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.

Andy Sandell Returns to Paulton

Paulton Rovers manager John Rendell announced today that "'Following the departure of Kye Mountford at the end of last season, we are delighted to announce that Andy Sandell will be joining the management team as Assistant Manager/Coach with immediate effect. 

Andy has a wealth of experience in the professional and non league game and will be a welcome addition to the team. Welcome back to the club Andy.

I was disappointed that Kye Mountford could no longer commit to the role following the abrupt end to last seasons play off push, but respect his decision.

I thank Kye for his efforts since bringing him to the club and he provided an excellent link between players and management during last season, playing a part in an enjoyable period.

I am really pleased to be bringing Andy back to the club where we played together back in 2004. Darren Perrin signed Andy and I could see what a prospect he was back then, he’s one of the most influential players I played with throughout my non league career and I wasn’t surprised he went on to play many games in the professional game for Bristol Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers as well as non league.

I am very much looking forward to having Andy join Paul Tovey, Jack Benden and me as part of the management team working with this group of players."

When Will We Watch Western League Football Again?

As Premier League football stumbles forward with its own Project Restart, the rest of the pyramid lies paralysed by the Coronavirus pandemic. At a time when there is still a significant debate around when schools can safely reopen, it feels somewhat frivolous to debate when football at any level, can return.

Yet for so many of us, our National game provides so much more than a source of entertainment on a Saturday afternoon. As shown by the Toolstation Western Leagues #ThinkOfAFan campaign, football provides an important social platform, bringing people together and providing an opportunity to escape from the stresses and strains of everyday life.

For some, football has become the totem for when ‘normal’ life will return in the wake of Covid-19. Logically, we can’t see football grounds being opened before other parts of the leisure industry and for non-league football in particular, Clubhouses won’t realistically be opened before pubs. Even if it was safe to open grounds with social distancing, without Clubhouses the financial implications of such a concession would render the restart of Western League football totally impractical.

The Government have dangled the prospect of some ‘leisure’ businesses opening as early as July. Yet at a time when families are still unable to extend their social bubble, it feels highly unlikely that lockdown restrictions would be lifted at such a pace, as to facilitate a return to football in the next six weeks. The July date is also significant as it marks the traditional start of Clubs pre-season preparations. So with football unlikely to start in July, this will inevitably push back an August kick off to the Western League campaign.

The FA have asked the Non-Leagues to work on the basis of a ‘normal’ start to the season, although they are also “planning for monthly restarts up until early 2021. At which point we enter the worst case scenario for no 2020-21 season.” If this were to be the case, it is likely that it would reopen the can of worms caused by the cessation of the 2019/20 season, which prompted 151 Clubs to write to the FA, opposing the decision to make the season null & void.

At that time, the FA’s decision was predicated on the belief that prolonging the 20/19 campaign would cause problems getting the 20/21 season underway. Yet, now the FA have acknowledged that the potential exists for the voiding of next season, it brings back to the table the argument raised by many from the start of this crisis that its better to void a season that hasn’t happened, rather than one that has.

With the FA’s decision ratified by their Full Council, the chance of the games governing body performing such a spectacular U-turn is not terrific. Indeed, many administrators at the base of the pyramid would argue that Clubs restarting where they left off in March is now impractical, given the significant changes in playing and managerial personnel and the horrific prospect of Clubs being lost to the Leagues, because of the financial impact of this crisis.

But these are unprecedented times and supporters might feel that the FA shouldn’t ‘make the perfect the enemy of the good’, particularly if it delivers “the fairest method on how to decide the sporting outcomes for the season”, to borrow a phrase from The FA's head of National League System, Laurence Jones, in his explanation for ending the 19/20 campaign.

In practise, it is likely to take around 30 weeks to complete a season, with the most optimistic conclusion achievable in 26 weeks, with no Cup games. Both timescales will prove particularly challenging at the base of the pyramid, where bad weather decimated last season’s fixture schedule over the winter months. In the event a full season cannot be completed and with the resumption of the 19/20 campaign seemingly of the table, Radstock Town Chairman, Simon Wilkinson has come up with his own novel suggestion for delivering a curtailed 20/21 Western League campaign. The Step 5 and 6 divisions could be sub-divided into two smaller Conferences. This would enable each team to play the others in their Conference, home and away. The winners of the two Premier Division Conferences would play off for the League title and automatic promotion. The top two sides in each First Division Conference would be liable for promotion, with the winners of each playing off for the Western Leagues First Division crown.

