When will non league resume Step 3 and below?

[Winslow Boy]

I’m starting to think we won’t see it in 2020 at all. Would be interested to hear the thoughts and concerns of folk directly involved in the running of clubs too. 

[Savagebee]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

I’m starting to think we won’t see it in 2020 at all. Would be interested to hear the thoughts and concerns of folk directly involved in the running of clubs too. 

I think there's more chance of Step 7 and below footy and Sunday League footy starting first as you don't get any supporters at most games and most clubs play at open grounds/pitches at those levels apart from the odd Step 7 team where they play at proper grounds and they get a bit of support.

Let's say that only Step 7 and below footy and Sunday League footy started on time next season there will be a hell of a lot of people/groundhoppers desperate to go and watch a live game of footy which means that there could be a lot more people watching footy at Step 7 and below and Sunday League footy games than normal? Then you have more problems?

Is there a chance they may just scrap the whole of next season? And start again for the 2021/22 season?

Edited April 30, 2020 by Savagebee

[Big J R]

Some interesting thoughts, SB !

I'm just glad I'm not club involved any more.

[Savagebee]

1 hour ago, Big J R said:

Some interesting thoughts, SB !

I'm just glad I'm not club involved any more.

Yeah I haven't got the interest or commitment to be involved in a club anymore I just want turn up to a footy match of my choice and just watch the footy ?

My old club Hanwell Town FC seem to be worrying money wise which isn't nice to hear/see as they are a good bunch of people at Hanwell Town FC and a lot of the Hanwell Town committee are 70+ but I'm told that they are all well well the ones that i am still in contact with are anyway.

I don't think there will be many non league football clubs that are not having big money problems right now.

Step 1 to Step 6 clubs are in big trouble and they rely on there gate receipts big time so I can't see them playing behind closed doors?

Tough and interesting times.

[Rhodes]

There a lot of debate about it on another Forum and a thread entitled 'when will season 20/21 realistically begin', here's an example of one of the posts. The Government's review of current lockdown requirements is sometime next week however we will probably still be none the wiser afterwards:

https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/index.php?threads/when-will-season-20-21-realistically-begin.1284/page-11

The current social distancing requirements cannot be observed on the field. Any resumption of the pro game is predicated on the current requirements being modified (to what, we don't know). And, if we're talking non league, the start of 20/21 can only be predicated on them being modified further. Both cases must involve some degree of physical contact being allowed, regardless of how much testing they want to do around it.
Even allowing for these unknowns, there seems to be growing unease amongst the pro ranks about completing 19/20 given the current talk about what that may involve. Though any decision about that, in itself, still probably won't give us much of a clue about when 20/21 might start.
I think the EPL meet tomorrow and obviously the government review of current lockdown requirements is next week. Current UEFA deadline for confirming if leagues will continue is something like May 25. With my crystal ball I reckon the first two, and possibly all three, are more likely to indicate that English football won't resume in the foreseeable rather than giving us much clarity on when it can.

[Savagebee]

Yes even if you have no supporters watching the game you still have 22 players on the pitch marking each over, tackling and kissing each other when they score a goal ? ?

They have been trying to make football a non contact sport for years well they might get there way now ?

And the subs bench how will that work?

[Rhodes]

I wonder what Alan Birchenall and Tony Currie think of the current crisis and all players from that wonderful era, I'm sure they would have just continued playing, no questions asked, as if nothing has happened:

Edited May 1, 2020 by Rhodes

[Savagebee]

How many non league football clubs between Step 1 to Step 6 would survive if next season 2020/21 didnt happen?

My answer would be = Not many.

?

Edited May 1, 2020 by Savagebee

[Winslow Boy]

some have gone already and more will before this is over. The longer it goes the more will fall. Some of the bigger sides may be in more danger, of course many will reform but will have to drop down, we could end up with not enough teams at step 1 & 2. I think they should promote the entire conference, regionalise league 2 into north and south and just have conference north and south below. I’d also look at regionalising league one. They could try and bring in that premier league 2 that they have wanted to for some time. 

[Big J R]

8 hours ago, Savagebee said:

Yes even if you have no supporters watching the game you still have 22 players on the pitch marking each over, tackling and kissing each other when they score a goal ? ?

They have been trying to make football a non contact sport for years well they might get there way now ?

And the subs bench how will that work?

Both at the same time ??

[Savagebee]

1 hour ago, Big J R said:

Both at the same time ??

Maybe as these days anything goes ?

[Rhodes]

The debate is getting more intense on another Forum and, in particular, the 'when will season 20/21 realistically begin' thread which is getting longer by the minute, this is just one example. It's true what the poster says that most Committee's, Officials and volunteers of Club's at our level are fairly elderly, nothing wrong with that of course but would they be willing to resume their duties once the green light has been given and return to 'normality': 

https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/index.php?threads/when-will-season-20-21-realistically-begin.1284/page-15

