FA Cup tie will kick off Eastbourne Borough's new season

Eastbourne Borough will pitch straight into an FA Cup tie to open their new season.
It was elbow bumps not handshakes last time Eastbourne Borough played - when they beat Maidstone in March - and things will still be different to the norm when The Sports start the new season in October / Picture: Jon RigbyIt was elbow bumps not handshakes last time Eastbourne Borough played - when they beat Maidstone in March - and things will still be different to the norm when The Sports start the new season in October / Picture: Jon Rigby
It was elbow bumps not handshakes last time Eastbourne Borough played - when they beat Maidstone in March - and things will still be different to the norm when The Sports start the new season in October / Picture: Jon Rigby

After weeks of wishing, hoping and plain guesswork, the National League – which includes Borough’s National South division – issued its clearest guidance yet for the re-start schedule. And the Sports will kick off with an FA Cup fixture on Saturday, October 3.

Their opponents, of course, will not yet be known, for Borough and their fellow National South clubs enter the FA Cup in the Second Qualifying Round – the fourth round of the competition. In Sussex, all Southern Combination clubs are in Steps Five and Six, and some will find themselves in Extra Preliminary Round action on Tuesday, September 1.

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Subsequent rounds are then heavy-pencilled in for Saturday 12 and Saturday 26. And in an absolute cascade of cup football, the FA Vase is also likely to kick off on Saturday 19. Draws have not yet been made.

Not that the clubs will be complaining. “We have had plenty of speculation, but this is the first definite news, and we are thrilled to bits,” said Eastbourne Borough football chairman John Bonar.

“We fully understand that, from the National League and FA angle, planning has been a nightmare. The whole national situation has been so uncertain.”

Government guidelines for all non-league clubs set a clear pathway to be followed. Training may already take place under Stage 1 guidelines (non-contact sessions) and Stage 2 (full contact).

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Clubs can then proceed with friendly matches once they have implemented Stage 3 protocols. These will replicate, on a smaller scale, the closed-doors conditions which fans will be well acquainted with on their television screens: only essential personnel in grounds, an exhaustive list of precautions, and no paying spectators.

“We are happy with all these protocols,” commented Sports manager Danny Bloor. “We are just this week entering full contact training, within the guidelines. The closed-doors stipulation for pre-season friendlies is a shame for supporters, of course, but it’s fantastic that we now have a start date for the season proper.”

In terms of crowd numbers, the National League circular warns that ground capacities will be significantly reduced from normal levels. The “socially distanced” capacity for each stadium will vary according to the design, layout and configuration of each ground, and will need to be assessed by each club in compliance with Government guidance, and in conjunction with their local authority.

Bonar is comfortable with that prospect. “We could work to an upper limit of, say, 25% of the Priory Lane capacity. We are sure that a crowd of several hundred would be safe and happy, and perfectly well distanced. Non-league supporters are not short on common sense!”