Plans are in place, but I do fear for clubs, admits Leek Town chairman Jon Eeles


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Leek Town chairman Jon Eeles has revealed that league officials have a double action plan in place to complete the season as non-league clubs head in to a temporary suspension.The Government’s implementation of a month-long national lockdown means the non-league scene is forced in to hibernation until December 2. The move affects Leek’s league - the Northern Premier - and all tiers below that, although elite football, right down to the National Leagues, will be able to continue.

Blues played their final South East Division game before lockdown at Ilkeston on Tuesday, winning 3-2.  Eeles says he is not surprised that action has been taken.“We are preparing for lockdown from one minute past midnight on Thursday, which means no training, no games and no activities,” he said. “Given the noises coming out of the league since we started, they put contingency plans in place if a minor lockdown happened.

“They have two plans.

One is for a break the length of time we will be [b]having, four weeks, and then resume. That will mean a busy time post-Christmas and possibly extending the season by a week.[/b]

“The other more radical plan is to regionalise the leagues if the lockdown is for an extended period of time.“That could mean splitting the 20 teams in to two divisions of 10 so there are less games and travelling. That leaves clubs with 18 games to complete.
“There would still be promotion and relegation, although the finer points of that course of action still need to be hammered out if it is required.

”The lack of games in the run-up to Christmas will undoubtedly hit clubs hard, but Eeles says Leek are in a decent position to weather the storm. However, he says he does believe some clubs will struggle to come through the latest lockdown.“When we started in the summer I was very optimistic about playing the season because people were behaving themselves,” he added. “As the season has gone on, I’ve become less optimistic. I’ve been to some away fixtures where clubs are not doing things as well as I would like - including fans not social distancing.“We will be fine because the funds generated have been spent wisely and the stewardship of the club is very good.

“But I do fear for other clubs. We have already seen Droylsden pull out and I would expect a few more to be in a similar situation.
”There have been calls to keep grassroots sports running during lockdown, but while Eeles appreciates the mental health and personal well-being aspect of participants, he says it is also important to consider the volunteers who make activities possible. And he admitted that he had been subjected to online abuse while sticking to the guidelines to get games on.
“It’s not just about a matchday for clubs, it is all the preparation which goes on during the week as well,” explained Eeles.

“To be honest, I am ready for a break because it is hard work, and that’s not just me, that goes for all chairmen and volunteers.“I’ve received abuse on social media from away fans who have been unhappy with the measures we have put in place at Leek, thinking they are too much.“That has been very frustrating. At the end of the day, if everyone had followed the rules, we wouldn’t be having another lockdown.”

 

   

 Ollie Bayliss[/url] [url=https://twitter.com/Ollie_Bayliss]@Ollie_Bayliss The Southern League is consulting with clubs over when competitive games should resume if lockdown is lifted on Wed 2nd Dec. They've asked clubs if they would prefer Sat 5th, 12th or 19th Dec. The League is recommending Sat 12th Dec to allow players to regain match fitness. 

 

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When the current lockdown ends, these are the December fixtures. There will probably be midweek fixtures arranged between the Saturday matches. Hope so because it's a really tough December for Ilkeston with Stocksbridge (away), Worksop (away), Kidsgrove (home) and Carlton (away).


Saturday 5th December 2020
3pmCarlton Town v Cleethorpes Town
3pmChasetown v Glossop North End
3pmFrickley Athletic v Sutton Coldfield Town
3pmLincoln United v Belper Town
3pmLoughborough Dynamo v Leek Town
3pmNewcastle Town v Worksop Town
3pmSheffield v Spalding United
3pmStamford v Market Drayton Town
3pmStocksbridge Park Steels v Ilkeston
3pmWisbech Town v Kidsgrove Athletic 

Saturday 12th December 2020 
3pmBelper Town v Loughborough Dynamo
3pmCarlton Town v Stocksbridge Park Steels
3pmKidsgrove Athletic v Cleethorpes Town
3pmLincoln United v Chasetown
3pmMarket Drayton Town v Glossop North End
3pmSheffield v Wisbech Town
3pmSpalding United v Frickley Athletic
3pmStamford v Leek Town
3pmSutton Coldfield Town v Newcastle Town
3pmWorksop Town v Ilkeston 

