When last season was suspended and the country went into lockdown football clubs like Clevedon Town coped reasonably well. However, the current lockdown coming in the middle of the season is more of a problem.

A big issue now is the uncertainty of when it will come to an end. The club accepted the second lockdown and were ready to start again on December 5, but last week's Government announcement putting the club in tier 3 was unexpected and they are fully supportive of the decision of the Toolstation Western League to suspend all football until December 18.

However, it is not clear what will happen after that. It makes long-term planning and keeping players fit, quite apart from match fit, very problematical.

The stresses and strains on a football club are a reflection of the same stresses and strains on life generally as Clevedon Town have found.

A football club is both a business and a family with similar financial, physical and emotional issues.

The football family works through regular contact. Everybody at the club has missed the camaraderie of working together and carrying out regular jobs at the ground, chats in the bar, preparing for games and of course the game itself.

Social media helps people stay in touch, but it can never replace regular contact. Football clubs depend on the regularity of football and once people get out of the habit there is a fear they may find other things to do or simply get out of the habit of going, whether they are volunteers, players or spectators.

As a business the club relies on regular income to keep going. Although lockdown means there are no expenses on staging matches, the pitch and ground still have to be maintained and in addition no income means no improvements to the ground can be financed.

Although grants are available from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund, the club still has to provide a proportion of the total cost itself.

Having financed the replacement of the floodlights, Clevedon have secured a second grant for the replacement of the pitch barrier and would have relied on income from games up to the New Year to support that.

Whilst clubs in the upper levels on non-league football in the National League have benefitted from handouts, clubs at Clevedon’s level have not seen any money coming from outside and the suggestion is it would be in the form of a loan not a grant which does not make it attractive.

The result is clubs like Clevedon have to rely on the generosity of supporters and sponsors. The club is grateful for main sponsor Redwood Construction committing itself to continuing to sponsor the club next season and the help of other local companies like Avrils, Butcombe Farm and Somerset Wildlife Services in helping out with individual projects and for the fund raising efforts of The Friends of Clevedon Town.

The Seasiders will be ready and are looking forward to a return to regular football and welcoming spectators back. The club’s proven Covid-19 measures remain in place and will be further strengthened if necessary, to ensure everyone remains safe.

Whatever happens the club will continue to look forward and chairman Brian Rose said: "Can I please thank everyone for their support of the club at this time. It’s very pleasing to know that the support remains there, which I’m confident will see us through these difficult times."