In February of this year I wrote an article about the importance of the FA having a Plan B for concluding the non-league season, in the event of any further Covid interruptions. Heading into the start of this new season, the number of pre-season friendlies lost to the virus only served to strengthen the case for a Covid contingency plan. The unprecedented lockdown of March 2020 had set a precedent that was overlooked at the start of the 2020/21 season, so will the FA learn the lessons ahead of the 2021/22 campaign?

Whilst nothing has been written into the laws of the game, the FA have sets out a number of possible “Approaches” to dealing with Covid related fixture disruption this season. Indeed, this process has three elements, with Steps 1&2, Steps 3&4 and Steps 5&6 of the non-league pyramid, all having their own engagement exercises. It seems that FA consultations are like buses, you wait 16 months for one and three come along at once!

In terms of the principles that sit behind this exercise its important to note that “the health and safety of club staff and players is of paramount importance, alongside acknowledging that any solutions must, as far as possible, be financially and operationally viable for clubs and divisions”. This is very important, because with a projected end date for the League season “by the last weekend in April 2022 or second week in May 2022 at the latest”, the prospect of Clubs playing three or possibly four times a week needs to be taken off the table. Indeed, the FA have also stated their view that both “an acceptable level” of supporters and the ability to “generate some secondary spend via food and beverage sales”, must be in place for football to “commence or continue”.

Having established these principles, the FA have set out three scenarios. The first of these involves completing 75% of fixtures and finalising the league table on an unweighted points per game basis, the same method used to bring about the restructuring of the pyramid after the last two curtailed seasons. In this scenario, play-offs may still occur or alternatively, the top two Clubs could be promoted.

The second scenario comes into play if the current season cannot commence before 31st October, which must be off the table with fixtures starting on July 31st. An alternate competition be considered where Clubs play each other once, or divisions are split in half, with clubs in each half playing each other home and away. As with scenario one, promotion and relegation is still very much the order of the day, although the mechanism for this is open for discussion, depending on whether play-offs are feasible. Indeed, Western League Clubs need to be mindful that the South West Peninsula exodus is still very much top of mind at the FA, with unique arrangements in place for their Clubs, destined to for the Toolstation Premier Division. In the event the South West Peninsula League is split into four half divisions, of the four top Clubs, two will be promoted on a points per game basis.

The third scenario comes into play if the first two aren’t possible. If this is the case, then results from completed fixtures in the 2021/22 season will be utilised and a “Supplementary Competition” will be planned for “beyond the end of the traditional season”. Unlike the other two approaches, if this scenario applies the FA “will consider whether promotion and relegation can occur”.

Interestingly, the FA have entertained the prospect of “different divisions within the same Step being subject to different Approaches”, which makes practical, if not administrative, sense. If the last two seasons have taught us anything its that Covid doesn’t work well with a one size fits all approach. Given the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, the FA have acknowledged that “there may be a scenario in which none of the above Approaches are feasible,” which may or may not involve curtailing the season “without promotion and/or relegation”.

In true FA style, the covid contingency consultation, which never mentions the word “consultation”, with Clubs invited to provide “observations or views”, was open for only a week, from July 23rd to July 30th. A week might be a long time in politics, but at the end of pre-season, its hardly an adequate or appropriate period for Club volunteers to consider how they would like their masters at the FA to decide their fate. That said, at least the FA have found the courage to ask the question and they’ve managed to do it before a ball has been kicked and League standings risk playing a part in tainting Clubs thinking.

The FA should be congratulated for finally answering the calls for a Covid contingency and their engagement with Clubs is to be applauded. However, the timing of this exercise leads to the inevitable conclusion that the games governing body are “jumping the shark”, guilty of gesture politics and destined to do whatever they want, regardless of what the football family has to say.

Marcus Brody