Restart

[cmontheloknow]

The Lochgelly stock cars are not allowed walk in punters any more. Wonder why?

Edited October 2, 2020 by cmontheloknow

[cmontheloknow]

Whitletts have had a player test positive and going by headline everyone else advised to take a test. I thought it was key workers only unless showing symptoms? Everyone else into 14 day self isolation if identified as close contacts.

Edited October 2, 2020 by cmontheloknow

[FairWeatherFan]

10 minutes ago, cmontheloknow said:

Whitletts have had a player test positive and going by headline everyone else advised to take a test. I thought it was key workers only unless showing symptoms? Everyone else into 14 day self isolation.

It seems the rest getting tested is a club move.

https://www.whitlettsvictoria.com/item.php?pg=news&pd=1002&it=1040

Quote

Whitletts Victoria have cancelled tomorrow’s friendly with Cumnock at Dam Park after a Vics player tested positive for Coronavirus.

Club Secretary John Dalton said “The Club have fully complied with the COVID-19 testing regime laid out by the SFA both at training and the friendly matches that we have played to date.”

“The player attended training on Wednesday evening and was cleared to attend once all appropriate checks were completed. However after a friend tested positive, the player despite showing no symptoms, booked a test which has returned a positive result and therefore we have cancelled tomorrow’s match with Cumnock.”

“We have also advised our players to book themselves a Coronavirus test and we have also cancelled our training session on Monday evening. The health and wellbeing of our players remains the Clubs’ number one priority and we have taken this step as a precaution step taken to minimise the risk to players, their families and the wider community.”

 

[cmontheloknow]

1 hour ago, FairWeatherFan said:

It seems the rest getting tested is a club move.

https://www.whitlettsvictoria.com/item.php?pg=news&pd=1002&it=1040

 

Aye I know but if you're not a key worker and not showing symptoms you can't get a test - you have to self-isolate if asked to do so. I am not sure low ranking semi pro footballers should fraudulently be adding to the pressure on the system unless their job requires. Just my opinion! I have been tested myself but 1. had symptoms and 2. am a level 3 key worker.

Edited October 2, 2020 by cmontheloknow

[The Ilford Drummer]

Add Whitletts now to the list of  numb  nuts who can't follow the instructions

[TheLad]

Today is the type of day to test the viability of lads turning up to games in full kit and not changing before going home...

[peasy23]

Zoom meeting coming up on Tuesday which will decide if the season starts on 24th October, at some later date over the winter, or if we wait until 21/22.

[glensmad]

Zoom meeting coming up on Tuesday which will decide if the season starts on 24th October, at some later date over the winter, or if we wait until 21/22.

It won't be decided at the meeting, the clubs will vote after the meeting by email after the delegates feed Tuesday night's discussions to their committees.

[Bestsinceslicebread]

I just cannot see how it will start without fans. Clubs can not continue without fans.
The clubs in general are trying to do everything within the restrictions, doing the right things but if one player goes tot eh shops, chats to someone then they can catch it, they go back to training then bang, the whole squad have to self isolate.  Most probably it wont even the the clubs fault

[Tutankhamen]

8 minutes ago, peasy23 said:

Zoom meeting coming up on Tuesday which will decide if the season starts on 24th October, at some later date over the winter, or if we wait until 21/22.

3 options

1, Go ahead at the end of the month with no fans.

2, Hold off till January and play each other once. Awkward but fans may be allowed in by then.

3, Scrap the season and start again next year hopefully with fans allowed in.

[The Ilford Drummer]

Lets say 34 + teams are daft enough to vote to start without fans, do any of the other 33 get the option to withdraw without penalty ?

[The Ilford Drummer]

The 3 options is incorrect.

