East Sussex League wants to get football on - but there are obstacles

The East Sussex Football League is hopeful of providing some football for its clubs and players later this season.
Battle Town are among ESFL clubs who may yet see action this seasonBattle Town are among ESFL clubs who may yet see action this season
Battle Town are among ESFL clubs who may yet see action this season

Just 24 matches have been completed in the league since the start of November due to the second and third national lockdowns.

But Monday's government roadmap for the easing of coronavirus restrictions in England permits grassroots football to return from March 29, raising the prospect of some late-season action.

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League fixture secretary Kevin Bray said: "We have to wait for the official FA go-ahead, but we definitely want to keep clubs playing football - if they want to and if the grounds are available.

"I'm hopeful we will be able to start some sort of football as soon as we can for as long as we can with the availability of pitches."

The Football Association (FA) has extended its deadline for the grassroots season until the end of June to provide additional time for leagues to complete their fixtures if they wish to do so.

But with several East Sussex League clubs sharing their facilities with cricket teams and many playing on council-owned pitches, which are usually taken out of action at the end of April, there will be a lack of available pitches come May.

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Bray has contacted the Hastings and Eastbourne councils to see if they will be willing to keep their pitches in use for slightly longer this year.

He is hopeful of being able to stage fixtures on the first two Saturdays of May (1 and 8).

Helped by the Early May Bank Holiday and the possibility of holding midweek games at that time of year because of the lighter evenings, that would provide seven or eight matchdays from the point at which football could resume.

But after several months without football, it would be unreasonable for clubs to go straight into playing matches. It's therefore likely they will be given a week or so for training or to play friendlies prior to the start of competitive games.

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So in what competition will those matches come? With the vast majority of teams not having reached the midway point of their league programmes - and some still having 12, 13 or even 14 games to play - Bray admits finishing the league season is looking unlikely.

Concluding the various cup competitions is also improbable, even though many are down to the quarter-final stage, so the creation of a one-off, end-of-season tournament appears the most plausible option.

Bray added: "We're going to be calling a committee meeting in the next week or so because we've got to look at what's remaining and what can be fitted in. If we can't fit the rest of the existing league season in, what can we do?

"We're going to look at all the possibilities, what can be done and what can't be done.

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"I don't think it's any secret all the cup competitions will have to go. I think that's probably going to be the first decision and then we've got to think about what we can do with the league games.

"If we can't complete the league season, could we try and offer some other type of competition that can be fitted in?

"I've emailed all the clubs and said 'will you be interested in playing another competition?' The ones that have come back to me all seem to be in favour of playing some type of football."