The FA have called for a “flexible approach to the commencement of the 20/21 season as a result of Covid-19 and the social distancing measures”. However, flexibility from the FA was in short supply prior to the Coronavirus pandemic, when the Western League asked for an extension to their season on February 25th, only to be told that the League’s Committee “expect at this moment in time for all Step 5/6 games to be completed by 25 April.” At this time the FA proposed a fixture calendar that “would result in Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday fixtures”. Again, I’m reminded of the words of Laurence Jones, when his explanation for ending the season cited that:

“In some leagues, clubs have as many as 16 matches left to play. On the basis that a club was able to play up to two matches per week, this would require at least eight weeks to play out those fixtures. This is before consideration is given to time needed for players to become match fit and for play-off matches to take place prior to the beginning of the 2020-21 season. Notwithstanding the fact that it may not be possible at this level, practically or logistically, for clubs to play up to two matches per week.”

The FA have taken a huge amount of criticism throughout this crisis, primarily for the archaic way they consult and communicate with the football family. Yet far from criticising the FA, I’m hoping these contradictory statements represent a Road to Damascus moment for the governing body.

Flexibility at the base of the pyramid will be key in getting football up and running again. The financial imperatives of the professional game, particularly those involving promotion, may be able to dictate the final outcomes of the professional Leagues, but their haste to realise something of a competitive outcome to their playing season should not hold the grassroots game to ransom, either when it comes to starting or completing the next season. If the FA genuinely believe that it’s not practical or logistical for non-league Clubs to “play up to two matches per week” when they wish to void a season, they can no longer suggest that the same Clubs play three or more games a week, in order for them to meet an administrative deadline of the FA’s own making.

Coronavirus provides the game with an opportunity to reflect on how well its structures have enabled it to deal with this crisis. The Premier League do as they wish and their motivation for continuing to play behind closed doors aligns them only with the Championship, rather than anyone else in the game, or wider society for that matter. The National League appears to have more in common with the EFL, given the EFLs statement that the “principle of relegation across all three divisions is integral to the integrity of the pyramid, from the Premier League down to the National League”, a further indication of how little influence the FA actually wield above Step 3.

When push came to shove, the only Leagues that were led or dictated to, depending on your perspective, as to how to conclude the 19/20 season, were at Steps 3 to 7. Despite that fact, the FA persists with a National League System that groups Steps 1 to 4 together, when this crisis has shown that Steps 3 to 6 are far more aligned. A far harsher criticism of the governing body would also point to the fact that while the FA are prepared to intervene with certain Leagues over how to conclude their season, they were not prepared to take a lead at the outbreak of the pandemic, when the same Leagues were left with the responsibility to decide whether their fixtures should go ahead.

There is still time for us to learn lessons from this sorry saga, ominously we have no idea just how much time we might have. But the structure of the pyramid and its relationship with the FA have been shown to be fundamentally flawed and for the good of our National game, not to mention our grassroots game, the realities of administering professional and amateur football must be recognised, if football is to be safely navigated out of the aftermath of the Coronavirus.

Miners Find Silver Lining in Coronavirus Cloud

Radstock Town have used the Coronavirus hiatus to their advantage, taking the time to transform their club facilities. The Miners function room, familiar to many for its skittle alley, has been completely refurbished, providing the Club with a fantastic new facility to great the new football season, whenever that might start.

What is more impressive is that the Club have hugely benefited from the support of volunteers, including players, keeping costs low at a time when football at every level is coming to terms with the financial impact of Covid-19. The Club had invested heavily in the plans and materials for their clubhouse renovation programme, only for the season to be cut short, denying the Miners the revenue from eight home games, including a bumper pay day against local rivals Welton Rovers.

However, with the financial support of sponsors and supporters, not to mention the time volunteers have been prepared to invest in doing the work at no charge, the Club have realised their plans to improve their facilities at Southfields Recreation Ground.

The support of Kingman Joiners and JFR Flooring Ltd have been enjoyed by Radstock on and off the pitch this season, with players Ellis Kingman and James Rustell volunteering their professional services to support the refurbishment. But the support doesn’t end there, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of A37 Vans, who have pledged to donate £200 to Radstock’s building fund for every van they sell between now and mid-June.

Club Chairman Simon Wilkinson said, “the decision to end the season was particularly difficult for us, because I was certain that we were on the brink of promotion. Then we had to contend with how we could proceed with our plans to refurbish the clubhouse. It was a worrying time for all of us at the Club.

I simply cannot believe how our supporters have reacted. Greensward Sports Consultancy helped us with our pitch renovations and we’ve also been helped by Jacksons Roofing, Spread It & Lay It and Bison Waste Management. But our volunteers have been superb, players like Ellis Kingman, Charlie Cook, Nathan Townsley and James Rustell,. Not to mention the fabulous support of Ange Kingman, Danielle, Lucy, Jock, Craig, Rich, Soapy, Mike Hill and our Club Secretary, Ian Lanning. Its been a real team effort and I’m so proud of our Radstock Town family.” 