It's a yes or no for 24th

with delay or postpone the next question

[ToffeeTalbot]

2 hours ago, Bestsinceslicebread said:

I just cannot see how it will start without fans. Clubs can not continue without fans.
The clubs in general are trying to do everything within the restrictions, doing the right things but if one player goes tot eh shops, chats to someone then they can catch it, they go back to training then bang, the whole squad have to self isolate.  Most probably it wont even the the clubs fault

Too many ifs and buts. See that with games off this weekend with committee testing positive 

[cmontheloknow]

With players, officials and committees, you could have upwards of 60 different workplaces converging for a few hours. The season with or without fans is going to be carnage. Even the full-timers cannot get it right.

[jimbaxters]

16 minutes ago, cmontheloknow said:

With players, officials and committees, you could have upwards of 60 different workplaces converging for a few hours. The season with or without fans is going to be carnage. Even the full-timers cannot get it right.

Although this is correct, there is also an argument to say that mothballing the season will mean the end of some players careers either due to age or physical condition. In this case, if the players want to play for free and are willing to put up with the rules imposed, then that should be encouraged. 

[cmontheloknow]

7 minutes ago, jimbaxters said:

Although this is correct, there is also an argument to say that mothballing the season will mean the end of some players careers either due to age or physical condition. In this case, if the players want to play for free and are willing to put up with the rules imposed, then that should be encouraged. 

I suppose in interim there is nothing to stop those players going amateur if SFA granted some sort of one off dispensation that didn't annul current contracts and allowed them to play SAFA. One issue is clubs being able to afford to play / pay them without fans, another the interruptions due to break outs of covid.  The SAFA are getting underway and if they can do it and are happy to do it with no access to changing rooms then good on them - but clubs like our own cannot magic up the £££ for a six figure wage bill from goodwill.

If the season is a no go there are a few options that I can see:

1. clubs continue to play friendlies with players getting expenses only ideally

2. clubs can free players on loan in some way shape or form to go SAFA for the timebeing

3. clubs shut down completely until a future date

The current path of kicking off in 3 / 4 weeks time seems insanity for any semi pro outfit - without subsidy and I am not seeing it coming.

Not sure we can ask the contracted professionals to play for free for competitive games - as they're due minimum wage.

Edited October 4, 2020 by cmontheloknow

[jimbaxters]

2 minutes ago, cmontheloknow said:

I suppose in interim there is nothing to stop those players going amateur if SFA granted some sort of one off dispensation that didn't annul current contracts and allowed them to play SAFA. One issue is clubs being able to afford to play them without fans, another the interruptions due to break outs of covid.  The SAFA are getting underway and if they can do it and are happy to do it with no access to changing rooms then good on them - but clubs like our own cannot magic up the £££ for a six figure wage bill from goodwill.

If the season is a no go there are a few options that I can see:

1. clubs continue to play friendlies with players getting expenses only ideally

2. clubs can free players on loan in some way shape or form to go SAFA for the timebeing

3. clubs shut down completely until a future date

The current path of kicking off in 3 / 4 weeks time seems insanity for any semi pro outfit - without subsidy and I am not seeing it coming.

4. clubs set up gofund me with regular fans making regular donations

Maybe a bit too radical for smaller clubs with aging fanbase but it does have potential, especially if there is a committee member who can film the games either live or posting to the website after the match. It's not the same, but then nothing is just now.

[cmontheloknow]

18 minutes ago, jimbaxters said:

4. clubs set up gofund me with regular fans making regular donations

Maybe a bit too radical for smaller clubs with aging fanbase but it does have potential, especially if there is a committee member who can film the games either live or posting to the website after the match. It's not the same, but then nothing is just now.

I guess that's a bit of an extention to the donateaticket concept and perhaps a way forward. I have paid my usual PFC membership which is more than all the gate money could be and I am sure most other members have done too. But getting the more casual fan to donate is the toughy.

[cmontheloknow]

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/rutherglen-boss-clubs-danger-folding-22787877?fbclid=IwAR2u9oMhc6lavzKhhIyR1XGxUuzpBZ9BDPlb_6O-hdCGoM4ETHKXH-C6eoU

Good interview with Glens boss Willie Harvey.