Saturday 19th December 2020
3pmChasetown v Sheffield
3pmCleethorpes Town v Worksop Town
3pmFrickley Athletic v Lincoln United
3pmGlossop North End v Spalding United
3pmIlkeston v Kidsgrove Athletic
3pmLeek Town v Belper Town
3pmLoughborough Dynamo v Carlton Town
3pmNewcastle Town v Stamford
3pmStocksbridge Park Steels v Market Drayton Town
3pmWisbech Town v Sutton Coldfield Town  

Saturday 26th December 2020
 3pmBelper Town v Sheffield
3pmCarlton Town v Ilkeston
3pmChasetown v Sutton Coldfield Town
3pmCleethorpes Town v Market Drayton Town
3pmLeek Town v Glossop North End
3pmNewcastle Town v Kidsgrove Athletic
3pmSpalding United v Wisbech Town
3pmStamford v Loughborough Dynamo
3pmStocksbridge Park Steels v Frickley Athletic
3pmWorksop Town v Lincoln United


 

Last edited by Matchman (14/11/2020 4:36 PM)

Matchman wrote:

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 Ollie Bayliss @Ollie_Bayliss 
I understand the Northern Premier League season has been extended to May 22nd. The playoffs will be scheduled for the following Bank Holiday weekend.
 

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The NPL season was due to end 8th May so we've recovered 2 of the 4 weeks lost due to the current lockdown.
At least it shows that every effort is being made by the NPL to get the season completed in some form. 

 At present Ilkeston have played 7 league matches leaving another 31 to play. If we resume playing on 12th December, there will be 24 Saturdays before 22nd May, enough time to complete the season with some midweek fixtures. 

But if there are more lockdowns the League may have to abandon the current results so far and use the contingency scenario of splitting the league into two sub divisions of ten. This will happen if it becomes obvious that the full season’s fixtures cannot be pulled in by 22nd May. 

 I would guess that the League will have a date in mind when they will decide whether they have to change over to the reduced format contingency plan. 

In my opinion a decision would be need to be made at the latest by the end of February. If some clubs have 25 or more matches outstanding at that date then it may be decided to go for the 18 match contingency plan. (thereby reducing the number of matches to be played by at least 7)

 From Sat 6th March there are 12 Saturdays until Sat 22nd May so to pull in 25 matches, that would mean playing 12 Saturdays and 13 midweek games. That would be problematic with the inevitable postponements due to bad weather. 

Alternatively, If the contingency plan is brought in, clubs should be able to complete their 18 matches in that period (12 Saturday matches and 6 midweek)  

However, If there is another lockdown after Christmas of significant length then the League may decide to go straight to the reduced format rather than delay the inevitable.  

The best time to make the decision would be during a lockdown period because sufficient notice can then be given to clubs for making the new arrangements without affecting ongoing fixtures. 

So in my opinion, if the League decide to switch to the 18 match format, Sat 6th March is the very latest date for it to start.
But if there is another lockdown after Christmas of 4 weeks or more, then it’s likely that the League will bite the bullet and introduce the reduced format there and then.

 

Last edited by Matchman (20/11/2020 9:53 AM)

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Carlton Town have announced that they will be playing on Sat 5th December against Cleethorpes providing the current lockdown has ended.


BREAKING NEWS CLEETHORPES CLASH SET TO GO AHEAD IF RESTRICTIONS LIFTED!

Carlton Town can this evening comfirm that if Covid 19 restrictions are lifted at the beginning of December, their clash with Cleethorpes will go ahead on Saturday 5th December.The clubs have been offered an extra week of preparation by the Northern Premier League but Tommy Brookbanks revealed today that the players have been training hard individually to set Programmes and after a vigorous session in the days before the game, they will be rearing to go and after a similar positive response from Cleethorpes, the match is set to go ahead if the government allows it.

It will mean, two Saturday games on the bounce for The Millers with Stocksbridge the visitors on Saturday 12th December.

We can also reveal a small extension to the season with a new finish date of Saturday 22nd May.

The club will announce further details nearer the time, but this website understands the club’s Christmas draw will be launched on that day (5th December) and that happy hour will also apply providing restrictions are not to draconian.

The club will endeavour to keep Supporters up to date as more details become clear, but here’s hoping to see you all soon!



The current lockdown is due to end on 2nd December.
So it seems like the League have allowed clubs to have a week of preparation before restarting fixtures on Sat 12th December as all fixtures on the NPL website for 5th December are shown as postoned.
But it now appears that the scheduled fixtures for Sat 5th Dec can be played if both teams agree, which is what Carlton and Cleethorpes have done.

Ilkeston were due to play at Stocksbridge away on 5th December.


 

Last edited by Matchman (20/11/2020 4:11 PM)