All bases covered at Linnets: Calum
Plans for every possible scenario says Linnets boss McIntyre after second successive null and void season
RUNCORN Linnets’ manager Calum McIntyre has expressed disappointment at a second consecutive null and void season – but insists his side are ready for any future hurdles that may come their way.
The Linnets, who sat one point off the play-off positions in the North West Division of the Northern Premier League, had lost only four of their 16 games in all competitions before the campaign was curtailed after 76% of step 3-6 clubs in the football pyramid stated they would prefer to stop the season if it could not be resumed with limited fans and hospitality by the 1st of April.
“It’s difficult isn’t it, it’s hard to take for us I think particularly when you’ve had a decent start to the season. As soon as there was the lockdown in November, I think we all saw it coming so it’s disappointment, but no great shock and our attention turns now to next season really”, said McIntyre.
“We’re a very close bunch so we’ve had different things going on.
“As soon as we get a bit more clarity as to exactly when next season starts, we can putting some stuff in place just to make sure we have the best opportunity to be the best version of ourselves.
“The club has been unbelievable in making sure it’s stable both financially and that when Covid passes we have a club to go back to whether we’re staff, players, volunteers or supporters.
“I think we’ve planned for every possible scenario, and you probably can’t really go down or progress too far down any road on any of these scenarios until you have clarity.”
In November, football fans were given the green light to return to stadiums in certain areas with limited numbers and restrictions in place, however this was short lived with it back to being behindclosed-doors one month later.
The Linnets’ boss showed his apathy for the restricted fans set up, describing it as ‘sterile’ and expressed his eagerness to return to a normal football environment.
“We were allowed fans in on restricted numbers, we were capped at 400 but with a lot of Covid restrictions in place and it was just so sterile.
“It was the same everywhere we went, and I think everyone is looking forward to returning to the football environment and the experiences that we all love so much.”
Amongst these many ongoing changes, one un-concluded change amongst lower leagues has been the discussion and proposal of league restructures amongst leagues at steps 4-6 level.
This would add a division at step 4, the Linnets’ level, allowing the leagues to be restructured in order to be geographically fairer and resulting in less travelling.
Plans for it, however, have been postponed twice due to the pandemic.
When asked if it thinks it will benefit the team, McIntyre said: “I’ll be honest I don’t know is the answer, I’ve seen a lot of different proposals and without the usual promotion and relegation I think it’s difficult to have too much of an opinion on it.
“What I do know is we’ll do everything to make sure we’re in the best possible state for whenever we resume, whoever we’re set to play against in whatever division”.
One of Runcorn Linnets current league rivals, however, is Marine, who the Linnets encountered one of their only four losses in all competitions to in their promising start to the season - coming in the FA Cup 2nd qualifying round.
Marine later went on to draw Tottenham in the third round, creating big publicity for non-league football nation-wide.
McIntyre’s side lost 4-3 on penalties playing their part in an historic cup run that highlighted the importance of the cup for teams in lower divisions.
On Marine’s feat, McIntyre said: “It was brilliant for the division and I think for non-league on the whole to see Marine do what they did.
“On a personal level Neil Young is a brilliant manager and someone that I count as a friend, so I was really pleased for him and that he got to experience that, and equally his club.
“It shows that the FA Cup is hugely important to these clubs and it can change the whole dynamic of not just their season but their futures.
“It was a nice reminder for everyone that the magic of the cup still exists”.