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| Radstock Town get Covid Ready |
August 1
st marked the tentative return of
non-league football, 141 days from its suspension on Friday, March 13
th.
Whilst the 2020/21 season hasn’t begun, its pre-season has, behind closed doors
at least, so is this a cause for celebration or will it prove to be a false
dawn?
Clubs at Steps 5 and 6, the level of the Non-League pyramid
occupied by the Toolstation Western League, can begin their League season from
Saturday, September 5th, ahead of the Southern League, which is set to start on
September 19th. However, Leagues at this level have become increasingly
reticent about publishing their fixtures, with the Ebac Northern League stating
that their season will only begin when “spectators are allowed to attend
matches” and their fixture list will only be released “once the issue of
spectators is resolved nationally”.
Whilst optimism about fans return has been growing within
the game in recent weeks, the news that pilot events at cricket, horse racing
and snooker had been postponed on July 31st sent shockwaves across the
non-league pyramid. A spike in Coronavirus cases has set the Governments
unlocking timetable back by at least two weeks. In Blackburn with Darwen,
social media reports indicated that Clubs have been told to stop contact
training and not to play friendlies. Given the Prime Ministers statement on
Friday, football at every level is facing the very real prospect that its
return will be delayed, in spite of the FA’s announcement that its own Cup
competitions are scheduled to kick off at the start of September.
Indeed, Friday’s announcement has also served to change the
tone of footballs conservation within itself about what constitutes a safe
return. The Football Association’s position is that: “A return to competitive
football should only happen once clubs and facility providers have completed
the necessary risk assessments and comprehensive plans are in place.”
Inevitably, this has prompted much debate as to how the FA’s guidance should be
interpreted. What is required as opposed to advised.
Whilst the Head of the National League System, Laurence
Jones, made it clear in a letter sent to Western League Clubs on July 18th,
that any pre-season fixture must be played behind closed doors, the door was
left open for Somerset County League sides to play in front of “socially
distanced” spectators. That door was closed on August 4th when Mr
Jones issued a further letter extending the behind closed doors ban to the NLS
Feeder Leagues, what the FA refer to as the “Grassroots” of the game.
The other loophole, concerning the legal status of football
clubhouses has also been addressed by the FA. As a licenced premise, football
clubhouses are subject to the same regulation as pubs and restaurants, but the
FA have clarified that “there should be no entry to the ground for spectators”
from such venues. The fact that the FA have been forced to issue such a
statement after only one weekend of friendly matches, highlights a fundamental weakness
with their own communication strategy.
Had the Prime Minster chosen not to “squeeze the brake” on unlocking
Britain, Clubs would have undoubtedly looked to those choosing a more “liberal”
interpretation of the guidance as the benchmark. But that is no longer the case
and social media references to bars being open for Saturday afternoon matches,
have been replaced by explicit announcements that fans are not allowed to enter
grounds to watch games.
The initial optimism was
undoubtedly fuelled by the notion that whatever guidance had been put into
place, football would largely be left to police itself when it came to
monitoring Covid-19 compliance. Neither the Leagues or the County FA’s have the
resources to ensure anything more than a Risk Assessment has been published,
whilst guidance provided to Match Officials clearly states that “Referees are
not responsible for clubs, players or spectators complying with The FA
guidance. The home club
and their Covid-19 officer have responsibility for managing these matters to
the best of their ability”.
As the rest of the
country began to re-open, the momentum to get us back playing had become almost
irresistible, until Boris put the brakes on. Now the narrative is very
different, with local lockdowns and coronavirus cases on the rise.
As it stands, Western
League Clubs selected to play at the start of this seasons FA Cup competitions
will do so without fans in the ground. Presumably, those not willing to make
this sacrifice will forfeit their place in the competition. The FA may believe that
non-league football at the Western League level will start on September 5th,
but with evidence that Leagues are withholding fixtures until Government
provides clarity around the spectator situation, this is looking increasingly
unlikely.
Most worrying of all is
the prospect of a second Coronavirus wave, which has clearly fuelled Government
policy in Bradford, Manchester and Leicester. If local lockdowns continue to be
enforced this will have obvious repercussions on Leagues abilities to carry out
their fixture schedules and then there is the Great British weather!
Last season, the Western
League First Division, where Welton Rovers and Radstock Town play their
football, had completed two thirds of its fixtures when the Coronavirus pulled
the plug on the League campaign. Yet the Southern Counties East League First
Division, which plays its football at the same step of the non-league pyramid
had completed 79% of their fixtures, meaning their teams had almost half as
many matches outstanding as their Western League counterparts. This discrepancy
was not caused by the Coronavirus, rather it was a result of a particularly bad
winter for the South West of England.
Local lockdowns, a
second wave, fans in grounds and the Great British weather. These are the
challenges facing the restart of non-league football. Yet arguably the greatest
challenge the Western League will face this season is not when it will start,
but when it will finish. In his July letter to Non- League Clubs, the Head of
the National League System clearly stated that the league season will end no
later than Saturday, May 15th. In recent seasons it has been the
FA’s intransigence around this end date that has proved so problematic for
Leagues, particularly at the base of the pyramid, sometimes requiring Clubs to
play on consecutive days in order to meet the deadline.
If Coronavirus has taught
the football family anything its that we really are all in this together. If
there can flexibility at the start of the season, particularly when it comes to
getting fans into grounds, then why can’t there be the same flexibility at the
end of the season? Telling Leagues at the base of the pyramid that they must
conclude their matches by a specific date, come Hell or High Water, is
challenging enough, but when you are faced with Hell AND High Water, it feels
particularly unfair.
