‘Scrap this season and start the next one earlier’ - Wilko
Shaun Wilkinson says the 'non-elite' football season should be scrapped and started afresh in the summer.
But the Baffins Milton Rovers boss has told the authorities to come up with a plan to avoid more null and void verdicts in future campaigns, writes LEWIS MASON.
Ex-Hawks midfielder Wilkinson, who took charge of Baffins last May, believes scrapping the season is the only feasible solution with steps 3-6 remaining paused during the nationwide lockdown.
Although alternative options on ending the campaign have been put to clubs in an FA survey, such as resuming the 2020-21 campaign in August or reaching a percentage of games and then applying points per game, Wilkinson views null and void as the best solution.
But with the coronavirus 'not going away anytime soon', he stressed clubs must be informed of how future seasons might be determined to avoid a repeat scenario.
‘The best thing is to do is scrap it and maybe start earlier (next season),' he said.
‘If you start in the summer, when you can have two or three games a week on the pitches, you’re not going to damage the pitches.
'The thing with football, they’ve always wanted you to play two games a week in winter when the pitches are unplayable.
‘I always said they should lump all your games at the beginning of the season when the pitches are good, the players are fresh and then you could complete the seasons on time.
‘The thing is this coronavirus is not going to go away anytime soon.
‘They need to plan for it for years to come but that’s something that the bigwigs are going to have to come up with.
‘They can’t just keep null and voiding it because it isn’t fair on the teams that are doing well.'
Social media campaign Project Non League has been launched calling for teams at steps three to six to be promoted using PPG from 2019-20 and this season.
But Wilkinson is struggling to see how that would be possible with last term declared 'null and void'.
‘I’ve seen there’s a campaign going round to combine the points over two seasons, I just don’t see how they can do it,’ he remarked.
‘Last season got expunged, the results didn’t count, then this season some teams - Moneyfields, for example, have played four league games - I just don’t think it’s possible.
‘It’s just not going to work.'
Your shout - how do you think the FA should bring the 2020/21 non-league football seasons to a conclusion? Email your thoughts to sport@thenews.co.uk