The Miners are still raising funds for the Club through a gofundme page, which has already earnt the Club £1,840. As yet there is still no sign of when non-league football will return, but when it does the optimism Radstock have enjoyed on the pitch in recent seasons will now be matched by impeccable facilities that would grace any Western League side.

President Rowles Addresses Midsomer Norton Rugby Club Members

Midsomer Norton Rugby Club President, Nigel Rowles, addressed Club members recently, updating them on the status of the Club during the current Coronavirus lockdown. The Somer Valley Supplement brings you his thoughts below.

"The 2019/20 season will be remembered not just for its pandemic truncation but also for being the wettest in living memory, with many games being postponed, or cancelled. The junior section was particularly hard hit with the Festival falling foul of the rain, and many Sundays washed out.

Hopefully the young ones will be back, full of enthusiasm, at some time. The transition of this season’s Colts into adult rugby has been particularly exciting with several youngsters debuting for the Ist XV. which carried it’s combined heads high and finished a creditable 4th place officially in the Tribute Western Counties North League.

The 2nds finished well with their highest league placing for 5+ years, and 3rds had some great wins, all enjoyed their respective shortened season. Each team will maintain its respective league level when competitions return. The Club end of season tour has fallen into the virus void.

The RFU are issuing twice weekly updates on developments, as and when they know more about the impact of the government’s decisions on the community game. But as of Friday all rugby activity remains suspended until further notice.

The club would like to thank all those who so kindly donated to the Club’s Autumn Appeal, your generosity is much appreciated. We have installed a complete new alarm system, which is handy as there is such a limited presence at HQ these days. We have also improved the front of house gent’s toilets, and the kitchen now has a brand new cooker, although there’s nothing cooking on it right now! We are looking at the revamp of the rear shower system and still hope to get that up and running this summer.

Whilst it currently looks unlikely that the inaugural BFM, “Beer Food Music”, festival will not be taking place this summer. The rugby club remains committed to delivering new and exciting events like this and expects a decision to be made on the future plans for the festival. There has been a great deal of planning for this event, but hopefully the time spent will not be wasted going forward. At present other regular private events have had to be postponed, and John Lawson Circus, have officially cancelled their 2020 summer tour so they won’t be visiting in August.

We have been unable to stage the Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony, nor carry out the usual AGM."

Paulton Rovers Manager Reflects on the Season that Never Was

Speaking to the Clubs website, Paulton Rovers manager John Rendell reflects on the season that never was and how his side are coping with no football.

"I am in regular contact with all the lads and they are all doing well. Our Sports Therapist Jack Bendan has given all the players a summer programme, tailor made to their needs so it has been a good way to stay close and seeing the lads working together.

Overall we had a really good season with some outstanding performances and wins. The way we set up to play we were very attacking and we won many games in a high scoring fashion, the flip side to this is that we didn’t keep many clean sheets and this is an area we feel we want to improve on over the summer.

We brought in a number of different players last summer and they all showed the hunger and desire to play for the club that we are looking for, and as a group of players took on board instruction from Paul Tovey, Kye Mountford and myself and they reaped the benefit from that winning games and in the main enjoying their football throughout the season.

We managed to beat Weston Super Mare, Bedfont Town and Salisbury in the cup and excellent performances in the league against Cirencester, Cinderford and Barnstaple. Topping the league for a short while during September/October was a very positive moment for the club after a number of years of transition.

The lowest point of the season was certainly when we had our one blip over the festive period, with the softer pitches and key injuries the lads lost momentum and confidence dipped throughout the squad and unfortunately we didn’t deserve anything from the three games lost on the bounce.

We had many impressive personal performances during the course of the season, we brought in Ben Bament to score goals and that he did, ending up the leagues top scorer. Wide players Ed Butcher and Dave Sims also contributed well ending up with many goals and assists to their name and it was excellent watching them work together as an attacking unit.

Midfielders Braeden Symes and Brad Abraham also won many battles in the engine room doing all the unnoticed legwork which allowed the chance for the lads up top to express themselves.

During these uncertain times we are still unsure what will happen with football next season and I am sure everyone is ultra-keen to get back to some kind of normality."

Paulton’s Pristine Pitch

Paulton Rovers pre-season pitch preparations continue to "grow" well, thanks to the hard work of the Club's ground staff Rob, Mike and Chris Filer.

With the sunshine early in the week and the rain a few days ago, the Club are pleased to report that the grass has come on well. However, the Government have urged caution around a likely return to amateur sport, despite the efforts of the Premier League to complete the 2019/20 season behind closed doors.

Whenever football can resume at Winterfield Road, Rovers fans will be pleased to know their playing surface will be in an immaculate condition.