GAV’S BOYS LEFT IN LIMBO
WORRIED manager Gavin Williams fears Merthyr Town may be blocked from kicking off their league campaign next month.
The Southern League Premier South outfit are scheduled to begin at home against Beaconsfield Town on September 26, but have endured a frustrating pre-season so far. While their league rivals have been piling up friendly matches, the Martyrs have had to kick their heels bar a training game against a young Cardiff side.
It’s because of more stringent government regulations across the Severn Bridge and the Football Association of Wales’ (FAW) Return to Play protocols. As it stands, only ‘elite’ Welsh Premier League are allowed to play friendlies behind closed doors. Former Ipswich and Bristol City midfielder Williams told The NLP: “Everyone else has probably already played four or five friendlies so it’s put us at a massive disadvantage.
“We might go into the season having only played two games, which is nonsense. The way the Welsh government and the FAW are dictating things by their rules, I’m concerned whether they will let us play on the 26th.
“The season is rapidly getting closer. We didn’t play last Saturday and we didn’t play yesterday either. When that happens, you start panicking.”
The 40-year-old former Wales international may have felt more comfortable if he was approaching the new campaign with a squad he knew inside out, but that’s not the case.
“We have lost 11 players and it’s a new team that’s been put together,” he explained. “The friendlies are for them to get minutes and get their fitness up.
“You can play in-house and training games, but it’s not the same as games against other teams. You need at least six or seven games before you go into a season.
Rusty
“In a normal year, you have an off-season of two months. You’re rusty after two months, but this time it’s been five or six months. It’s a very worrying situation, but we have got to stick to what the FAW and government say.
“It’s the worst preparation you could have, but it is what it is and there’s not a lot we can do about it. Let’s hope we get an announcement with some good news in the next week.”
With so much uncertainclubs ty and the fact they could be going into the new season cold, it’s no wonder Williams, who took charge of his home-town club in 2016, is reluctant to predict how his side will fare.
“We need to see how the players adapt,” he said. “We will know more after ten games as to whether we will be good enough or need to bring more players in.
“It’s been a difficult off-season, but I don’t blame the players who left. Some clubs are paying decent money and we can’t compete with that. It’s part and parcel of football.”
Meanwhile, the south Wales outfit are set to replace some old and broken seats at the Met Coaches Stadium with new ones from Brentford’s Griffin Park.
The Bees no longer need them as they are set to move to a new stadium and Merthyr volunteers will head to London on Wednesday to collect them.