Sutton v Woking Nat.Lge- match OFF

[Del]

Not sure how much snow Sutton has had or getting or if the match will go ahead. However 3 valuable points up for grabs but we must improve on Saturdays performance. Can't think that Will would have recovered after being taken to hospital and that might mean Harry playing on the wing. Isaac must be a big doubt also and even if not too serious will be rested for the gruelling season that we are in.

[halftimet]

Thought Rhys played well enough on Saturday to deserve a start if Randall is injured.

[davef]

We trained on the pitch ok today.

[Andy K]

At the moment there are 9 games due to be played tonight.

The ones to look for include Hartlepool v Solihull, Torquay v Wealdstone and Altrincham v Wrexham. Stockport don't play so we could go as low as 4th tonight if we fail to win, and if Woking beat us 3-0, Stockport could go above us without playing.

Woking's league form hasn't been great - they've not won in the league in nearly 2 months but then they beat Hartlepool 3-0. Hopefully we can put Saturday behind us in emphatic style. I presume the two players who went off on Saturday won't be fit, which of course includes our leading scorer, but as we know we have other players who can put the ball in the onion bag!

[Del]

Glad to hear that both Saturday's injuries were not as bad as feared.

[davef]

Tonight's game v Woking is OFF. Too much frozen snow even for 3G.

[garethl]

Makes sense anyway that people don’t travel in current circumstances.

[Amber Aleman]

Plenty of other matches this evening will be postponed because of the weather. With the cold snap now forecast to last until the weekend, Saturday's games could be in doubt.

That does allow more recovery time for our injured players. But the fixture backlog is a concern.

[sol]

AA:
Hope you’re well.

Again I go to my point regarding committees - anyone can see the fixtures piling on top 🔝 (May 29th final day of season) so why don’t they say the season is extending and will finish June 30th and we start 2021/22 on September 01st.

Instead you’ll get 3/4 games a week for 2/3 weeks and that’s not fair on the players.

‘Oh he didn’t show up today’
‘Oh he looked lazy tonight’
‘Oh he hasn’t been at it for 2 weeks’

Of course he hasn’t he’s played 35 games already and now he is being asked to perform 2/3/4 times a week after the best part of 9/10 months.

[rooroo]

I believe is this the first game we have had to postpone since we had the 3G laid down?

[Andy K]

Feb 9, 2021 13:58:38 GMT sol said:

AA:
Hope you’re well.

Again I go to my point regarding committees - anyone can see the fixtures piling on top 🔝 (May 29th final day of season) so why don’t they say the season is extending and will finish June 30th and we start 2021/22 on September 01st.

Instead you’ll get 3/4 games a week for 2/3 weeks and that’s not fair on the players.

‘Oh he didn’t show up today’
‘Oh he looked lazy tonight’
‘Oh he hasn’t been at it for 2 weeks’

Of course he hasn’t he’s played 35 games already and now he is being asked to perform 2/3/4 times a week after the best part of 9/10 months.

Hi Sol!

I agree - if the inclement weather continues for February, and invariably there will be more covid related postponements, then the logical decision would be to extend the season (bearing in mind the season itself when it started was a month shorter than normal). The only issue would be players contracts and play offs which are already set for the first 3 weekends in June. Extending the season by 2 weeks and then having the play offs over 2 weeks instead of 3 would be a squeeze but doable, if the contracts allow and Wembley is available.

We've obviously got a lot of games coming up and it's amazing that we've only played 18 league games this season, but a side like Dover (who have postponed their game tonight) have only played 15 games.

We've got 9 games in March and looking at the fixtures our first free midweek isn't until the 20th April. Beyond that, it looks like we have just 11th, 18th and 25th May left where we could slot a game in. There of course may be a possibility to having a match on 27th Feb, if we can find a team free that date (our Macclesfield game no2) but it's already getting tight!

[sallycat]

There are a few fixtures we could potentially bring forward to 27 Feb due to those teams' scheduled opponents for that day being in the FA Trophy. Eastleigh (24 April), Dover (10 April), Halifax (27 March) and Maidenhead (15 May) all away games, but they are all Saturdays so not especially helpful. However, that would at least give us a free Saturday later on should we need to rearrange anything else.

As for the playoffs, not ideal I know (although nothing is these days is it?) but even if Wembley isn't free, there's no reason why those games can't be played elsewhere. Somewhere will be available, and a game of football is a game of football regardless of where it happens.

[pinewalker]

It is a FIFA rule that no league football may be played in June. However, the English FA seems certain this will be suspended. They have already offered the grass-roots leagues options including continuing matches into June to complete the season. For leagues like the one I run this only solves half the problem. The council pitches that comprise 40% of our clubs home pitches will not have any extensions - the councils intend to end provision as normal: end March a few, end April most, and mid May a few.

For National League clubs with their own grounds an extension into June seems sensible. Grass pitch groundsmen will moan, but they will be forgiven if the new season starts on pitches still showing wear in this circumstance.

[garethl]

Doesn’t look like Dover will be playing anyone anytime soon!

[sol]

PINEWALKER:
Hope you’re well.

The FIFA rule in June was overruled last season as football ⚽️ returned in June 2020.

Fingers crossed 🤞 it can continue this season too..