Players could start refusing to play – O’Connell

Harrogate Railway manager Mick O’Connell envisages players refusing to play if Covid-19 cases continue to rise.

West Yorkshire is joining South Yorkshire in Tier 3 on Monday due to the large numbers of infections in the region.

Railway travel to 1974 Northwich in the FA Vase tomorrow and O’Connell – who was a firm advocate of localising the leagues for this season – says he would understand if players are reluctant to play.

“We went to Swallownest on Saturday which is Tier 3 and we’re going to the North West this Saturday and that’s probably one of the worst areas for it in the county right now,” O’Connell told Non League Yorkshire.

“It is not ideal to go over there. We’re been told it is the worst place in the country and then they (the FA) are telling us to travel over there. A lot of these lads still live with their parents and have close contact with their grandparents. They could bring the virus back to their parents or grandparents.

“One lad, he came into contact with someone through football and now he’s having to take ten days off work unpaid. It is going to get to a point where lads are going to say ‘I’m not playing’.

“If you have to take unpaid leave from work, what’s the point? I think it is the way it is going. People are losing jobs anyway so the last thing you want to be doing is going to your boss and say ‘I can’t come to work for two weeks because I have been in contact with someone in a football changing room’. 

“Players are running the risk of not only taking unpaid leave, but also potentially losing their jobs. Our lads only get travelling expenses because we haven’t got a great budget.”

O’Connell has also thrown support behind managers such as Shane Kelsey and Russ Eagle who have called for financial support for clubs affected by Tier 3 rules.

“We’ve had a couple of lads self-isolate and it disrupts everything, your plans go out of the window on a Friday night after you’ve worked on them all week,” he said.

“It is an absolute nightmare and in terms of revenue for clubs in Tier 3 with no bar open or away fans, it is unsustainable.

“It is no black and white and there is still grey areas. If we go into Tier 3 and for a club on the breadline anyway, losing your bar is going to be a major blow. 

“They’re asking us to carry on, but if you go into Tier 3 you can’t open your clubhouse. If you have 150 people in the ground who would have a couple of drinks in the bar, you’ve lost a lot of your revenue.

“I think they need to look at financial package for clubs in Tier 3.”

If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.

NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams. As we slowly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.

We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.

We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.

You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.

Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.