman League.

Whites though were switched from the Southern to Ryman Isthmian League last summer as part of the massive reorganisation of non-League football and their understanding is that clubs cannot be moved across the pyramid more than once in three years.

"As I understand it, we were put in the Ryman League for a minimum of three years. It's in the rules," said ex-Saint Holmes. "When we were put in the Ryman last summer, the only teams we knew were Folkestone, Tonbridge and Eastleigh. We don't want to go into the Southern League now when we've only just got used to the Ryman."

Unlike Eastleigh, who have sailed straight through the Ryman Premier ranks into the Conference South, Whites took time adjusting to their new surroundings.

For much of the campaign they were flirting dangerously with relegation, but they turned their season round in the last ten weeks to finish a respectable 12th.

"We were slower to learn than Eastleigh but we've learned a lot over the last three months," said Holmes. "It would be unfair to make us start afresh against a load of new clubs.

"We've had experience playing against the Ryman sides, whereas we don't know anyone in the Southern League apart from Banbury. I'd feel aggrieved if we were made to yo-yo across the leagues again. It shouldn't happen."

The Whites, who have written to the FA objecting to the move, are also peeved because the Southern League season begins a week earlier than the Ryman on August 13.

"For the last four weeks we've been told by the Ryman League that the season starts on August 20 and all our pre-season preparations and contractual dealings have been circled around that," said Holmes.

"If they'd told us this back in January or February, we'd have had time to plan, but they can't just move the goalposts."

If Salisbury are moved, subject to ratification in tomorrow's league committee meeting, it would deprive them of a money-spinning crowd-puller against newly-promoted AFC Wimbledon.

"Now we've lost Eastleigh as a local derby, we don't want to lose Wimbledon too," said Holmes.