CALLING IT QUITS WAS RIGHT COURSE FOR CORFE
SOME people thought Corfe Castle were crazy when they quit their local league last September because of coronavirus fears. The village side had already all had to isolate following a friendly in which a player from opponents Swanage Town & Herston tested positive for Covid.
The Dorset Premier League side then decided to withdraw for the season, saying they ‘cannot risk a further self-isolation period as it would be at odds with their home and work commitments’.
The reserves carried on but, after years of work to get to the county’s most senior level of the football pyramid, that was it for chairman Matt Suttle and his side.
While some understood the decision, others did not but a year later, with the club back in the league and nd raring to go, their brave call to take a year out has been vindicated.
Not only did they fear for the livelihood of players and staff if they were re forced to quarantine for a second time, but ut overall a season of pandemic football seemed too much.
Suttle told Metro: ‘The fact was our manager at the time, Martin
Patterson, and myself couldn’t afford another situation where we had a match with positive cases. Martin had to take ten days’ holiday from work to isolate after the Swanage game and we just didn’t feel we could risk that happening again.
‘A lot of players at the club were prepared to continue playing knowing the risk so we kept the reserve team. team Others were not, underst understandably if they had vulne vulnerable family members or l loved ones.
‘We knew that we w would not only be st struggling for players but al also for a manager.’ There were also other da dangers, as Suttle (left) exp explains. ‘You wonder “will some someone come after Corfe if it could be proved there was an outbreak at th the club because we hadn’t wiped down all the footballs”,’ he said.
‘Martin and I were of the same mind and felt we were making the right decision. Yes, some people thought it was the wrong decision, but we made it purely on what was right for us. We also got some nice messages and encouraging comments from the league that we would be back for this season.’
Corfe have returned to the DPL for 2021-22 but, just two games into the season, lost boss Patterson through work commitments.
Suttle adds: ‘It’s clear coming back for the new season that for a lot of us, our lives have changed during the pandemic. We’ve all got used to doing different things on a Saturday – I know a lot of us feel like that.
‘Getting back to playing was huge, though. There were definitely times when we wondered whether we would be able to come back after a year out, with bigger clubs such as Swanage and Wareham Rangers around us. Simply, would the players still be interested?’
The club, nestled in the Purbeck Hills, close to the seaside at Swanage and with a ruined castle as a backdrop, attract both holidaymakers and fans to The Fortress.
With home games back, the first few weeks of the new campaign saw them return to normal off the pitch, if not quite on it.
After earning their first point in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Shaftesbury reserves, and with a new manager set to be confirmed, things are looking up at last for Castle.
‘With the new man coming in, it feels like it could be lift-off for the club again now,’ Suttle says. ‘It’s not always been easy but we do feel like our decisions have been vindicated.’
Corfe Castle are back and no one thinks they are crazy any more.