IT will be an outrage if Chesterfield are allowed to be promoted to the Second Division after being found guilty of breaching league regulations this season.

Torquay chairman Mike Bateson has launched a campaign to have Chesterfield expelled from the league for their financial misdemeanours this season and says he has got a minimum of eight clubs on board so far.

He says: "There is a tremendous sense of horror at what Chesterfield have got away with. They've played an illegal player nearly all season and should lose all the points they've gained in that time."

I'll go along with most of that although my preferred punishment would be to deny them promotion rather than effectively demote them two divisions.

They have been found guilty of breaking rules and in so doing improving their chances of winning promotion. To allow them to go up will leave Chesterfield smugly thinking the end justified the means and will send out the message to other clubs that they can benefit from breaking Football League rules.

The guilty should never be allowed to keep their ill-gotten gains. To allow Chesterfield to go up would be like finding a crook guilty of theft and allowing them to keep the stolen goods.