The Football Association are yet to decide on the future on the 2020/21 non-league season. Null and void is still a very realistic probability, made more so by the National League heading into chaos, embroiled in an internecine conflict between Clubs that would play at any cost and those that wouldn’t play if you fined them.

The FA surveyed all Clubs at Steps 3 to 6 of the non-league pyramid, from the Southern League down to the Western League, to canvass how they wanted this season to end. This was never intended to be a referendum, rather a consultation on whether Clubs preferred to void, carry fixtures over or complete the season using an alternative method, such as points per game. This unprecedented exercise was concluded at midnight on January 22nd, so why haven’t we heard anything about the results?

The latest update from the FA, circulated on February 12th, suggests that the Governments ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown, scheduled for publication on February 22nd “may provide the (FA) Committees with additional, relevant information to help determine the preferred route forward”, the implication being that no further news on the survey is likely until then.

Given that only a small minority of Clubs are still fighting for a realistic chance for promotion, a cynic would suggest the consultation was weighted heavily in favour of the null and void option. If this is the case and if, as many believe, this is the FA’s preferred option, then why not share the results now?

One possible explanation is that the FA are waiting on the National League’s own consultation on whether to conclude this season at Steps 1 and 2. If the National League decide its too precarious for non-league Clubs to continue playing, funded by loans not grants, then the FA will have the opportunity to adopt a cohesive approach to concluding this season across all Steps of the pyramid.

Unfortunately for the FA, the National Leagues consultation started on February 1st, 9 days after the FA’s own exercise concluded. A cynic might suggest that had the FA known the National League’s stand off with the Government over grants not loans was headed for a vote of their own, they may not have been so quick to undertake their consultation exercise further down the pyramid. Whilst this is a charge the FA may well refute, it is consistent with the fact that they are yet to share even headline results of the Club consultation with anyone outside Wembley.

Yet again the football family is embroiled in the blame game. On social media fans and Clubs lash out at anyone or any institution seemingly opposing their preferred outcome to this season. Footballs haste to fall out with itself bemoans the fact that this is a situation entirely of the FA’s own making. It was the governing bodies decision to bury their heads in the sand and not heed the warnings of numerous Leagues, who’d asked for clarity on the arrangements for managing another Covid disrupted season.

Looking back to September last year, that question seems obvious now, but the sad truth of the matter is that it remains as relevant today as it was when the 2020/21 season started. Covid and the social distancing restrictions that go with it will be with us for some time to come. No matter how quickly the vaccine is administered and the economy unlocked, it would be extremely foolish to believe that this crisis is over. Whether its rouge variants of vaccine boosters, preparations for the 2021/22 season must include a Plan B.

In the absence of any guidance from the governing body, the FA could look at adopting a tiered approach to negotiating a way through next season, where all teams in each division play each other once, making a conclusion theoretically possible after 50% of games played. The next threshold could be 66% of games played for a points per game finish, increasing to 75% if that threshold is met, before finally completing the season with all games played. Conversely, anything less than a third of games played and the FA role the season over to be concluded at a later date.

With two seasons destined to be voided, the clamour for an alternative conclusion has become deafening and the FA need to heed the call. Football fans and Club administrators need to be in no doubt as to who is calling the shots. Despite the best efforts of the FA to pass the buck from Clubs to the National League, fans shouldn’t be duped by their smoke and mirrors. We may all be focussed on the outcome of this current season, but the real scrutiny of this shambolic decision making process should go into how the FA are going to manage disruptions to the future non-league calendar, the likes of which we’ve seen in March and November 2020 and January and February 2021.

Marcus Brody