Nostell Miners Welfare chairman Kevin Allsop claims he has been threatened with violence when trying to ensure a Covid-safe environment at home matches.
In a wide-ranging interview done with Non League Yorkshire following the Toolstation NCEL Division One clash with Skegness Town, Mr Allsop – who was a firm advocate of localising the leagues for this season – also questions how safe it is over 70s along with the sustainability of Non League Football at this point in time.
But his main concern is the use of the Crofton Community Centre changing room by opposition teams who he claims are not following the rules or listening to instructions.
“Some days I have gone home and thought ‘why have I bothered’ and I’m not on my own,” Mr Allsop told Non League Yorkshire.
“It is best not said some of the conversations I’ve had with managers because it has been an argument and very frustrating from both sides. Some of the officials, managers, club officials respect what we’re trying to do down here. But managers and players just want to play and perhaps they don’t see the bigger picture.
“I speak to a lot of chairmen and officials from other clubs on a weekly basis and at times it is appalling (what has happened at some games).
“Some of us are saying ‘what is the point’ because of the conflicts and arguments we get into from just trying to impose a Covid-safe environment.
“That’s keeping people out of the changing rooms and making sure people abide by the one-way system. I’ve had petty arguments which have turned into threats of violence and nearly full-blown fisticuffs.
“Our home changing room is twice as big as the away changing room so people haven’t accepted that we can have eight in ours and they can only have four in theirs.
“I’ve very much so put myself in several unsafe positions. I’ve had to go in the away dressing room and turn music off and attempt to throw people out because I’ve found 16 people in there and who have then wanted to rip my head off. I’ve found players, coaching staff, physios in a room that safely should only be housing four people or six if we put two chairs in the shower area.
“It is bonkers, bananas and regrettable that we have got this stage when all it is about from mine and our perspective is trying to ensure the Community Centre is as Covid-safe as possible and I do think there is an element who don’t give a flying monkey.
“I’m not shocked by the outbreaks of Covid in the league because it was waiting to happen.”
Crofton Community Centre is a separate entity to the Football Club and Mr Allsop, explaining the weekly usage, said: “Here we have a community centre and football is just a fraction of what just goes on here.
“There’s clubs at our level where all what happens at their clubs is football. They turn up to play football, they disappear after games, there’s little or no activity taking place.
“Here we have hundreds and in some instances on a weekly basis, thousands of people turn up for OAP’s book clubs to OAP bowling club through to arts and crafts, through to fitness classes and slimming classes.
“The problem is that the football is bringing players, members of the public in from outside of the area, some of which are in high risk, and Covid to us. After the game they have gone and potentially leave us with a problem.
“The problem then is not playing football, it is keeping the Community Centre running and that has to be the priority.”
The average daily rate of Covid-19 infections in the UK is over the 20,000 mark for those tested. The Office for National Statistics believe the true figure is 35,000.
The country is still some way off the figure of 100,000 which is widely believed to be the daily infection rate in March before mass testing was available.
If the average daily number rises further, shielding could potentially return or over 70s could be told to stay indoors as much as possible. So Mr Allsop admits the safety of that age bracket at matches is a concern.
“The volunteers in the 70s are in that difficult category,” he said.
“I haven’t got the statistics, but I suspect at most clubs outside of the Football League, the average age of a Non League volunteer is 70 and they are the most vulnerable.
“My opinion is that they are putting themselves in a vulnerable position. The positive is they are out in the open air so they are not necessarily spending much time inside.
“But it is difficult and I genuinely fear those over 70s who are volunteering at Non League games.”
Back in July, Mr Allsop backed the call for splitting the leagues to prevent the virus from potentially being carried to different places. He remains a supporter of that idea and he believes the introduction of the Three Tier lockdown systems poses further problems – including a financial aspect.
“I still think we have missed a trick,” he said.
“Skegness have set off at 11.30am and travelled 107 miles to come into a Football Club which is four miles away from South Yorkshire and they’ve come on a minibus.
“The trick we have missed is if in the short-term we could have split the leagues and made it more localised basis, at least the risk aspect would have been manageable.
“As it stands at the moment I don’t think it is manageable. It makes no sense to me to make Skegness to come to us today. We should have perhaps being playing the Glasshoughton’s or Emley of this world today.
“Let’s try and isolate the virus and look at the bigger picture. I’ve spoken to chairmen in the NPL, higher up the levels and they are saying similar. There is one chairman who is based in the deepest North East and that club is travelling regularly down to the Midlands.
“We have had issues today because South Yorkshire is literally a stone’s throw away and we’ve had Tier 3 people coming out to watch football.
“All the match officials for our game today are from the Sheffield & Hallamshire so travelled from Tier 3 to Tier 2.
“We need the revenue and we need the money to cover the costs like match officials, but in all honesty, can we police it right?
“We’re trying to do the right things but it is so difficult. Personally I think West Yorkshire is heading towards Tier 3. Yes we like to play football, but there’s playing football and getting a team on the pitch. But then there’s everything that has to happen behind it.
“At the moment I’m getting to watch half a game of football. Why? Because I have to man the gate, do the track and trace system and we want to get the gates locked by the time the first whistle goes. But that doesn’t happen and you have the one-way system to manage. It is nigh on impossible.
“We have four stroke five volunteers and we have lost four or five volunteers over the last 12 months for one reason or another.
“We had to have five Covid officers for the FA Vase game the other week just to ensure the traffic flow system worked. How can a club like this survive having to pay five genuine stewards to do that job? We can’t do it.”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, 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. As we slowly return to ‘action’, 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.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
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