Yesterday (Monday 15th February) was the day that League One and Two clubs had scribbled in their diaries to return to training, ahead of resuming their paused season. Their ‘A Route to Playing’ document had rubber-stamped the club’s desire to restart the game and scrap out for winners and losers until the end of the season.
After the previous summer of infighting and snidey comments from lower league Chairmen regarding the most affected clubs of the first COVID shutdown, it was quite heartening to see a plan submitted that would require testing across the board in order to restart the leagues.
However, the only losers look to be the clubs themselves, with the Scottish FA announcing yet again to despondent fans across the country that their beloved game is on hold until March at the very earliest. The SFA’s response was extremely surprising given that League One and Two clubs did what no-one thought possible a few weeks ago – worked together for the greater good.
The SFA’s response to this was “Regrettably, the government has today confirmed that – in cognisance of the current restrictions in place across the country – they cannot currently commit to return dates for those affected leagues in the coming weeks.”
The key takeaway from that statement should be that the Government has confirmed that there is no return in place. This was despite the initial Monday 11th January statement that explained it was an SFA decision to suspend the leagues. The footballing authorities threw the leagues below the Championship under an oncoming bus, without the courtesy of explaining why.
Outraged club chiefs have stated there was no pre-warning, no opportunity to test (which was offered to the Championship) and no guarantee that the leagues would actually restart. It kicked off yet another messy affair which led to allegations of ‘Zoom call muting’ as the decisions were supposedly explained well after the harm had been done.
After finally looking like the door to football was about to re-open, the nation’s governing body decided to once again slam it in the face of its members. Not just in the face of League One and Two, but the Highland League, Lowland League, along with Women’s football and regional leagues.
Should it have continued at all?
The second wave of rising COVID cases means there is a strong argument that all football should not have recommenced until the coronavirus was suppressed. It can never be overstated just how tragic the past year has been, losing unnecessary lives as a result. Many fans argue from a mental health standpoint; it has great to have football continued at these levels. Whilst this may be true, it has been an absolute slog of a campaign, with the previous all-encompassing feeling of importance attached to the sport diminished to a shadow of its previous self.
The absence of fans, poor quality of football (not much new there) and general apathy towards the matches on television have left plenty of fans somewhat deflated. Nonetheless, the clubs have spent significant money on streaming to offset the fans’ absence and keep them afloat until supporters can return. All the Scottish lower leagues were explicitly consulted at the start of the season whether they wanted to play the season or go into ‘hibernation’. The clubs agreed to play a 27-game shortened season, offering time to complete the campaigns in the event of COVID call offs. With that in mind, it was yet another betrayal of their trust that the SFA suspended their leagues on January 11th with no resume date on the horizon.
What happens now?
Make no mistake, the clubs, fans and players are once again being cast aside, possibly at the expense of the bigger clubs in Scotland. When a league campaign is started, it should be finished. This was what was laid out to the teams at the start of the season, yet the SFA have so far torn that idea up. What comes next is crucial for these clubs, and for the much-fabled word that seems to now be synonymous with football in this country’s ‘sporting integrity’.
If the SFA choose to scrap the season, it sends the complete wrong message again to all of its members. There is still March, April and May to play, possibly with a shortened 18 game season. One idea mooted would be to sacrifice the Scottish Cup. TV contracts once again may prove to be far more significant to the Hampden bosses than any campaign completion for their smaller members. All eyes are now on the suits making the big decisions.
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