Rutherglen boss: Clubs are in danger of folding and players may have to play for free

Glens gaffer Willie Harvey fears for the future as uncertainty surrounds various issues in the West of Scotland League.

Rutherglen Glencairn boss Willie Harvey has warned that clubs are in danger of folding if fans aren’t allowed back in this season – and players may have to play for free to keep them alive.

The West of Scotland League has been dealt a couple of setbacks in recent weeks with the Scottish Government further delaying the return of fans to stadiums to no earlier than October 5 and, following a survey of all league clubs, the kick-off for the new season will be October 24 at the earliest.

It leaves clubs like Glens in limbo and Harvey has also voiced concerns that players who find themselves unable to get a regular game for clubs might just walk away, which brings with it its own set of problems.

The Glens boss said: “It’s going to be one of those situations where the players decide what happens.

“These players are all contracted, and if the money’s not there to pay them then they don’t need to play, because we’re not honouring their contracts, which then become null and void.

“The big question is, if fans aren’t allowed in, you need to go back to the players and ask ‘are you willing to play without money’ for a certain period of time, until such times as things are available.

“It is difficult because players are going to be out of expenses, it’s going to cost them for travelling to and from games and during the week for training.

“I know for a fact that some guys actually give up their overtime because they train, so financially it becomes a big question of what they’re willing to do, and what they’re not willing to do.

“As a club, nobody will have a leg to stand on, and it will be the same for everyone so it’s not as if it’s ‘poor Glencairn’ or ‘poor Cambuslang’ – it’s poor everybody.”

He added: “I think it’s a certainty that some clubs might fold. You have other expenses – running costs, electricity, gas, water bills, and things like that, rates and upkeep, because you still need to keep the park in some sort of condition where you can play.

“You’re still going to have expenditure, and where is the money coming from for that?

“It’s a problem for the foreseeable future, it’s going to be one of those situations where everybody is going to be in the same boat, and we’re really, really worried – everybody’s worried

in the game. Not having fans in definitely affects us.”

Harvey reckons clubs might just decide not to play, and says league bosses then potentially have a difficult decision to make. He said: “It’s not the junior game anymore, it’s the West of Scotland League and you can’t be forced to play the games.

“At the end of the day if the West of Scotland League say we’re going to start, then several clubs say ‘we’ll not be in it’ what do they do the following season when crowds are back?

“Are you allowed back in it then, or do they turn around and say you need to go to the bottom division and start there?

“Can you imagine somebody like Pollok or Auchinleck being told they have to go back to the bottom to start again – never going to happen.

“The problem is, these are the kinds of clubs that will probably be able to start playing, because they will have some sort of finance there and might be able to pay some amount to players.

“We’ll be in a position where we just need to suck it and see.

“If they say the league is starting then it’s going to be down to the players and we’ll say ‘well, look, it’s up to you’.

“If you’re there to play you play, if you don’t then you don’t. But then you’ve got players who are not being picked, so it becomes a lot easier to walk away.

“All of a sudden your squad is depleted and you’ve not got enough players to cover every game.”

[LongTimeLurker]

8 hours ago, cmontheloknow said:

With players, officials and committees, you could have upwards of 60 different workplaces converging for a few hours. The season with or without fans is going to be carnage. Even the full-timers cannot get it right

Nights out in pubs could easily have been the main issue in that context. Please stop pretending that football is high risk and that every player testing positive at the moment  is doing so because of being at a training session or a game outdoors. The schools re-opening led to much bigger convergences of previously more socially isolated families in a much riskier indoor setting in a way that spreads things back to parents. Many people involved with football will have primary school aged children.

When schools, pubs etc were opened up some people who missed it the first time around because of the lockdown finally got their turn to be exposed to the virus. There are plenty of indications that the "second wave" is already peaking or will do so soon because the virus eventually runs out of people to infect as herd immunity builds. A postponed season could look very silly by January.