Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor reacts to former club AFC Fylde's relegation from the National League

Dave Challinor applauds the fans during the Vanarama National League match between Salford City and AFC Fylde at Moor Lane on April 22, 2019 in Salford, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Fylde finished 23rd in the fifth tier on a points-per-game basis and will now be relegated alongside Chorley and Ebbsfleet United after the FA Council ratified the decision on Thursday, July 16.

It also confirms promotion for Barrow to the Football League as well as King’s Lynn and Wealdstone to the National League from the North and South divisions respectively.

Challinor spent eight years at Fylde, helping the club to three promotions as well as a National League play-off final and an FA Trophy last season.

But a slow start to the 2019-20 campaign left The Coasters in the relegation zone and the former Tranmere Rovers defender was relieved of his duties in October 2019.

Challinor was appointed Hartlepool United manager a month later as he helped the club confirm their first top-half finish in any division since 2007.

But Fylde's change in management didn’t alter their fortunes as they failed to stave off the threat of relegation before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After helping build the club up from the Northern League to the cusp of the Football League, Challinor admitted that he views Fylde’s relegation with ‘mixed emotions’.

“We obviously put an awful lot of work in at the club to get it into the National League and came so close to reaching League Two,” he told The Mail.

“But with the way things happened, you’re still of the opinion whether people think we deserved the opportunity to put things right, we were never given that opportunity.

"On the flip side, people have made decisions and it hasn’t worked but fundamentally, there’s a lot of good people at the club and a lot of hard work that has gone on over the past eight years to get up through the leagues.

"For whatever reason, things haven’t materialised that way this season.

"At the minute, I’m still sort of tied to the club with certain things but my reflection on my time there will probably occur further down the line when things are all sorted out.”