St John’s and Ayre United will be playing their football in the Premier League when the new Manx football season gets under way next month.

The pair have been promoted to the top-flight after Pulrose United and Castletown elected to drop down into Division Two.

Originally the Isle of Man FA had planned to hold Division Two play-offs involving six of what were the top eight clubs when the 2019-20 was abandoned in March.

These were meant to be held at the start of next month, ahead of the new campaign’s proposed new start date on August 15. However, after initially giving consent for these games to go ahead, the English FA has now withdrawn their permission meaning ’promotion’ has now been decided using a Point Per Game formula. With this applied, the Johnners and Tangerines claim the top two spots in Division Two although, as with the other island leagues, no championship title has been awarded.

There’s the prospect that the pair might be joined in the top flight by fellow second-tier outfit Union Mills. Reigning Premier League champions St Mary’s are having an emergency meeting tonight as the club makes a decision whether or not it can field a side this season. If they can’t the Millers, who would have finished third in Division Two on PPG, will take their place.

The league season is pencilled in to start on August 15, but this date is yet to be rubber-stamped by the English FA. A decision is expected on that later this week.