O’Connell hits out at the prospect of long away trips

Harrogate Railway manager Mick O’Connell wants localised leagues for the 2020/21 season and he says he is shocked that Non League clubs appear to be facing the prospect of long away trips.

O’Connell cites the risk of either spreading Covid-19 to other areas or bringing it back as one reason. 

He also expects players to be unwilling to travel far, one because of the current Government advice on car-sharing and two because of the lack of expenses some clubs will have available.

“The FA need to take their head out of the sand and look at the bigger picture because the lads who play Non League Football are effectively amateur players, they are not professional footballers,” O’Connell told Non League Yorkshire.

“If the current plan of 20 teams and 38 games goes ahead in our Division, clubs are going to face major problems with long away trips.

“Skegness being in our trip for starters is an absolute joke. It is madness. But travelling to there is going to be problematic. Because of social-distancing, nobody is going to be able to travel by coach and the advice says you cannot car share so you have to travel on your own.

“Some players don’t drive, especially some of the younger lads. With the expenses most teams have available, players won’t want to travel beyond 30 minute trips. 

“We have one of the lowest budgets in the league and I’ve had conversations with people and they are like ‘why should I travel there on a Saturday for x when it is cost me x to get there’?

“Financially it is not going to suit everybody and you have to remember a lot of players have been furloughed from their work places so they have lost 20% of their wages for the last few months.

“They are still saying you can’t use changing rooms and showers and that advice is likely to stay like that. If it chucking it down in November, you can’t expect people to drive there and back in their kits.

“It might sound far-fetched, but it is a genuine possibility when you actually sit and think about.

“The last thing anybody wants to be doing is travelling full stop. If you take 16 players, management, volunteers, supporters to say Skegness, you’re probably taking 50 people as a rough figure.

“If one of those people gets it or has it, the virus is going to spread pretty quickly in Harrogate and Skegness. So to me, it would not be a good idea travelling there.”

Several people, including Nostell Miners Welfare chairman Kevin Allsop, have called for localised leagues with ten clubs each to reduce to risk of spreading Covid-19 to other areas when Non League Football returns.

O’Connell supports the idea and is surprised that the FA appears to be on course to sign off on a regular 38-game campaign.

“I don’t know how they would split it geographically and whether it would be four leagues of ten with play-offs as suggested by someone, but in the short term while we’re in the middle of this pandemic, I’d like to see some form of localised leagues with us playing teams within a small radius,” he said.

“I think having leagues of ten to minimise travelling and the number of games is a good idea, even if it just for a year so we get back on our feet and get football back up and running in a safe way where we’re not travelling all over the place.

“We seem to be looking at a mid-September start for a 38 league game and personally I think getting those games in is unachievable.

“You have the danger of local lockdowns, teams having to self-isolate because one player becomes infected. Plus, if previous seasons are to go by, January and February are write-offs.

“It means we would have to play Saturday-Tuesday- Saturday every week and a lot of squads this year will be a lot smaller with younger lads. Playing Saturday-Tuesday constantly will be a lot to ask.

“I really feel for Skegness, they’re a great club run by great people who are trying to do their best. We’re only have to go there once, twice max if we get them in the cup, but they have to travel a long way for all their away games.

“Our last game before the lockdown was there and we spoke to one of their officials at length and they said it they have a night game away from home it is a really struggle for them. 

“He said they have to put a coach on every week because their players won’t drive. So now that coaches aren’t going to be allowed, that is going to pose a major problem for them.”

He added: “Restructuring doesn’t look it is going to happen and I just think the FA are completely sitting on the fence.

“They probably have a lot going on with the Football League and Premier League and to them we’re probably minnows in the grand scheme of things. I just think something should have been done during the break we are on to minimise the risk and the travel. 

“The FA and the Leagues seem to have had their heads in the sand. They haven’t been very transparent right through this pandemic. The FA have sort of took a step back and said nothing which is a little disappointing. I don’t think the views of players and managers have been taken on board.”

Railway have started training, but O’Connell is not treating it like pre-season until a date for the new season is announced.

“We have been back training and we have gone through every measure possible and done things as professionally as we can to cover our own backs,” he said.

“Every player has been given a Covid risk assessment which they’re signed and dated. We also went down and marked out our second pitch with four 20 by 20 boxes.

“I see it in the same way others do that it is a club to get out of the house.

“There is only certain things we can do. Everything has been with a ball, crossing and finishing, things like that. If we were just running for six weeks, you’d soon p*ss them off.

“We’re only doing once a week and until we’re given a date we’re not going to start ramping up.

“The players don’t get paid until the season starts so I don’t agree with asking people to come in twice a week for what could be eight weeks, 12 weeks. We don’t know at the minute. 

“It is looking more positive day by day, but the Government still hasn’t given us a possible start date. It is still a grey area as we’re still guessing.”

If you have enjoyed this interview, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page.

There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.

NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams so when the green light to return is given, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.

We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.

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