The deaths caused by Covid-19 are awful but statistics on the Public Health England site for "number of deaths associated with influenza" make interesting reading. For the last four complete years the figures are 14/15 28,330, 15/16 11,875, 16/17 18,009 and 17/18 26,408 with approximately 85% being in the 65+ age group.
At present those of us in that age group turn up at our local Health Centre in the Autumn for a flu jab, hope that it will protect us from whichever flu strain arrives during the winter and then get on with our lives. I attend football knowing that there is a slim risk from the guy behind me in the stand coughing his head off, but that is my choice. Whether he should be at the game in that state is of course another matter. For a while, such conduct will hopefully be regarded as anti-social in the extreme. Once a vaccine is available we will no doubt see a situation where the most at risk (the elderly) have two injections each Autumn instead of one.
The government will rightly prioritise the economic situation and sooner rather than later people must return to work, often in situations where distancing is not possible. If (and it's a big if) that period passes without a second 'spike' in Covid-19, then the pressure will be huge to release restrictions on leisure activities.
Hopefully the more elderly of our football club volunteers will feel happy to resume their work for their clubs, but that will be their choice. As stated succinctly above "the risks of death from the virus versus the risks of not living".

[Rhodes]

They are still going at it on another Forum but nobody is any the wiser as yet as to when a restart will happen. If however you listen to some of the posters, such as the one below, you really do feel like slitting your wrists or putting a noose around your neck especially as I believe it would have been the Buckingham Senior Charity Cup Final this weekend between Winslow United and Buckingham Athletic or Leighton Town at Stratford Fields, always a wonderful occasion:

https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/index.php?threads/when-will-season-20-21-realistically-begin.1284/page-18

I work in a prison. We were told about worst case scenarios of prisoners and staff possibly dying from this. We are up there with some of the most close contact jobs were social spacing is very hard to comply with. Over 80,000 prisoners and at least 50,000 (reduced as some civilian jobs can be carried out from home) staff and only about 20 deaths, if that. To hear professional footballers saying they are scared to start playing too early wrecks my head. There are people going to Asda, B&Q, Garages and whatever else has been allowed to stay open. Tragic as it is about health workers but I am yet to hear about any till workers at Tesco to die from Covid-19, and the amount of people they must have had close contact with.
The massively remote chances of a footballer catching the bug because they went up for a header together is ridiculous.
I know this is serious, but we have all things come and go in the past and we got on with it. Grassroots park football play on fields were dogs have been and in some areas around the country other animals, they don't disinfect the pitches. In a week or two it will be time to stop protecting us and let us start protecting ourselves. If restrictions are lifted the sensible people who have stuck to it recently will still on the whole be sensible. Sport should start from the bottom up. Let the so called experts see how things should be done. The doomsayers that go on about NWCFL (Other leagues are available) games having 1000's turning up to get their football fix are pie in the sky. Let's get this "Starting in August" thing out of our heads. "What about the FA Cup Qualifiers?" Start them whenever the season starts, September, December or whenever and let the season finish whenever it does. It should be allowed for one or two seasons of adjustment until we get back to the dates we are used to.
The main problem we have now is when we get given the green light to start the process of playing level 4-5-6 football the solicitors acting for South Shields will then be asking for the season to be delayed while they wait for a date for their case to be eventually heard. While there is no football many clubs and people are rallying around their argument. When football is about ready to start that number will soon dwindle.
Level 5-6 football needs to start very soon. The vast majority of clubs can promote and enforce social spacing. Football does need to start soon before there is no football at this level to start anyway.

Edited May 9, 2020 by Rhodes

[Rhodes]

I gather Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just spoken and, amongst other things, stated “you can play sports but only with members of your own household.” In his speech he set out plans to ease the lockdown over the next two months however, worryingly, there was no mention about the possibility of a return of competitive sport in that timeframe:

https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c8nq32jw8r1t/boris-johnson

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52609952?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c8nq32jw8r1t/boris-johnson&link_location=live-reporting-story

[Savagebee]

12 minutes ago, Rhodes said:

I gather Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just spoken and, amongst other things, stated “you can play sports but only with members of your own household.” In his speech he set out plans to ease the lockdown over the next two months however, worryingly, there was no mention about the possibility of a return of competitive sport in that timeframe:

https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c8nq32jw8r1t/boris-johnson

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52609952?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c8nq32jw8r1t/boris-johnson&link_location=live-reporting-story

If next season starts in August at any level of footy I will be suprised. Remember pre season games normally start around the 2nd week of July and most clubs return for pre season training in late June and it's already the 10th of May now. 

I miss footy as much as anyone but it has to be put on the back burner for now I'm afraid 

[Savagebee]

On 01/05/2020 at 08:46, Savagebee said:

And the subs bench how will that work?

Bigger/longer sub benches and all the people on the subs bench looking like this ????????

?

[Savagebee]

Maybe a season of just playing friendlys? Just on weekends? Every now and then? I don't know? who knows how this going to pan out?

[Big J R]

Amazing !!

I'm not going to hold my breath, even with a face-mask !

[Savagebee]

I wonder if some clubs will cash in and sell clubs customised face masks ?

[Rhodes]

An interesting article entitled 'The Forgotten Football Family' on a Blog which examines the unprecedented decision to null and void the entire 2019/20 campaign for Steps 3-7 and the dire consequences it is having on Club's and will have well into the future:

https://headtohead.blog/2020/05/13/non-league-the-forgotten-football-family/

With debate increasing by the day on whether the English Premier League and English Football League should return or not, people are forgetting what has happened to Non-League campaigns up and down the country, lower down the footballing pyramid.