Lower leagues keen on October... but some may sit the whole season out
DONALD FINDLAY has revealed lower-league chiefs are ready to aim for an October start date for the new campaign – but have even discussed some clubs being mothballed for the whole season.
The Cowdenbeath chairman insists discussions with counterparts throughout League Two have been positive as they seek a viable option for getting next term up and running.
He has confessed there is a fear some may not be ready to play again until 2021, with an estimated £6,000 for testing impossible to meet for most part-time clubs.
However, the former Rangers vice-chairman believes his own division should follow the Championship in aiming to kick off again on October 17.
He said: “As a group of chairmen in [League Two] we’ve formed a very good relationship. We work together, we discuss things together and it was something to be proud of that we were able to pull in the same direction as much as we could.
“The feeling is that it may be into the New Year before we could guarantee to be ready, but I think there is a sense that we should at least try for October and see where we are, in terms of testing and social distancing and the other requirements.
“I would hope that we would try to get playing again in October. What we want to do is play real football, and that’s with crowds there, not behind closed doors.
“If you cannot meet the obligation that’s being put on clubs, in terms of the testing and the changes to stadia that may have to be made, and all the rest of it, if you simply cannot afford to do that, then the honest thing to do is to say, ‘we’ve tried, but we cannot get it ready’.
“How do you propose clubs get ready if they cannot find the money to get ready? [Do they] just close down?
“You may be in a position, and this has certainly been discussed, where if clubs cannot make it then they could be ‘furloughed’ for the whole of next season.
“[But] I think there’s a willingness from all [League Two clubs] to try to be ready for the 17th of October.
“There’s constant to-ing and fro-ing, backward and forward, discussing when we might start. It’s only recently that the Championship have indicated that they think they can try to start on the 17th of October. This is for the SPFL to decide.”
Findlay is hopeful of changes in government guidance on how to combat Covid-19 and also that new technology could become available to make a return to matches less costly.
He added to the BBC: “If it has to be the full testing they’re talking about, we think it’s going to be in the region of £5,000 or £6,000 a game.
“That’s a complete non-runner [for Cowdenbeath].
“There is no guarantee that that level of testing will be required. There’s new technology coming out all of the time; there’s temperature testing, whereby you simply walk past a device and it records your temperature.
“I think we need to look to the future, and I think we should be looking to start the middle of October and try our best. But you can’t give any guarantees.”