Another one from the Toolstation Western League podcast whilst we wait for more games to get underway – this week’s features a catch-up with Chair of the Western League, John Pool, with the announcement that the League will restart this weekend and the consideration of issues clubs are facing. Ian Nockolds interviews.

Ian Nockolds: The league announced last week that we will see a return to competitive action this Saturday, December 19th. Can you tell us a little bit about the thinking behind that decision?

John Pool: I think the last time we spoke, there was a meeting that had been arranged for, as it was, last Tuesday, which was really all the Chairmen of the seventeen leagues across the country. The reason for that is because there’s numerous problems throughout. It was felt that, if it was just the Chairman, there was the opportunity to go back to our representative on the leagues committee and start to pose some of the questions as regards to what the FA had in mind going forward.

Without going in to too much detail of what came out of that meeting – because it was a very good meeting, it gave everybody the opportunity to be able to explain their particular circumstances – what was apparent was the fact that some leagues, by varying degrees, had bigger problems than others.

It’s become common knowledge now that if you go up into the north of England, where they’re all in Tier 3, they’re struggling to play any games. Some have actually played a few games by mutual agreement and such, but the general consensus is, as was agreed right from the start, no football would be played at our level behind closed doors.

So, once the meeting highlighted all these different issues throughout, when the meeting finished, I knew what our position was, and what stance we’d taken, but I still felt . . . there were nine leagues, believe it or not, that were still playing football, or attempting to play football. So, once we made our decision, would it not be prudent for us to at least have another chat? And maybe with Christmas coming up, the opportunity, which we all know from a club perspective, is a chance that you’ve got to look at some serious revenue, should we not have a discussion around that too? So, that meeting took place on Monday morning, it’s put us where we are now – I think the way that we’ve rolled it out has given clubs a clear indication that we want to get football up and running again.

Certainly, the feedback we’ve had from a number of clubs, and I won’t say all, but a number of clubs, is that that is what they want. I think it goes without saying, if you’re playing friendlies, then surely you want to be looking to play competitive football again. So, that was where we are, and that is how it all came about.

IN: So, obviously, we have quite a few sides in Tier 3. And for anybody who’s living in Tier 3, or involved with a club in Tier 3 at the moment, what is the situation there for those clubs that are having to play behind closed doors?

JP: Let’s make this clear; if two Tier 3 clubs, decided that they want to go ahead and play a competitive match, then from a league’s perspective, we would have no problem at all. You’ve got to bear in mind, and I don’t think this should be overlooked, that all the risk assessments that were presented to us made it very, very clear that all the clubs have made every effort to do everything that was asked.

So, to all intents and purposes, anybody travelling in and out should be going into a safe environment. And I think it’s fair to say that. Therefore, to answer your question, if two Tier 3 clubs wanted to agree to play, then that would be acceptable, but it would have to be behind closed doors. I think everybody is aware that that’s what Tier 3 represents. I’ll repeat it again, there is an exemption for players to travel in and out. If a Tier 3 club wanted to play a Tier 2 club and could get agreement, then again, we would have no objections to that at all. That is the situation with regards to Tier 3.

IN: So, the option’s there for Tier 3 to play. In Tier 2, the circumstances are still quite challenging at the moment, aren’t they? Particularly with restrictions on clubhouses. What’s your message to those teams who might be worried about dwindling attendances over the winter months?

JP: It’s a difficult one, Ian, to be quite honest. I think the view that is shared by the board at the moment is there’s a better chance to create revenue by playing football than not. I mean, granted, some of the smaller clubs, I say smaller clubs without being disrespectful, probably could mothball what they’ve got, and not really take a major hit. But there are others who are very much a part of the community that will rely very much on revenue coming in and out of that club, and that, sometimes, is around football, not just football. They’re the ones that, at the moment, are probably feeling the pinch more than most.

But, without repeating myself, I think with regards to clubs that have entertained friendlies, I understand that we get bits and pieces fed back to us, about what the thought of players are and such like. And I think they’ve got a big part to play in all this as well. When we had that discussion, and I will put this out there, when we talked about viability of staging games, that did not include playing budgets. I can make it clear now, on behalf of the league, that we are not prepared to have conversations about viability, and include playing budgets in that conversation.

What we’re in to is being able to stage games of football. Tier 2, we think, is doable, especially if we can get around this hurdle of tea huts. And I think that’s beginning to ease, I mean, certain local authorities now seem to be allowing it to go ahead. We’ve encouraged clubs to contact local authorities just to see what their own personal circumstances are. I think you’re aware that there’s work going on, with regards to some of the other local authorities, to try to get them to ease up a bit. But when you’ve got the opportunity to have crowds in the ground, then I think you’ve got an opportunity to generate revenue.

IN: One final question for you, John. I understand that the FA have extended this season until the end of May. Do you think that we will need an extension into June if we’re going to complete this season on the pitch?

JP: One of the questions posed was just that. There’s a bit of a contradiction there, really, because they came out and said straight away that they’d extend it to May, May the 28th I think it was, and then they did say that, if necessary, they may consider going into June. And that’s as much as I know.

I think it’d be something they would really work hard to avoid, simply because the FA competitions, namely what is relevant to us; the Vase, and the Trophy as well, they’re trying to complete those. But Wembley has to be handed over at the end of May. So with play-offs included, they would desperately like to complete in the month of May.

If they found they couldn’t implement the play-offs, in particular, then I think they may creep into June, whether that would apply to us or not, I don’t know. You go back to one of the surveys that was done when they were asking about conclusion of the season, points per game, etc. And there was a figure being bandied around about 70-75% of fixtures would allow them to be able to do just that. So whether that’s in their minds as well, no idea.

I think that, at the moment, from our point of view, we’re going to try to endeavour to get games up and running again with a view to trying to complete the season. Just to make the point, one of the conversations that went on at length, and I firmly believe this, perhaps not so much if I’m in a promotion position, although that’s important, if I’m in a relegation position, I’d like to have a say on where I end up at the end of the season.