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League asks it’s member clubs if they want to suspend season

A league within English football asks it’s member clubs if they want to suspend season, with the number of coronavirus cases on the rise again.

Popular Twitter user and journalist Ollie Bayliss, who covers a wide range of non league football, has claimed that the North West Counties League is asking clubs if they’d support suspending the season.

Clubs are being asked to vote on 3 options following the local rise in Covid-19, and number of games being called off either due to restrictions or waterlogged pitches.

The three options includes suspending the season until end of October 2020, suspending games for clubs in ‘tier 3’ lockdowns or continuing the season.

Steeton manager Roy Mason wants the FA and North West Counties League to “start looking at a plan b” in case Non League Football is stopped in the coming weeks or if a full season is unlikely to be completed.

AFC Liverpool have postponed their next three fixtures because of the new rules affecting Merseyside.

It’s looking bleak for the Isle of Man, who are unlikely to even play at all and several other clubs are unable to play because of restrictions.

There’s also problems prior to postponing games, caused by positive tests, players in self-isolation or bad weather are taken into account.

Steeton boss, Mason, wants the league to begin planning short-term solutions to allow teams to continue playing football if a full season is not viable or if the worse comes to the worse, have financial assistance ready and waiting.

“I could envisage a situation in the next couple of weeks where leagues start looking at a plan b of for example; try and have some mini leagues if we can still play,” Mason told Non League Yorkshire.

“Would some of these leagues say ‘we’re going to split it down’? Leagues will look to try and be creative, but it will be difficult if it is going to be on a stop-start basis. 

“We have Golcar, Nelson, Barnoldswick and there’s other clubs who are near us so we could go into a mini league with them. It would keep people active which I think is really important and it would help the lads’ mental health.

“It is definitely time to start thinking about plan b. There also needs to a plan b financially if it is to stop entirely. If Government is going to look after the National League, they need to be looking further down the pyramid and I think it is time the FA recognised the clubs.

“At the moment we have been very lucky to lose only a few clubs since March, but if there’s no financial support if it is stopped again, a lot will struggle to survive.”

Mason hopes the campaign can continue and finish, but he’s “realistic”.

“It hasn’t (the chaos) come as a surprise to me and you didn’t need to be a genius to work out when you were listening to everything that this (second wave) was going to come,” he said.

“I half-expected something coming out yesterday where the Government were going to stop things like travelling. 

“I’ve been open about my opinions on this (the season) and when you’re in this position, it is going to be very difficult to complete a season. If you have a team like AFC Liverpool having to postpone their next three fixtures, that’s virtually taking them to the end of October, start of November. That’s when the weather starts getting grimmer. How are teams going to get these fixtures played?

“You could be in a position where some teams have played five games by Christmas. It is a really difficult call for the league and what has made it even more difficult for the league is that the North West of England is the worst hit (area for Covid-19). It is going to affect more teams within our league.

“When Liverpool was put into Tier 3, I had a quick look and there’s four teams in our Division who fall under it in Lower Breck, AFC Liverpool, St Helen’s and Pilkington. 

“The other issue we have got is; yes we may be able to still play football, but what happens if local councils step in and say to some of these clubs that they have to play behind closed doors. That becomes problematic because the league have been consistent in that they don’t want to play behind closed doors as it is not sustainable. 

“You also have the Isle of Man in the South Division and realistically are they going to kick a ball this season? You look at it now and it seems farcical (they were put in the league), but you have to feel for them because they must have put an awful amount of work in and finance in for it to go to waste.

“It would be disappointing if the (NWC) season was finished next week because from a manager’s perspective, half of my players would start looking to play for other clubs.

“It is going to be very difficult, but from a manager’s point of view, I have to look at it and say ‘hold on, if our season is curtailed, I’ll have a few lads looking to play for other clubs’. Being realistic though, finishing the season is going to be a huge problem and the problem isn’t going to go away.”

“We’re said from day one when we didn’t go to Lower Breck in March, one of the reasons for that was because of our committee members as a lot of them are around 70.” he said.

“We have to look after them and it is very difficult for a club to function without its volunteers. 

“Who’s going to do the kits? Who’s going to do the match-day stewarding? Who’s going to do the turnstile operating? You can’t just drag people off the streets.

“Most clubs have volunteers over 70 and if they can’t attend because of the situation, clubs won’t be able to function. It is as simple as that.

“I get everyone’s enthusiasm about wanting to play, but as you get older you see the bigger picture and you also realise that there is more important things than football.

“You have to look at everyone around your club and the safety of the volunteers and supporters as well.”

For now, Steeton are still playing and face a long trip to Cleator Moor next – and the logistics that just sum up how crazy it is at the moment.

“We’re playing Cleator Moor Celtic on Saturday which is our furthest game and we’re having to get two buses because of Covid restrictions,” he said.

“Normally we would go on one, but we have to double our expenses and a lot of committee and management are having to make their own way there.”

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