IT really is little wonder the likes of Chester and Kettering have bitten the dust in recent seasons, based on the huge discrepancy of financial control between League Two and the non-league scene.

Only in a sense do the League Two outfits have all the spoils in terms of TV revenue and cup possibilities. They can attract better players and will see match attendances swollen by some bumper away crowds, but they are also severely handicapped in their first season in the elite 92.

Newport, like Mansfield, are currently finding that it’s difficult to vastly improve on your promotion squad in the first term in League Two, due to the self-imposed Financial Fair Play rules deployed in the Football League.

Clubs aren’t allowed to spend more than 55% of their turnover on player wages under the current system and the implications of that are already clear.

Who thought Fleetwood would do a Crawley last season, earning back-to-back promotions thanks to their relative riches in terms of money in the bank? I certainly did, but the reality of the 55% rule meant Fleetwood had to cut their cloth accordingly.

They finished 13th last term, while York City, also promoted, battled relegation most of the campaign.

This isn’t me being alarmist about Newport’s prospects – I expect a fine season – but there is a flaw in this set-up as pertains to the non-league clubs.

The Football League FFP regulations are necessary and laudable in the post-Abramovich era, but sanctions need to be brought in across the board in English football, not just from League Two up.

Who in the Conference is adhering to the ethos of the financial fair play regulations? I’d be surprised if a single club pulls it off. In the case of a Forest Green Rovers, they are a million miles away, their plethora of strikers alone probably push them over the threshold.

It trickles down as far as you go. I enjoyed the trip to Havant and Waterlooville on Saturday and the scribes who cover the Hawks believe they’ve assembled their best squad in 15-years, manager Lee Bradbury targeting younger players.

But how to compete with Hampshire rivals East-leigh? They might only average 590 fans, but that hasn’t stopped the perennial mid-table side splashing the cash on the likes of Stuart Fleetwood recently, joining an army of ex-Exiles, including Chris Todd, Will Evans, Jamie Collins, Craig McAllister and Yemi Odubade.

These are Conference, even League Two players being paid accordingly, but for a sixth tier club who average three figure gates.

I don’t doubt that Justin Edinburgh would love to bring in some experienced campaigners to fill the three voids he feels his squad has, namely a right back, midfielder and attacker, but the reality is the Exiles are close to the brink in terms of their total wage allocation.

That’s because promoted clubs can’t base their wage budget on what they believe their turnover will be, only on what it’s been before, namely in a division below.

Not only would implementing the same system in non-league football prevent the likes of Chester and Kettering being badly mismanaged, but the playing field would also even a little in the bun fight for promotion. It would also make the leap to League Two somewhat less financially restrictive.

It’s tough for County and for Mansfield and to that end, I think it’s high time the Exiles benefitted from some of the Premier League money which is vastly disproportionate as we all know.

County have two Premier League clubs on their doorstep, more or less, and with Cardiff and Swansea no longer true rivals for the Exiles, they could and should look to boost Newport with some loan players.

There must be some young talent at the respective clubs in need of Football League experience and where better for them than Newport? A switch to Rodney Parade minimises the need to move away from the area and makes monitoring the player that much easier. If Newport’s debut campaign passes without any additions from the Swans or Bluebirds I think all three parties have missed a trick.

And if Conference clubs and below are allowed to continue to spend vastly differing amounts despite the strict regulations in the Football League, it’s going to take a special club indeed to pull off back-to-back Conference and League Two ascensions.