‘IT’S GOING TO BE LONG ROAD BACK’
WHILE the Premier League, EFL and perhaps even the National League prepare to rewrite their schedules for a potential summer restart to the 2019-20 season, Spencer Day isn’t getting too carried away.
Not that the forward-thinking Farnborough boss isn’t missing football as much as the rest of us. Far from it. It’s more of a realistic view which has prompted Day to issue a word of warning to anyone expecting an imminent kick-off at this level any time soon.
Already accepting of the fact that the final ball has been kicked at any Non-League level this season, Day fears the coronavirus outbreak is only just starting to take affect and says he doesn’t expect football to return in earnest for quite some time.
Indeed, not only does Day believe that the 2019-20 season is a write-off, he expects the entire 2020-21 campaign to be cancelled too and warns things will never be the same until at least the start of the 2021-22 season.
“I think it’s time we were a lot more realistic and understanding of the situation as a whole,” Day told The NLP.
“I honestly can’t see how we can even think about playing next season, let alone this current campaign, until we find a vaccine incredibly quickly.
“I get it with the Premier League and even top end of the EFL. They have £700m worth of television money on hold and can play behind-closeddoors with millions watching from home. In Non-League, we simply can’t afford to do that.
“I’m missing football as much as anyone but I just don’t see how you can put 20 players in a dressing room, have 20 players in the dressing room opposite you, plus referees, physios and the people manning the turnstiles or in the kitchen. And then there’s the supporters – whether you get crowds of 100 or 3,000, I just don’t see how it can be done.
Symptoms
“If one player has symptoms then it knocks everything off course again. Look at the final day of the National League and all the clubs and players who didn’t want to play then? It’s the same concept.
“At most clubs, the majority of volunteers are of an older, retired age and I would never forgive myself as a football manager should one of those fall ill while fulfilling duties at my club. Safety simply has be paramount.”
Day steered his Farnborough side to a creditable 12th in the BetVictor Southern Premier South table before the enforced closure, but insists it is almost “distasteful” to discuss how the Cherrywood Road club prepare to push on.
“I’ve talked to two players to talk re-engagement terms but that’s really as far as it’s gone,” added Day, who has been at the Farnborough helm for nine years in November. “The players have a WhatsApp group and I’ve gone on there simply to tell everyone to stay safe and look after their families.
“We’ve not talked about any possible return because I really can’t see it happening any time soon. Even if a vaccine is found quickly then the priority will be to protect the NHS staff and the 1.5 million vulnerable people up and down the country. Able-bodied, fit and healthy young men will be at the back of the queue and rightly so.
“September has been mooted, but that would mean a winter start and that has be dangerous too as it’s the worst time of year for other illnesses, such as flu etc.
“In years to come it could be talked about in the same breath as the two World Wars and they took football out for up to 10 years!
“I don’t want to sound like the big, bad ogre. I’m just being pragmatic and want people to realise how sad and horrible this situation really is.”