Later start sees plans change for Chorley FC

Training started a week last Saturday in anticipation of a September 12 start – in line with the Premier League and EFL kick-off date.

However, the National League is now on course for an early October start when it is hoped fans can be back in football grounds.

Vermiglio said: “It looks like crowds will be allowed back from October 1 and the first Saturday after that is October 3.

“I think most people know that clubs at our level who pay wages can’t function without crowds providing revenue through the turnstiles.

“So waiting that bit longer for the season to start seems sensible.

“We were initially aiming for a September start and we had planned our pre-season training around that.

“But if we stuck to that plan, it would be too much.

“What we have done is taper the training, for now we will just be training a couple of times a week.

“We will start the build-up again on August 24 which will give us that last bit of this month and all of September to get ready.

“We’ve got friendlies coming up this week and next at Euxton Villa and Charnock Richard which will be an opportunity for some of the Under-21s and trialists.

“This is a tough time for the players because we only pay players for 38-40 weeks of the year, not all 52. So at the moment it can be costing some of them quite a bit of money to travel to training when they aren’t being paid.”