The ever-continuing drama over Stourbridge FC's play-off semi-final against Alvechurch has changed yet again after Stourbridge announced the match will be played on Monday after all.

It comes just hours after the league announced that it had been forced by the Football Association to move the game to Sunday following a meeting of the FA's Alliance Committee.

The FA's decision itself came just hours after it had been confirmed that the match would be played on Monday the first time.

It means in little more than 48 hours, the match has gone from being scheduled for Wednesday, to being postponed, to potentially being back on, to being postponed, then moved to Friday, then to Thursday, then Monday, then briefly moved to Sunday, and now back to Monday again - and this has been addition to the fact that, at various points, the league has been publicising different days to the clubs on its website.

Fans, the clubs and the media have reacted with complete outrage at the chaos, with the vast majority of the blame being placed at the league's feet.

However, the matter has been moving so quickly, it's unclear whether any single one of the arrangements made so far had the unanimous agreement of the FA, the Southern League and the clubs involved. It is also unclear whether the FA not getting its way is because they have backed down or whether the clubs or the league have simply refused to have the date changed again.

PLAY-OFF SAGA TIMELINE OF EVENTS
BACKGROUND

• Stourbridge were due to host Alvechurch, and Kings Lynn Town host Stratford Town, in the Southern League play-off semi-finals on Wednesday 1st May
• The league says both semi-finals must be played at the same time so neither match can influence the other, and to give both winning clubs equal recovery time ahead of the final
• The two winners face each other in the play-off final, which was due to be played on Saturday 4th May
• The play-off final winner plays the winner of the Northern League play-off final (either South Sheids or Warrington) in the Super Final on Saturday 11th May
• South Shields/Warrington will have one full week's recovery time between their play-off final and the Super Final
• On Tuesday morning, the Football Association informs the Southern League that Stratford Town are suspected to have been fielding an ineligible player
• Southern League launches urgent investigation as, if found guilty, Stratford could face a points deduction, which could affect the league table standings and move Stratford outside of the play-offs

TUESDAY

• Morning: League calls off Kings Lynn-Stratford play-off semi-final pending investigation into Stratford for fielding ineligible player
• Lunchtime: Alvechurch say their play-off semi-final at Stourbridge is also off as the league wants both games played at the same time
• Afternoon: Stourbridge say they are aware of reports the match is off but say they are still in discussions with the league

WEDNESDAY

• Early Morning: Stourbridge and Alvechurch both reveal the league still hasn't made a final decision as to whether to match is going ahead
• Morning: Stourbridge confirm the game is postponed 10 hours before kick-off. The league says the decision is 'in the interests of fairness'
• Mid-Morning: Stourbridge chairman Andy Pountney issues strongly worded statement condemning the league's handling of the situation
• Lunchtime: Stourbridge and Alvechurch announced that the match has been re-arranged for Thursday night
• Afternoon: The Southern League's website states the match has been re-arranged for Friday night
• Evening: Stourbridge and Alvechurch announce that the league has now decided to moved the fixture to Monday
• Late Evening: The day ends with the Southern League's website continuing to state that the match will take place on Friday

THURSDAY

• Early Morning: League deducts Stratford three points for fielding an ineligible player, resulting in no changes to final league positions
• Morning: The Southern League confirms both play-off semi-finals will now take place on Monday afternoon
• Late Morning: The league announces that both semi-finals must take place on Sunday afternoon following the intervention of the FA. The play-off final will now take place on Wednesday 8th May
• Lunchtime: It emerges that the Southern League asked for the Super Final to be postponed to give Southern League clubs more recovery time following the play-off final but the original Saturday 11th May date stands
• Early Afternoon: Kings Lynn Town owner Stephen Cleeve announces that their play-off semi-final against Stratford will take place on Saturday
• Mid-Afternoon: Suggestions circulate that the Stourbridge-Alvechurch play-off semi-final will now be moved back to Monday afternoon again
• Late Afternoon: League confirms that Kings Lynn-Stratford will take place on Saturday afternoon, with Stourbridge-Alvechurch on Monday afternoon

(Timings are approximate for the purposes of clarity)

The saga came about originally after the FA made the Southern League aware that they believed Stratford Town had fielded an ineligible player in a recent match.

Stratford were due to play Kings Lynn in the other play-off semi-final, but the match had to be postponed while an investigation was carried out, as if they were found guilty and deducted more than five points, they would drop below Coalville in the league standings, meaning Coalville would qualify for the play-offs at Stratford's expense.

The league insisted that both play-off semi-finals went ahead at the same time so that neither match had the potential to influence the other, and to ensure that the two teams progressing to the play-off final would have an equal recovery time.

However, the Kings Lynn-Stratford game, which earlier today the FA ordered to be played on Sunday, has now also been moved and will be played this Saturday instead.

Ironically, this means that the whole point of Stourbridge and Alvechurch having their match yesterday (Wednesday) match postponed in the first place - to ensure the two semi-finals went ahead at the same time - has now been completely cast to one side.

It now looks like the match will go ahead on Monday at 15:00 at Stourbridge's War Memorial Ground in Amblecote.

Given the last 48 hours, though, supporters are likely taking nothing for granted.