With Covid playing havoc with the Premier League fixtures, it is inevitable that football fans further down the pyramid will start to fear what winter has in store for the non-league season.

There are many who fear another National Lockdown is inevitable, but despite the current chaos in the professional game, there is every reason for real optimism that the Non-League season will end on the pitch.

One critical difference between the Covid disruption this year and last, is the justification behind match postponements. The games lost to Covid in the Premier League this weekend were not a result of public health concerns, although these are present, they were caused by Covid infections amongst players that meant playing the matches could no longer be considered competitive.

At the time of writing this article, over 81% of those aged over 12 have had two jabs and 49% have had their booster. Cases are very high, but hospitalisations remain relatively low, due to the success of the vaccination programme. Whilst the Government’s Plan B measures might be unpopular in some quarters, they haven’t led to restrictions on travel, household mixing or the hospitality industry, yet. With all these still in play, there is no reason why non-league football can’t carry on.

However, that isn’t to say that there isn’t a problem, raising the critical question about what the non league football community will need to do to keep on playing.

After two Covid-hit seasons, the prospect of lucrative festive matches and the inflated gates they bring represents a significant boost to the grassroots game. But our ability to enjoy these benefits will rely on good judgement, sensible behaviour and risk management.

To “prioritise” or to “de-prioritise”, that is the question posed by Chief Medical Officer, Chris Witty, at a recent Downing Street Press Conference and whilst his comments might have been largely aimed at office Christmas Parties, football fans, particularly those in the vulnerable categories, can reasonably ask whether this rationale also applies to the beautiful game.

On Wednesday, December 15th, the FA clarified what the Government’s Plan B restrictions meant to football. In terms of interventions, Covid Passports apply to “outdoor events with 4,000 or more unseated attendees, where those attendees are likely to stand or move around for all or part of the match”.

At the Toolstation Western League level, this means nothing has changed. Indeed, the FA’s Plan B position statement makes clear that “with no further proposed restrictions to be introduced at this time … all National League System fixtures are to continue as normal”.

Yet how Clubs and supporters feel about this remains to be seen. Any team wishing to postpone a fixture due to a Covid outbreak would need to meet the “COVID postponement threshold”. Whilst Clubs are urged to discuss with their “League prior to taking any action”, the FA’s guidance appears to suggest that this threshold involves Clubs having “fewer than thirteen players (the thirteen including additional goalkeepers) available who are not ineligible due to COVID-19”, indeed “any clubs with sufficient players registered … will be required to fulfil a fixture”.

Whilst there is clearly no appetite in the FA for another Covid interruption, the guidance they have distributed to Leagues and Clubs at the Toolstation Western League level is “the postponement policy adopted by the Step 3 and 4 Leagues throughout this Season,” so is it appropriate to mandate Western League Clubs to a policy adopted by Southern League Clubs, higher up the pyramid?

Whether you refer to professional or grassroots football, elite or non-elite, Steps 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, all have behaved differently at different times during the pandemic, based on the resources and supporter base they have. The FA’s obsession with a one size fits all approach to managing the National League System appears to have blinded them, yet again, from sensitively managing the intricacies on the non-league pyramid.

On a more positive note, fans wishing to “prioritise” non-league football can be confident that matches taking place in the open air, with only a hundred or so spectators on a good day, shouldn’t represent a significant risk of transmitting the virus, given that the environment lends itself naturally to social distancing. Clubhouses clearly represent a different challenge and whilst hospitality remains open, the sombre words of Professor Witty might well lead to a significant drop in secondary spend over the festive schedule of matches.

For players the risks are particularly high, which is why the FA is so keen to push the importance of every player being double jabbed. Changing rooms and transportation represent two high risk environments for transmission, with Clubs encouraged, but not mandated, to minimise mixing, increase ventilation, following the normal hand cleansing and room cleaning protocols and once again promote the use of face masks.

The FA are also keen for every player to carry out a lateral flow test before training and matches.

One of the many challenging features of a National Lockdown is that its never really clear when its going to end. Given the lack of political appetite to revisit that approach and the inevitable financial support packages that go with it, there has to be some optimism that this time around any winter disruption will be short lived. Indeed, any Covid interruption might be shorter lived than the winter weather, that has the potential to wipe out weeks’ worth of fixtures.

Yet, with over 55% of fixtures played in both the Western League

divisions, there can be a genuine sense of optimism that this season will conclude on the pitch.

Marcus Brody