Back to news

League News

League Update - 23/03/21

  • 23/03/21
  • By League Secretary
Football image

Announcement

Restart update.

The League held a Special General Meeting Monday 22/03/21 to discuss and vote on extending the Season upto the end of June or ending the Season immediately or the end of May.

The outcome was 22 Clubs voted to extend into June, 6 Clubs voted to end in May and 2 Clubs did not vote. The decision to restart and continue into June was therefore carried. We plan to start our first games on the 11th April and last games will be held on the 27th June.

We recognise that extending the Season will be a challenge for our teams, we will still be in a pandemic and remaining in a lockdown (although eased), we have the Easter Holidays, 2 Bank Holidays and a Half Term over this period, plus a number of venues will now be utilising the pitches we use for Summer sports, therefore a number of teams will not have a home ground or training facilities. We are working with the Clubs and Telford Council to try to resolve this.

We are also aware that many players/coaches/parents understandably may not feel ready to start again and would prefer to leave it until next season.
We have asked Clubs to confirm which teams wish to re-enter the League and those who would rather not take part for the remainder of the season. There will be no fines or sanctions for any team who does not wish to continue but Team Managers please ensure we are made aware through your Club Secretary ASAP.

Teams not entering back into the League, may wish to either play no further football or play in friendly games as and when they wish.
Naturally, as a result of some teams potentially dropping out, there is likely to be some changes to the Leagues themselves. Competitive teams no longer continuing will have all previous match results made void.

We are looking at Cup Competitions, but this maybe too much of a challenge in the current climate and position we're in and particularly given the limited venues and timeframe remaining of the Season. We do not wish to start Cups, only to have to cancel them if they are not possible to be completed. We will keep Clubs updated on a final decision when we have a clearer ideal and when it is made.

League fixtures will be published asap, but it maybe a week or so before we finalise teams and venues.

We are very conscious that the situation remains uncertain and not confirmed, we await the Government announcement on the implementation of Step 1 and further guidance from the FA on the return to football.

Thank you to all the Clubs for thier valuable inputs and thoughts at the SGM, the League will continue to do everything it can to support our Clubs.

Finally, whether its League, Cups, or Friendlies……we think we can all begin to look forward to getting back to playing grassroots football again soon!!!