Coronovirus in football: Could teams be banned from playing until this time next year?

Jack Pearce says football clubs, players and fans must face the fact the sport may not restart for A YEAR.
Jack Pearce with Kenny Jackett at a Bognor- Pompey pre-season friendly - it's not impossible that such a fixture is the next one both teams will play / Picture: Tim HaleJack Pearce with Kenny Jackett at a Bognor- Pompey pre-season friendly - it's not impossible that such a fixture is the next one both teams will play / Picture: Tim Hale
Jack Pearce with Kenny Jackett at a Bognor- Pompey pre-season friendly - it's not impossible that such a fixture is the next one both teams will play / Picture: Tim Hale

The Bognor manager, who has been involved in football for half a century, is on the FA Council and National League board and, as the coronavirus has had a growing effect on things, he has been involved in talks at all levels about the way ahead for the national sport.

He said: “This is totally unprecedented for football. Even when football was suspended at the start of the Second World War it happened just after the start of a season, so abandoning it wasn’t an issue.

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“My feeling is that the April 3 date that’s been set at the moment, for football to stop until, is like a bus stop. At that point we’ll all be able to see whether the virus is still growing or reducing. If it’s dying off by then we might be able to talk about when we can resume the season; if it’s still spreading we might be talking about writing the season off.

Nothing doing - and no news of the next game at Chichester City's Oaklands Park / Picture: Steve BoneNothing doing - and no news of the next game at Chichester City's Oaklands Park / Picture: Steve Bone
Nothing doing - and no news of the next game at Chichester City's Oaklands Park / Picture: Steve Bone

“You just don’t know how it will pan it – we my not be able to restart football for another year. At the moment you can make a decision one minute then have new information come to light and have to change it.

“The big decision will be, if we have to give up on the season, how do you work out what happens to league leaders and teams in relegation zones?

“There will be arguments and legal challenges and everyone will have a different idea about it.

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"Between now and April 3 all the available information will be gathered from experts and it may be that on that date, all that happens is a further date is set for the suspension to go on to."

Rocks fans rally round as club says: This is as serious as can bePearce said many clubs would struggle in a prolonged period where they had no home games but still had to pay players, and it was possible some could go under.

"In the pro game, contracts finish on June 30 so it may be that at that level, the season will need to be finished one way or another by then. At our level it's the first weekend in May or your last competitive game, whichever happens to be later," he said.

"Every club is different in terms of its financial position. Some are in debt, some not; some will have contracted players, some won't. If a club can't afford to keep paying a contracted player, players would either have to accept that or seek legal recourse. You could then end up with a lot of players no longer being bound by their contracts and effectively free agents.

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"Another aspect is that the government is advising people not to go to pubs and clubs but is not forcing them to close, so with our clubhouse, for example, we won't be getting people through the door but we won't be able to claim on insurance aswe are not forced to shut. That's another income stream closed off to us.

"At Bognor we will struggle with having to continue to pay out on all our overheads but with no games to make money from, but we have had good housekeeping in place and have no debt. But we - like many organisations at this time - will need the community to rally round. We will need lots of backing when we do start playing again."

Chi City reflect on coronavirus call-offs - and thank their lucky FA Cup starsThere have been heated debates already, from the top level of the game down to grass-roots leagues, about how long leagues should wait in attempting to salvage the rest of the season and give teams their rightful chance to go on to claim silverware or promotion spots or avoid relegation.

Opinions have ranged from making sure this season is finished, however long that takes, to effectively ending it but with teams' present positions their finishing places, or writing it off and starting the 2020-21 with teams where they were at the start of 2019-20.

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For our two local Isthmian League teams, Bognor and Chichester, the latter option would merely mean them starting next season as they started this and would not see them lose out on any cup or promotion, even though both are still in with a chance of a play-off place. But for many clubs - notably, in Sussex, Worthing and Hastings - that would effectively mean a so-far-successful promotion bid and possible title win being wiped out.

Pearce pointed out that whatever course of action was eventually decided, it would have to apply to all levels of non-league, even if decisions arrived at for pro and semi-pro leagues were different.

On a personal level Pearce is in the bracket of older people who have been told to take particular care as coronavirus spreads. Referring to fanswho have wanted him ousted as manager in the past, he did finish with a wry smile, adding: "Maybe some of our supporters will now get their wish!"