Living With Risk: The Road Map for the Return of Grassroots Football

Whenever non-league football restarts one thing is for sure, we will all be living with risk. The World Health Organisation has said that no vaccine is 100% effective, so even the best-case scenario for coming out of the Coronavirus crisis, carries risk. More realistically, the governments scientific advisers have played down the prospect of a vaccine being ready before 2021, so if we are going to get playing without one, we need to consider how much risk we are prepared to put up with.

I say “we” because depending on your involvement, be it as a fan, player or administrator, the nature of the risk we are all exposed to will be different. Fans and officials will be able to socially distance, even in clubhouses, where the guidance offered to pubs is likely to apply. Whether we end up one or two meters apart, using screens and facemasks, we can see a way back.

Yet the road map for players is far more complicated. The guidance published by the Department for Culture Media and Sport on May 30^th provides a first glimpse into what the Government are thinking. Strictly speaking the most relevant announcement to the grassroots game was that “restrictions around group exercise will be relaxed (on June 1^st) to allow for up to 6 people to meet outdoors for non-contact sport, fitness and training sessions”. But football is a contact sport and whilst the professional game has found a route back to playing, their journey is inextricably linked with a rigorous testing regime that the rest of society, let alone grassroots football, can only dream of.

The FA published their own guidance for “permitted grassroots football activity” on June 1^st. Yet this failed to add any further clarity to that provided by the DCMS on the previous day. Contact training appears to be permissible with members of your own household, but other than that its “football training or fitness activities in groups of no more than six, keeping two metres apart at all times.”

When the Government gave the green light to the resumption of competitive sport behind closed doors, it wasn’t talking about grassroots football. However, the government guidance did leave a number of clues to the future of competitive football that are as relevant to sides at the base of the pyramid, as those at its pinnacle.

• All competition delivery partners and user groups involved, from the teams and athletes, to the support staff, officials and media, must travel individually and by private transport where possible;

• Prior to entering the competition venue, they are expected to carry out a screening process for coronavirus symptoms.

• A one-way system for the movement of people and vehicles should be established around the competition venue;

• Social distancing should be maintained by all groups where possible. This includes the competing athletes and support staff on the bench and field of play, such as during any disputes between players and referees, or scoring celebrations;

• Dressing room usage should be minimised, however showers can be used in line with Government guidelines;

• All non-essential activities, such as catering, should be limited;

So, we know that, players can train in groups of five, given that the sixth person will be a coach, a fact confirmed by the FA. Anyone going to train or to a game needs to go on their own, no car sharing. One way movement around grounds, like we’ve been doing in the supermarket. Players arriving in kit for training and matches. Dressing rooms and even tea huts, with catering facilities limited, are also something to consider.

Realistically, we can only hope that the stringent restrictions professional football has been subject to will ease over the coming weeks, but without a zero infection rate and without a vaccine, non league fans need to remember the words of the DCMS, who’ve said that “Where social distancing cannot be maintained, sports governing bodies, clubs and teams should implement a rigorous regime to monitor for symptoms”.

Practically speaking, this can’t mean testing at non-league level, so will we have to get used to having our temperature taken at the turnstiles, contactless payments at the bar and socially distanced goal celebrations?

FIFA issued their own risk assessment tool on May 29th, along with the World Health Organization (WHO), UEFA, the European Club Association (ECA), FIFPRO, the World Leagues Forum and European Leagues. In their joint statement the World Governing Body warned that “Until a vaccine is developed for Covid-19, the team environment will be quite different.

The aim of this joint effort is to consider the health of all participants in footballing activities, the risk assessments and the factors that need to be in place in order for football, both at a professional and at an amateur level, to resume safely.”

Ultimately, it will be for the Government to decide when grassroots football can return and presumably for the FA to tell us how it can safely resume. With that in mind its worth considering the Governments own traffic light system for measuring the Coronavirus alert level in England.

We know schools and shops have re-opened as we “transition” from Level 4 to Level 3, so at what level will football fans be allowed back through the turnstiles? Will we need to be at Level 2 before the 2020/21 season is a realistic proposition, or can we kick off when we are transitioning out of Level 3?

Whatever the authorities are thinking it would be helpful if they could share it with the football family. We know this is an unprecedented crisis but planning for the return of football is something Clubs and Leagues want to start doing now, we just need to understand how we can live with the risks.