It’s not often I’m lost for words, especially when it comes to football, but I was dumbstruck when I heard the decision taken by the FAW with regards to Barry Town.

If I was precise I should say with regards to Barry Town United, the “new” club which was formed from the ashes of their previous owner’s attempts to rip the heart out of the club and the community it both serves and entertains.

Of course, thanks to Barry Town fans’ excellent campaign across social media platforms, football fans throughout Wales and beyond know full well that since January 2009, the “old” club was already being run by the Barry Town Supporters’ Committee in everything but name.

Barry Town United is, to all intents and purposes the same club which reached the Welsh Cup semi finals last year. The same club which has flourished and harboured ambitions of rejoining the Welsh Premier League, in fact the only difference between the “new” club and the “old” club is its lack of a vindictive owner.

So, all things considered, one would expect that when the FAW Council met in Betws Y Coed on Thursday it would be a formality for them to rubber stamp the “new” club’s application to replace the previous entity in the First Division of the McWhirter’s League.

After all, these supporters are the ones who have raised the money to pay for players expenses, match fees, referees fees, put up the nets at Jenner Park, printed and sold the match programmes, manned the turnstiles, paid the clubs’ fines and, most notably, paid the club’s league and FAW affiliation fees.

But no, it seems the FAW Council didn’t see it that way.

The same Supporters’ Committee who managed to fulfil every financial obligation required of them by the league and the FAW last season have been told their “new” club must start at the bottom of the pyramid.

The fans, despite the meddling and the threats of the previous owner, kept the faith, kept the club alive and, since their plight has become something of a cause célèbre Barry Town – I refuse to add the unnecessary “United” suffix – have received messages of support not just from football fans from all corners of Wales, the UK and beyond, but also from tens if not dozens of fellow football clubs too.

But this didn’t seem to hold any sway with the FAW Council members – many of whom are members of the McWhirters League Management Committee and therefore well versed – or at least one would hope – with the trials and tribulations of Barry Town and its fans.

The game is nothing without the fans, after all the FAW’s marketing men keep telling us it’s “your voice, your game” but it seems nobody has told the blazer wearing committee men on the FAW Council.

Their slogan has a rather hollow ring to it this morning and football in Wales is very much the poorer.