End of the season?

Agreed, top 6 steps have had to consult their members and work out what is possible in both unprecedented and difficult circumstances which can only be done from the top downwards and therefore no choice but for the NL to wait. Even the logical step of ending the season early was criticised by our manager!

Barrow to be promoted? - probably the most likely and only team to be considered.

It really is about time the EFL National league got their act together and made some sort of decision.
They all know the situation and its not going to change.
Time to be decisive so there is a clearer path for all clubs to plan for their futures.

link - Meanwhile the FA has given the national league an extension beyond the end of May when the play offs must be completed by. However with clubs still to vote on how to end the season, it is not guaranteed that they will actually take place.

rjdgull 


Much praise to rjdgull for putting political affiliations to one side to make sure news of this cover up now reaches a wider audience.

In fact I’ve specifically put down my copy of the ‘Sunday Janner’ in order to switch on the computer and make this post. I had been reading about Bournemouth goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who has tested positive for coronavirus, explaining how easy it is to contract the virus: ‘I’ve not been in contact with anybody and now I’ve got it. When you know you haven’t had it, and you’ve just been following the rules and only gone to the shop, that was obviously scary at first’

And how potentially helpful it has been with so many of the footballers who have found they have coronavirus getting their names publicised as widely as possible. More than most, footballers are likely to be approached for a chat by supporters, or youngsters who might ask for an autograph on seeing them in Sainsbury’s car park. Others who will then recall reaching for the mushy peas straight after Ramsdale, or using the same self service counter, pressing the same screen after him in the store. Or recall their Mum saying that the Bournmouth goalkeeper paid for his petrol at her kiosk last Thursday.

This is the central intention of the Government’s track and trace scheme, that they tell us is ‘our civic duty’ to sign up to. To be able to warn those who may have had contact or been in close proximity to someone who has just been confirmed as positive for coronavirus. A footballer more than anyone is likely to be in contact with people he doesn’t know, and clearly couldn’t identify by name, rather than just with a small group of friends and family. Therefore they’re able to take advantage of the press or social media spreading the word and the alert for them.

That’s not the case for the man in the street. If Fred Bloggs has coronavirus, then we’ve not the foggiest who he is, or if we’ve bumped into him. Neither is coronavirus Fred going to pay for an advert in the Herald Express to make the information known, alongside a photo of himself.

This is where a footballer is in the happy position of knowing the media can spread the information for him free of charge, and little Johnny who got his autograph on a scrap of paper at Sainsbury’s recently, can skip visiting Granny this week, just in case he’s currently a carrier.

Then you come to Exeter City’s approach. Obfuscate as much as possible. Try to be as unhelpful as possible, even to the extent of refusing to say what position those coronavirus positive employees hold. Is it a youth team player ? Is it the groundsman ?

Fearless Katie Timms, who seems set for a fine future in journalism, has clearly done some digging and firstly narrowed it down, unearthing that it was only the first team squad along with the coaching and medical teams that were tested. Quite probably outraged by important information not being disclosed, Katie further puts her neck on the line by informing readers that the two now allegedly ‘isolating’ are indeed ‘players’. I think that’s as far as Katie felt able to go without actually naming the individuals.

Let us all sincerely hope that in similar circumstances our own club, Torquay United, would be far more community minded, and like so many others we’ve read about in recent weeks, do all they could to alert the public to the names of those who were unfortunate enough to contract the virus. If players, or club staff in general are to benefit from their employer organising the costly procedure for them all to be tested, I’d expect Clarke Osborne to make it crystal clear that if you undergo the test, it is on the firmly understood condition that the club can then not be requested to collude with you in a cover up. Hushing up positive results is the exact opposite of what we’re currently spending a fortune on trying to get a system to widely get that information out to all those who may have been in contact with the virus carrier.

Just say it had been the Legendary King Kev who was positive, and remember Exeter attempted to provide no clues whatever. You saw him at The Willows last week, shook his hand warmly and observed that in your opinion he was the greatest player ever in the club’s history. Then unbeknown to you, you’re about to set off infecting the greater part of Torbay.

Well done again to rjdgull for bringing this scandal to our attention.

link - looks like the championship will kick off on June 20 subject to government approval but that has already been given as long as it is “safe.”

With the high intensity of games the EFL are looking at match day squads of 20 and allowing 5 substitutes which I think is a good idea,

Just for the record, I do agree that clubs should communicate as quickly as possible those that are infected. It is not as if there is a stigma in having this, such as AIDS back in 1985 for example. With players back in training and playing soon it is going to be obvious if any are isolating.