Pre-season plan for football's county cup finals

With the 2019/20 campaign brought to a premature close due to the coronavirus crisis, it appeared those clubs who had reached a prestigious final would miss out.

However, LFA chief executive officer Simon Gerrard believes there is scope to hold the finals later in the year.

The LFA have 21 county finals to host and Gerrard is hopeful that they could be staged ahead of the new campaign.

It may well be that the finals run into the early part of next season, but Gerrard did warn that it would all be dependent on whether the sport is back up and running by then.

Some of the finals still to be played include Bamber Bridge’s clash against Lancaster City in the LFA Challenge Trophy, Lostock Hall St Gerard’s encounter against St Helens in the

Amateur Shield, while Blackburn Rovers are due to take on either Burnley or Wigan Athletic in the final of the Senior Cup.

Gerrard said: “We were at the late stages of our county competitions and so we have postponed them at the moment.

“We are hoping to run them as pre-season finals, but we have to plan for every eventuality. It depends on when the new season starts and we would also have to look at how far into the new season we would go before we just say, ‘Look we are going to have to cancel the county cups finals from the 2019/20 season.

“Then we would classify them as null and void and start the competition again for 2020/21.

“But it’s a case of wait and see – if football is back up and running by July 1, then great we can play them as pre-season games and they would be nice showcases.

“We have got plans to do some things to say thanks to all the keyworkers.

“But if it’s an August 1 start then we will have to look at what that looks like or if it’s a September 1 start, how would things look then?

“At what point do we get to and think, ‘No, we’re going to cancel them now’. Obviously no decision has been made but we are planning for all of those different scenarios.

“The good thing is because the cup finals are one-off events, we can finish them if we get the opportunity to do so but we have to see how it impinges on next season.

“There is an all eco-system of football which needs balancing out.”

Leagues from step three to step seven in the non-league pyramid have already decided to declare their seasons null and void.

But the LFA have given leagues at grassroots and juniors levels the option to do the same or implement promotion and relegation by producing final league tables using a points-per-game ratio system.

Gerrard said: “Some leagues are consulting with their clubs and they are going to hold a special meeting where the clubs will vote on what they want to do.

“It is very varied and the leagues are autonomous bodies in their own right and they will decide themselves how they want to go forward.”

Gerrard admitted it was an unprecedented time in the history of football with the LFA trying to ensure that many of their member clubs do not fold while ensuring they themselves continue as a going concern commercially.

The county governing body has had to furlough a number of its staff and many of its initiatives have been suspended.

“We’ve had to furlough three-quarters of our staff,” said Gerrard. “We have had to put a stop to many of our coaching activities.

“We have recently refurbished our premises and were looking to generate some more commercial revenue through people using the building more and more and then we would pump that money back into supporting the grassroots game .

“But all that has been affected and we are having to manage things very carefully.”

Gerrard revealed the Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge effect on football right across the spectrum.

He said: “I just hope all our senior and professional clubs can finish their seasons and the losses within those clubs are not too significant and they continue to trade.

“Unfortunately, I do believe that some clubs could really struggle with this moving forward a both professionally and in the grassroots game,

“The sooner the coronavirus disappears then we can all get back to some form of normality and the game can continue again.”