Future of non-league is uncertain due to Covid-19 pandemic, says Bamber Bridge manager Jamie Milligan

Bamber Bridge boss Jamie Milligan has cast doubt over whether the 2020/21 non-league season will be played to a conclusion.
Bamber Bridge leave the pitch on Saturday after their 1-0 win over Matlock TownBamber Bridge leave the pitch on Saturday after their 1-0 win over Matlock Town
Bamber Bridge leave the pitch on Saturday after their 1-0 win over Matlock Town

The club was rocked this week when a key member of its squad tested positive for coronavirus the day after their opening day victory over Matlock Town in the NPL Premier Division.

Happily, the player in question - whose identity has not been revealed - is asymptomatic, but his diagnosis has had an enormous knock-on effect.

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Brig have had to suspend all football activity for two weeks, with all their players and coaching staff forced to stay off work and self-isolate for 14 days and undergo testing themselves.

It means the club has had to forfeit its place in the FA Cup - they were due to play Atherton Collieries in the first qualifying round of the competition on Tuesday night.

And their next three scheduled league matches at Ashton United on Saturday followed by a trip to Radcliffe on Tuesday and a home game against Whitby Town a week on Saturday have all been postponed.

It is very much a possibility that a scenario which has befallen Brig this week could happen again and to other clubs.

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If that was to be the case then the season would be seriously disrupted.

In any case, serious question marks are already being raised about the viability of continuing after the government announced new restrictions on Tuesday to deal with the rising cases of coronavirus.

Among the many guidelines set out by the prime minister Boris Johnson and his government was the unlikelihood of any spectators being allowed into football stadiums from the Premier League down to the National League - the top flight of non-league football - for the next six months.

Originally, plans were being put in place to start letting fans back into grounds by the beginning of next month, but those proposals have now been shelved.

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Although clubs in the Premier League and possibly the Championship could get by playing their games behind closed doors, the same could not be said of clubs further down the pyramid especially in non-league who rely heavily on gate receipts for a large percentage of their income.

The new National League season is scheduled to go ahead at the beginning of next month but with no supporters clicking through the turnstiles, clubs at that level face financial hardship, if not ruin.

It could well be that the National League decide not to start the season next month and if that was the case then it would cause a chain reaction down the football pyramid.

Currently clubs below the National League are still permitted to allow fans in to watch games but the advice is to play behind closed doors if possible.

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Milligan admitted that he is uncertain about football's future in the short and long term.

"I just can't see how the season is going to get finished at non-league level," he said.

"It's okay at our level in the Northern Premier League because we don't generally get big crowds, but some of these clubs higher up, I just don't know how they are going to survive if they can't let the fans in.

"I just don't know what we can do. Until we get a vaccine then we are just going to have to try to get on with it the best we can and see what happens.

"There is nothing that we can do."

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Milligan revealed that his players are currently facing personal financial hardship as they are at home self-isolating and are unable to go out to work.

"The days after our game on Saturday, one of our players told us that he had been in contact with somebody who had tested positive," said Milligan

"He then got tested and was found to be positive.

"We then had to tell all the lads and everybody else at the club and they have all had to get themselves tested this week.

"It's been a nightmare. All the squad is off work now, losing money and we are not going to be able to play for two weeks.

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"But to be honest, we don't know what is happening. Nobody has said anything to us. We don't know what's going on.

"We have to pull out of the FA Cup. We thought that the match might have been postponed but we contacted the FA and they just told us that we are going to have to concede it because of the pile-up of fixtures.

"It's killed us really because we wanted to win the prizemoney on offer by getting through to the next round.

"I am not saying we would have definitely won against Atherton, but we needed that money because the club is struggling.

"It's poor from the FA. They could have said wait two weeks and then we will cram it in but to say no straightaway. It's not our fault."