‘I feared for season before it kicked off’
Baker doesn't think PPG will be used to calculate places
Slough boss Neil Baker expects the National League South season to be cancelled in the coming weeks, but he doesn’t think placings will be determined on a points-per-game calculation.
A poor run of form prior to Christmas, and several postponements due to COVID events, see the Rebels currently languishing in 20th position, however, Baker can’t see the campaign resuming as there’s little appetite from clubs to take on loan debt simply to play on to the end of the season.
It’s also unlikely anyone will be relegated from Slough’s league, as the divisions below them are also set to be declared null and void.
This week the Government confirmed it was to issue the second tranche of support money in the form of loans rather than grants, something that’s unpalatable to most clubs in the National League structure.
“I don’t think points-per-game is going to happen,” he said. “You might get one or two clubs that call for it, but I don’t think anyone believes that that would happen. I think that it’s only a null and void situation.
Baker had feared the season might not be completed before it even kicked-off, but he backed the league’s decision to press ahead with it in October once funding for the first three months was in place. He added that only further grant support and a more rigorous testing procedure would enable the club to resume the season.
“I’ll be brutally honest, from August/September I didn’t think the season would finish,” he said.
“I believed there would be a lot more to come from coronavirus. I 100 per cent agreed at the time that the season should start.
“Once they got those grants for
the three months, I think they needed to try and get things going and hope that things improved and crowds would be allowed back in because effectively, that was the only thing that was going to save our level of football.
“Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen anytime soon, and everyone is well aware of that. Therefore, I don’t think the season will be able to continue and, from our point of view and where we are as a country right not, I think that’s the right thing. I don’t believe you can put football on safely when you have part-time players with jobs and whatever else. There’s just too much exposure and that’s why I stepped away.
“It’s not safe at the current time, not with at least a more rigorous testing procedure. But
we’ve been saying that for weeks now at Slough. People will always say ‘yeah, that’s because you’re near the bottom of the league and stuff like that’, but I don’t really care to be honest. I don’t care what people think.”
There was, however, some good news for clubs at non-league steps 3-6, with the DCMS announcing that £10m would be available in grant support.
This should benefit the likes of Marlow, Flackwell Heath, Windsor, Burnham and Holyport, who haven’t played since before Christmas and are likely to see their seasons declared null and void for a second season running.
The maximum amount allowed per club is £27,000 in step 3,
£15,000 in step 4, £10,500 in step 5 and £7,500 in step 6. Clubs must use the funding by March 31.