NCEL LEAPS TO RESCUE IN A CRISIS

THE Northern Counties East League has become the latest to confirm a series of measures to help member clubs survive the coronavirus crisis.

The NCEL followed in the footsteps of the South West Peninsular League and the North West Counties League by waiving over £17,000 in fees clubs pay for competing in the league and match-day inspections.

Each club will also be supplied with a box of 16 free footballs at an overall cost of £12,800 to the league and player registration fees for the expunged season will not be charged; an average saving of £159 per club, a total of £6,378.

In all, the competition is writing off a staggering £36,378 with each of its 40 clubs benefiting on average to the tune of £909.

NCEL secretary Matt Jones told The NLP: “We’ve had horrendous weather during the season and we’d already lost over 200 games to postponements.

“Going into March and April, teams still had a heck of a lot of games to play and then the coronavirus hit.

“We had a number of phone calls from worried clubs about when football is coming back and how they are going to survive. The last thing we would want is any of our clubs to fold.

“We wanted to look where we could save clubs money but where it would be equal for everyone.

“Thanks to the support we’ve had from Toolstation we’ve been able to do it without taking a significant hit in the bank. We’ve had some fantastic emails from clubs and lots of good feedback.”

The annual awards night and AGM in Harrogate in June has been cancelled and ticket charges have been reimbursed to clubs.

This summer’s 2020 Toolstation Cup match – a pre-season charity game between NCEL clubs and the Western League – has been mothballed until next year.

Doncaster Rovers’ Keepmoat Stadium has been re-booked to stage next year’s league cup final after this season’s was cancelled.