Clevedon Town aim to keep 'fit and ready' for restart
A view of the pitch at Clevedon Town's Everyone Active Stadium - Credit: pitchero.com/clubs/clevedontown
Clevedon Town boss Micky Bell is looking to keep his players 'fit and ready' for action, whenever that may be.
The Toolstation Western League decided to suspend the 2020-21 season due to the spread of coronavirus and tighter restrictions being imposed by the government.
But the Seasiders want to ensure they are in the best condition possible for when football restarts, especially with a big FA Vase tie on the horizon.
Bell said: "At least being in tier 3 we can get most of the lads in for training and we will be doing just that.
"We need to make sure they are all fit and ready to go when we can start playing again, especially if we only get short notice of the restart.
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"The break also gives us a chance to get a couple of niggling injuries cleared up and given our position in the league and our great Vase run the season is still very much alive for us."
Clevedon Town manager Micky Bell - Credit: pitchero.com/clubs/clevedontown
A statement from the league said: "The Toolstation Western League has suspended league fixtures until January 22, pending the next government review of the local authority tier system.
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"The Western League board had been working with clubs that wanted to continue playing to create a fixture list that facilitated games to take place. However, with Somerset put into tier 4, where playing non-league football is not allowed, the board felt it was not appropriate to continue playing matches until the coronavirus situation across the league area had improved."
The next review of the tier systems is scheduled to take place on January 13, after which the Western League board will review their position, and clubs have been assured they will be given a reasonable period of notice regarding play restarting.
Clevedon are due to visit Plymouth Parkway or Fareham Town in the fourth round of the FA Vase, but a statement from the governing body said: "In light of the recent announcement regarding the updated tier restrictions which placed 75 per cent of the population under tier 4 restrictions, all fourth round fixtures scheduled for January 9 and remaining outstanding third round matches will be unable to take place in line with the latest government guidance.
"These fixtures shall therefore be postponed with a new date to be confirmed. We will be working with the relevant parties to ensure these fixtures can be rescheduled as soon as safe to do so."
Although under-18 teams in tier 4 areas can only play in their own area, the Western Counties Floodlight Youth League management committee also decided to suspend fixtures, with seven of their 26 clubs in tier 4 at the end of 2020.
