Baker makes the decision to stay away from dugout
Slough Town’s joint boss Neil Baker has admitted he’s unlikely to return to the Rebels dugout until the end of March or early April at best, simply because he doesn’t believe the football environment is a safe one to be in right now.
Last month Baker, after talking it through with joint boss Jon Underwood and the club, took the decision to take a short break from training and match-days because he felt it was no longer safe for him to be in that environment and still be in contact with his father.
His father is currently undergoing chemotherapy and shielding from COVID-19, and, although he initially hoped to return by the end of January, it now looks like he won’t be back in the dugout until the latter weeks of the season. In short, he’s decided to put the health of his father ahead of his love for the game.
Last month Baker, after talking it through with joint boss Jon Underwood and the club, took the decision to take a short break from training and match-days because he felt it was no longer safe for him do that and be in contact with his father.
“It’s going to take a bit longer,” he said last week. “While everything is where it is, and my dad is vulnerable because he’s going through chemo and is shielding, I won’t be back at football.I can’t see myself being back until the end of March or early April at best. But Unders is aware of all of this and we’re still working together. Apart from at training and match-days it’s no different really.”
Earlier this month the club called on the National League to suspend its three divisions to take stock of the situation and potentially come back when it’s safer for clubs to play or when there’s mandatory and regular COVID-19 testing in place. So far, that plea has somewhat fallen on dear ears at the league, however, the season could yet be suspended because of funding issues, with the league set to allocate £11m for National League clubs mainly in loans rather than grants.
Baker added: “For me I just don’t believe football should be going ahead now. There are more important things going on in life and I think the morality issue is a pretty big one. When people can’t see their family or friends, but we can have 20 odd people in a changing room. Whether we were top of the league or bottom of the table, I’d have made my decision not to be at football and I would be advocating for it to be stopped, and that would only be for a short period of time.
“At no point have we said let’s make our league null and void. We’re not saying that at this point. We’re just saying there’s too much risk around, and unfortunately the National League won’t listen.
“There are several clubs who agree with us on this, but few have come out and made a strong statement like we have.
“The onus appears to be on the clubs to keep things safe. The league have sort of washed their hands of it and that doesn’t feel right. Our players have other jobs and they come into contact with others via those jobs. Football has a lot of tradespeople, electricians and plumbers and there’s just that danger there for me.
“I won’t be back any time soon and that’s because I’m putting my father first over football. It doesn’t mean I don’t love football anymore or don’t want to win games of football because I do.
“I’ve got my reasons for doing what I’ve done. Because I don’t believe it’s safe. I don’t believe football is an environment that’s safe in terms of those contacts.”